Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/602787
12 NOVEMBER 18-24, 2015 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM It won't be long before the lot at the corner of Hillsboro and Chance Streets is occupied by a new 40-bed overnight shelter for homeless men. It is the first new construction of anything in the neighborhood since the Operation Inasmuch Center, located across the street, was opened in 2009. Deputy Fayetteville City Manager Rochelle Small-Toney said she is unaware of any other development or rehabilitation projects planned in the region. The Fayetteville City Council voted 6-3 on Nov. 9 to grant Operation Inasmuch a special use permit for the project during a continuation of a quasi-judicial public hearing that began on Aug. 24. The decision was postponed for 90 days until after the municipal election. City Planner Craig Harmon reviewed details of the proposed homeless shelter for the council, which engendered a fair amount of debate between council members and city staff. The congregation of St. Luke African Methodist Episcopal Church was opposed to the shelter, charging that it would compound crime problems and devalue nearby property. The church is located across Chance Street from the shelter site. The council meeting was contentious, with Councilmen Mitch Colvin and Chalmers McDougald alleging that the council majority disregarded outspoken resident opposition because it was "from a minority church." Colvin was the first to bring race into the conversation. McDougald reiterated the allegation saying his colleagues care more about downtown white churches than St. Luke's. He added they "were more concerned about those who don't care about themselves" than residents of the neighborhood. McDougald blasted Mayor Pro Tem Kady-Ann Davy who represents the district where the shelter will be built saying she "had failed the people she represents." Councilman Jim Arp said members shouldn't disparage one another because they have a difference of opinion. Operation Inasmuch Executive Director Sue Byrd was in tears at the end of the hearing. She had made impassioned remarks to council when members asked her about the shelter. Byrd noted that the police department's homeless officer, Stacey Sanders, will have an office in the shelter. As for McDougald's pointed racial remarks at council's six members who supported the homeless shelter, two of them were African-American. Member Larry Wright voted against it but attempted to play peacemaker conceding as others did, that the issue was the most difficult in the group's two years together. Mayor Nat Robertson had to recuse himself from the discussion because he had taken a position in favor of the project on the campaign trail in violation of public hearing rules of conduct. Council Approves Homeless Shelter During Contentious Meeting by JEFF THOMPSON In March 2014, the Fayetteville Police Department invited the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs Diagnostic Center to collaborate with the department to address issues surrounding youth violent crime, police-community relations and FPD policies involving use of force and search and seizure. The objective of the Diagnostic Center was to identify data-driven solutions to address violent crime and enhance police-community relations. Police Captain James Nolette, Chief Harold Medlock's executive officer, sat down with Up & Coming Weekly to discuss the study. Nolette explained the diagnostic center's involvement came at the request of Chief Medlock in order to determine how best to rebuild community trust following a period of years during which racial profiling and police-involved shootings contributed to a culture of mistrust in the African-American community. While Nollete would not concede that racial profiling was a reality, the DOJ report alludes to "claims" and "perceptions" of profiling. The idea behind the study was to build a partnership with the community. One objective was to undertake anti-bias training among the department's more than 400 officers. A big part of the training centered around de-escalation training, the ability of cops on the beat to reduce conflict during citizen interactions. As a result, complaints from citizens are down, according to Nolette. Opening lines of communication is an important part of Medlock's renewed approach to community policing. There's a better understanding of what the community needs and wants. Nolette notes that police work has changed in the last several years. It's not just fighting crime. Officers no longer "go head-first into a storm." They're trained to step back and use their situational training to calm things down. Nolette believes the entire community has an interest in reducing crime, not just the police. That's where media relations come in, with a lot of emphasis on social media. Using Facebook and Twitter, the FPD can get its message out without having to rely on traditional media. Nolette says social media is unfettered, whereas newspapers choose what they decide to print. "We have the means of pushing out our side of the story" says Nolette of the department's use of social media. The final phase of the case study is a citizen survey under development by students at Methodist University. It will be circulated in the Seabrook and Broadell Homes neighborhoods to determine if police department efforts to reduce crime are working and whether public trust in the police is on the rise. When asked if the Fayetteville Police Department was prepared to deal with the aftermath of potential officer-involved deaths like those in New York, Ferguson, Baltimore and Charleston, Captain Nolette noted, "Everything we've done to establish relationships would not rise to the level of a Ferguson or Baltimore." Fayetteville Police Department Puts Renewed Emphasis on Community Policing to Build Trust With Citizens by JEFF THOMPSON NEWS Operation Inasmuch received permission to build a homeless shelter for men across the street from its current facility on Chance Street. Chief Medlock