Working out of the box
Two articles in the both newspapers outline the kind of thinking that makes things work better in neighborhoods. Where people either team up to deal with issues out of the scope of one person's duties or there duties are expanded to deal with non-traditional issues for that job
The St. Pete Times had an article today about a multiagency efort to deal with issues in Ybor City. "Enforcers of rules crash the Ybor party"
".........."We need a better atmosphere in Ybor City late at night," Iorio said. "It's not a positive entertainment atmosphere."...........
"Several city and state agencies have teamed up to crack down on businesses violating rules for Ybor - from the noise ordinance to the ban on handing out advertising fliers. Police have always patrolled the area on weekend nights.
"Now city officials from code enforcement, business licensing and the Fire Marshal's Office and state liquor licensing agents have joined them on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights."
..........."Last weekend, police officers and other agency officials inspected 64 Ybor City establishments.
"Code enforcers issued 33 verbal warnings and impounded an A-frame sign. The fire marshal gave out two citations and one verbal warning. Police arrested two people on drug charges and 14 for underage drinking, and made other arrests for nudity and alcohol violations and solicitation for prostitution. State beverage officials gave four citations and two verbal warnings."
The Tampa Tribune had an article about officers who deal with quality of life issues
By VALERIE KALFRIN vkalfrin@tampatrib.com Published: May 13, 2005
TAMPA - Each morning, Tampa police Officer Greg Hattle slips through Sulphur Springs, Seminole Heights and other neighborhoods, scanning yards for sofas, chicken coops and other eyesores.
``When everything's really quiet, I'll drive around slowly,'' he said Thursday, braking his unmarked patrol car outside a sagging stockade fence.
``See that fence?'' he said, jotting down the address.
An encyclopedia of city code guidelines, Hattle is part of a two-person team that focuses on quality-of-life issues in northern and eastern Tampa. He and Lisa Timmer, a crime prevention practitioner, work with code enforcement, Hillsborough County Animal Services, the Florida Department of Children & Families, and others.
This week, Hattle arrested two people on felony animal cruelty charges.``Sometimes you'll make a couple [of these arrests] a week and sometimes you'll go a couple of weeks without making one,'' he said.
He accused one dog owner of failing to take seven German shepherds to a veterinarian for three years after the dogs were diagnosed with mange. The other is accused of neglecting a husky named Nanuke that had a grapefruit-sized tumor in its jaw. Nanuke underwent surgery Thursday to remove the tumor and likely would be adopted, Hattle said.
``When I see this kind of abuse with animals, my next question is, `You got any kids here? Let me see 'em,' '' he said.
Hattle has worked for Tampa police since 1994. He loves animals. He also loves to hunt and fish. He spent time on a farm outside Memphis, Tenn., as a child and has a Chesapeake Bay retriever named Turk at home, along with his son's turtle and fish.
``They provide us with a lot of companionship and beauty and add a little grace to the world,'' he said.
His job involves more than four-legged friends. He and Timmer report inoperable and unlicensed cars in yards, graffiti, people tampering with utility meters ... anything that irritates law-abiding residents.
Sometimes they investigate one issue and find others, such as a woman with a malnourished dog who had no food for herself, or a woman keeping her elderly parents in a 5-foot by 10-foot room with no water or air conditioning.
``You never get callous,'' Timmer said. ``Just when you think you've seen it all ... ''
``Bam,'' Hattle interjected. ``It hits you in the face.''
Assistant Chief of Police Scott Cunningham tapped the two for this assignment in 2003. At the time, the department had eliminated its community-policing officers as part of a reorganization. Cunningham thought, however, that residents needed someone to handle problems the everyday officer did not have the time or tools to manage, Hattle said.
The pair networked with other city, county and state agencies. Within about four months, Hattle said, they had established such rapport in the police department's District 2, the department placed similar teams in its other two districts.
The two seek creative solutions, such as opening a county health department case on a woman who refused to remove more than 240 rabbits from her yard. The feces are about 6 inches deep, Hattle said. ``Every time it rains, it runs into the neighbor's yard.''
The work at times seems never-ending. They drove a visitor Thursday to an abandoned house at 1303 E. 99th Ave. they have been working to have boarded up since 2004. A rancid party place, its floor is strewn with glass, human feces, beer bottles, used condoms and other trash.
Seeing the outcome makes the headaches bearable. ``When you're on patrol, you see a lot of problems in the making but not a lot of resolution,'' he said. ``Hopefully, we can see a problem through to the end.''
Tampa residents with quality-of-life concerns can call (813) 354-6692 in District 1, (813) 931-6541 in District 2 and (813) 276-3317 in District 3. Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800.
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