By Leslie Collins
Northeast News
February 22, 2012

Approximately 40 area residents attended the Scarritt Renaissance security meeting Feb. 18 to discuss neighborhood issues and solutions.

Ken Richardson, head of the Scarritt Renaissance neighborhood’s security committee, led the meeting.

“I’m here to help you not only help yourself, but to help your neighbor, to help us, to help the police,” Richardson said.

Richardson encouraged the neighborhood to work together to improve both safety and security. Residents should call neighbors if they notice suspicious activity and be aware if a car is parked at a vacant house where it doesn’t belong, he said.

During his PowerPoint presentation, Richardson pointed out the number of sexual offenders living in the neighborhood. A year ago, there were 126 living in the neighborhood, but it has since dropped to 75 due to neighborhood efforts, he said. However, that number still needs to be reduced, he said.

Vacant properties

“Everybody here knows vacant homes are our biggest problems,” Richardson said. “It’s a difficult problem to deal with. You can’t get people to move into the homes because of the crime and the crime makes the homes worse.”

To lessen the eyesore of vacant homes, the security committee is planning to paint over the boarded up windows and doors of the homes to make them match the house. Their goal is to make people “do a double take to notice it’s plywood,” Richardson said.

Richardson asked attendees to make sure the vacant properties are properly sealed and if not, to notify the security committee. Vacant properties also attract homeless individuals or others who begin to live in the property or destroy the interior, he said.

“Once houses are trashed, some of them can’t be saved,” he said.

That’s why it’s important for neighbors to pay attention to a vacant property and report squatters and suspicious activity to the police and neighborhood security committee, he said.

To further ease the fear of crime, the neighborhood has formed a security force to patrol the neighborhood and look for suspicious activity.

“Our goal is to take these problems and disperse them out. We’ve got to work at getting them out of Scarritt,” he said.

Part of the additional security must also come from the residents themselves, he said.

“We’re fighting so hard to keep these guys at bay. You could definitely help us at night by turning your lights on,” he said. “We need to see what’s going on behind the house as well as in between the houses.”

To better illuminate the streets, the security committee is hoping the city will agree to trim back the trees, which are blocking street lights, he said. However, if the city can’t find the funds to trim the trees, he will find funding, he said.

Richardson suggested residents invest in outdoor proximity sensors, which can notify a resident and neighbors when something crosses the sensor’s path.

Richardson also encouraged residents to contact any member of the security committee to report issues in the neighborhood. In turn, the committee will try to resolve the problem and notify the proper authorities, he said.

For more information about the security committee or to report an issue, contact Richardson at (816) 678-4413 or email Kenny@ScarrittCrime.com.