I did not witness the incidents you are referring to. However, I saw the same situation play out in the Norton Parkway area. I dont think the cops care about the speeders or atv's going up and down the streets.

Thank you for your cosideration Jeff. I can certainly appreciate that the cops have a lot on their hands, most especially in neighborhoods like mine. Even so, I feel strongly that this issue poses a quality of life concern. I think it's a safe assumption to make that everyone understands that police need to be able to do their work and if it creates a bit of a public temporary public disturbance (flashing lights, sirens, onlookers, etc.) then we're OK with that if it ensures a safer city for law-abiding residents. However, I think its also safe to say that nobody actually enjoys the disturbance of flashing lights, sirens, etc. in their neighborhood. West River and many other New Haven residents are subject to this on an almost daily basis. My whole point is that the disturbance and the lack of action (or even my perception of their lack of action) resulting from the disturbance exacerbates the negative image and opinion that many residents feel about this area. In my opinion it really almost amounted to a "disturbance of the peace" or harassment of the residents of my block. All I ask is that in the future, if this were to happen again, that the cop actually do something to stop the perpetrator after creating said disturbance or don't create a disturbance at all.

I'll bring this up at our next block watch meeting. If you'd like to attend, contact info@westrivernsc.org for time and location.

I agree with Emily. I also noticed the cop sitting on the church parking lot when I got home. I also noticed a car run the red but the cop didn't move. I understand that the intent is to have a presence in what has turned into a pretty hot area. But if you're going to be there then DO something. We are angered by the shootings in our hood but we've only had a couple of those. Quality of life offenses happen almost constantly and it is creating an atmosphere of lawlessness.

West River is NOT a bad neighborhood. It is a typical neighborhood with a few people doing bad things. There are a bunch of us in the neighborhood who are trying to do GOOD things. More importantly, we are doing them together. There are more of us than there are of them and I am convinced that those of us doing GOOD things are going to win out. We are a strong community of strong individuals with a singular goal... to live together in peace. Together we are "building a green neighborhood of caring and peace."

And so it is right for Emily to be upset that her peace was disturbed. It is right that her issue is not just about the very real dangers presented by the recent shootings (happening doors from her house) but with the handling of seemingly insignificant speeding cars. To us they are equally destroying the 'spirit' of our little community. We see them as cut from the same cloth and deserving of equal attention. And we will accept nothing less.

We stand ready to do our part. Join us. info@westrivernsc.org

Kevin

As I stated earlier, I do not live in your area...I live in Beaver Hills, and see a similar thing happening in my area too. I believe that one small seemingly unimportant(in Jeff's eyes) such as speeding or running a red light endangers us all. If the people who speed or run red lights or worse are left unchecked by authority then, the perception by those who break the laws is that they can get away with bigger violations/crimes etc. You must start at the small things, and the big things and hopefully by working from both sides the we along with the authorities can meet in the middle.
Don't forget although we don't live in each others neighborhoods, we do from time to time travel to the other sections of the City. So, although I live in Beaver Hills, I frequently drive through the West River neighborhood on my way to the train station down George for example. Speeding or running a red light could could affect me regardless of where I live. We need to not only unite as neighborhood but also as a community and let our voices be heard to our Alderperson, Chief of Police and possibly the Mayor about these concerns.
I stand..for a United New Haven!

A few years ago there were some pretty serious concerns that police chases that originated with relatively minor violations were creating real safety hazards, with danger to the officers involved, the suspect and the public. The department instituted some sort of "no-chase" policy.

I'm not sure exactly what it says, but I've heard rank-and-file cops grumble about it. They're clearly @#$% off, and some seem to be taking it to mean not only should they not get involved in wild car chases, but that they shouldn't bother to pursue -- or should simply ignore -- offenders in motor vehicles.

But by not enforcing the law, law enforcement communicates that it is uninterested in enforcing the law; its authority is weakened by that very fact.

I have lived in other cities and "bad neighborhoods" (or good neighborhoods with bad apples or whatever) but never til coming to New Haven have I seen such a laissez-faire attitude toward traffic enforcement, much less such flagrant violation of traffic laws. If you'll recall, Chief Lewis was publicly appalled at the latter same upon his arrival, and probably [less publicly] equally appalled at the former.)

But reckless driving like this conforms to chief tenet of "culture" here in New Haven and its corollary: 1) if I can get away with it, I should do it. 2) whenever possible, I should blame someone else.

Things should get better now, I heard that Chief Limon walked down Whalley Ave. to get an understanding of things...lol
Gee, is that all it took to solve all the problems in New Haven, we'll see!

Dear fellow New Havenites: Please visit the "City Point" neighborhood watch area and see the issue "speeding" or paste the following into your browser http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/41893
We have the exact same problem in our neighborhood which you are discussing here. A solution which I have proposed is...Well, check the issue cited above, and if you agree, please click "I want this fixed too!" at the top of the page. It's a solution that's been discussed and asked for many times in the past. [There was a glitch in posting the photos, so FIRST look at the 3rd post with photo, then scroll up to see the other two.]
Let's see how the city responds this time. Thanks!

It's been awhile since I've seen any cops parked accross the street engaging in the behavior I described below. There have also been fewer (but still some) speeders/ kids on quads passing through. Lets hope it stays calm.

I think you should request the data on the number of tickets given out in this area, as well as what they were given out for.

Neighborhood-level enforcement data was a principal request of the New Haven Safe Streets Petition, but it has not been uniformly shared or tracked in all neighborhoods. For a while, the NHPD was being pretty good about giving it out in Dixwell and Westville each month.

If the neighborhood monitors enforcement activity and types of crimes enforced, it can help advocate for better quality of life.

If nobody pays attention to this, honestly it is not surprising that police cars would be sitting out and apparently not doing anything.

I hope the enforcement tracking can be better institutionalized going forward but for now, neighborhood requests about speeding are needed to keep up the focus on this type of violent behavior.

Yeah, right. It was happening then and it's happening now.
Don't close an issue that is still an issue.

Has there been any progress on this? I was just at a meeting with Chief Limon and the Asst Chiefs, and they said if you have any problems like this, just contact them and they'll fix it.

Although we still need the neighborhood level data to prove that enforcement is happening in areas where it is most needed, and not just around downtown, the statistics say the police are giving out a lot of tickets each month.

This issue hasn't come up again in recent months.