Some know all about it and look forward to its implementation. Others needed
more details. But everyone we queried on Thurston Road about Rochester Street
Watch is at least cautiously optimistic. All express hope that the new crime deterrence
initiative will help reduce violence and drug trafficking along that gritty strip
- even to the degree that privacy principals commonly are considered secondary.
Street
Watch is a project designed in part to hold property owners more accountable for
activities occurring on their properties - as in landlords of drug houses, as
in proprietors of corner stores and other establishments where trafficking is
consistent and violence is always a possibility. City Councilman Adam McFadden,
whose district encompasses the area, announced the Street Watch initiative, which
will depend largely on surveillance of specific properties - "disturbed"
properties. Evidence collected by police, neighborhood watch groups, informants
and other means - like electronic devices like cameras and audio technology -
will be used to initiate rare "nuisance laws" against those property
owners
The question evoked in the minds of many people in the Thurston neighborhood:
Can Street Watch really make a difference?
"Honestly, I think things
won't change much," said Danielle Richardson during a brief lull at Holly's
Restaurant, recently opened in the spot that once was Smitty's. "Drug dealers
are very smart. I noticed a camera when I came in to work. If it's that easy for
me to spot, the dealers will notice, too; and they won't do anything in those
areas. Dealers are smarter than that."
Up the street from Holly's,
the Southwest YMCA is a bit busier, as a scattering of school aged youth wander
into the YTeens Center for games and other after school activities. Reggie Thompson,
a member of the Southwest Y, is a bit more optimistic about the possibilities
presented by the Rochester Street Watch Project.
"I believe it could
have a positive impact if it's implemented with authority," said Thompson.
"In other words, if you're going to implement such policies, do it in a way
that is effective. Make sure there are consequences."
A native of
Barbados, Thompson suggested lax punishment and a revolving punitive system (in
some cases) works to undermine deterrent efforts. "If you're not doing anything
about it, it keeps going on," he said. "Business owners are being put
on the spot. If you see activity going on, call the police. By staying quiet you
allow the activity to continue."
Everett Daniels is a Rochester firefighter
who moonlights as a bartender at Thurston Bar and Grill. Daniels agreed with Thompson.
"I think it will at least do a little," he said. "You've got to
do something instead of just sitting back and talking about it. If this doesn't
work, we adapt and keep going. You've got to try all avenues."
At Slim
Goodies Fashion Boutique, Kia Sloan believes that holding property owners more
accountable for activities occurring on their premises makes perfect sense. "There
would be less people hanging around," she said. "It can be a positive
domino effect - if one person is following the policy, then business owners around
them would as well." Sloan said she believes businesses would become more
supportive of one another in adhering to policies Street Watch is designed to
enforce.
"If one of my neighbors was doing something wrong and I caught
it, then I would tell them so they could change what they're doing," she
said. Also, Sloan suggests it's only natural that the community's elders - parents,
businessmen and property owners - establish parameters and set expectations for
those younger. "If they're just letting the kids be there, the owner's are
partially at fault," she said. "That's just what kids do."
On
the corner of Thurston and Flanders sits the now empty husk of a once-busy convenience
story. The 24-hour Seven-Eleven that occupied the space until several weeks ago
was an institution in the community, especially among some of the more senior
residents.
"One of the biggest things at Seven-Eleven was the lottery,"
said Hosea Taylor, a local musician and activists who lives on Thurston. "That
service will be missed more than anything, including the milk and baby diapers
and stuff."
Some in the neighborhood are suspicious that the sudden
closing of the convenience store was orchestrated by the City of Rochester and
they believe the initiation of Street Watch is proof. But Taylor disagrees. "The
store was not a great place of drug activity," he said. "It was more
a morning start point for work force people; with the coffee and everything."
Belying
Taylor's opinion that the convenient store was not a high trafficking point were
the multiple surveillance cameras mounted on its façade. Perhaps due to
the vulnerabilities operating round the clock, Seven-Eleven was equipped with
more cameras than any other establishment on the strip.
However, some have
expressed concern that increasing use of sophisticated surveillance devices violate
privacy rights; concern that has existed since passage of the Patriot Act. Some
believe it easier to relinquish privileges than to restore them under the law.
Thompson echoed some of those cautions.
"It (Street Watch's use of
surveillance equipment) would definitely violate the Privacy Act," he said.
"Often times, cameras detect people committing crimes, but what about the
guy who isn't doing anything? He doesn't necessarily want to be in a video or
on somebody's surveillance tape."
Thompson believes it's important
that fundamental privacy statutes are protected. "I think it's your right
to say 'I don't want to be filmed.' Once you're on a surveillance tape, they can
use it for whatever they want," he said. "We're moving closer to becoming
a police state - more like the old Soviet countries."
At Holly's, Richardson
agrees that protecting privacy rights is important, but hinted that some risks
are inherent with any civic administration. "Government and the law have
to control what goes on," she said, "but government involves power and
people tend to abuse that power."
Firefighter Daniels, on the other
hand, disagrees that privacy will be compromised and said law-abiding citizens
should have nothing to fear from cameras and other devices set up to target offenders.
"If you're living the way you're supposed to live, the cameras don't matter,"
he said. Daniels said that even if his was a second floor apartment with a lens
mounted on a pole right outside his window, he wouldn't feel infringed upon. "If
it was my bedroom, we'd have to improvise something," he said with a grin.
Richardson
also believes the potential benefits of Street Watch outweigh other issues. "It's
not like they're putting cameras in our households," she said "It's
in public. Law enforcement is trying to control what happens in public areas."
Sloan
doesn't believe the surveillance techniques reflect great regard for privacy laws,
but that it's a proverbial lesser evil. "It's just where we live," she
said. "They don't have so many cameras in the suburbs yet, but that's just
the way it is." If people are worried about privacy, she said, they should
keep their private affairs behind closed doors and not bring them to the street.
A
customer at Slim Goodies, who didn't his name published, chipped in and said that
even if the Street Watch initiative makes an initial dent, it will not permanently
solve the problems of drug trafficking and related violence in the neighborhood.
"We need the funding that they use for cameras and extra cops and that other
stuff to go into the creation of new jobs," the customer said. He pointed
out that crime always drops when jobs are available.
Most of the people
we talked to agreed that the economy is a huge factor inducing youth to gravitate
toward areas McFadden labels disturbed. "A strong economy will make a difference,"
said Thompson, "more jobs - especially for the youngsters. Most of the crime
seems to be committed by the young ones. They have too much time in the streets.
"
Thompson believes that recreational choices are equally important
to keep at risk youth off the streets. "They need a positive place to interact,"
he said. "Maybe a learning center - they need activities that they find engaging."
Daniels
also said significant economic recovery is needed to maintain a more orderly environment
permanently, but he still believes a stronger law enforcement presence is needed
as an immediate measure. "We need to have more officers visible," said
Daniels. "The simple act of officers just passing by curbs a lot of things.
It's great to have policemen periodically just hanging around a while."
Others
feel that Street Watch will be ultimately successful on Thurston only if other
problem areas are addressed first. "It starts at home," said Richardson.
"In order for us to make a change, we have to first understand why people
congregate in high crime areas."
Thompson sticks by his opinion that
punitive measures are key to controlling what happens along Thurston Road and
other areas saturated with "disturbed" properties. "We must hold
the parents accountable," he said. "Parents get away with too many excuses
when it comes to why the youngsters are so out of control."
Overall,
there appear to be as many differing opinions on how to reduce crime in the inner
city as there are residents holding those opinions. One thing is certain, however:
While Thurston Road serves as the pilot for the Street Watch initiative, the rest
of the city will be watching the Street Watchers to measure the impact of this
new anti-crime approach.
