Description
We need more police presence at night and in the morning on the corner of Winthrop and Chapel St. The prostitution and drug selling is non-stop. We have the elderly and children that live in the area. Taxpayers in New Haven should not have to worry about their safety, health, property. Please fix the problem. A continuous police presence is necessary. Thank-you.
14 Comments
John Fitzpatrick (Registered User)
Dean Keeton (Guest)
Vincent (Guest)
Anonymous (Guest)
New Haven needs a "red light district" so these issues could be contained in one area, because prostitution and drug use are never going to be eliminated. Pot cafes, downtown, would be a good start.
http://tiny.cc/r0g66
Forbes Ave. under I95
emilyjeangallagher@gmail.com (Registered User)
John Fitzpatrick (Registered User)
I agree that our presence outside in the neighborhood is a great deterrent. We do this to some extent just by living here. Whenever we walk our dogs or work in our yards, we're discouraging criminal activity. I'm open to the idea of walking the blocks at night in groups, but I worry about the amount of effort involved in recruiting, scheduling, etc.
Lt. Hassett has told us that this is a difficult problem for the police to address. Arresting prostitutes does not keep them off the street for long.
I see a parallel with what Lt. Hassett has told us about drug dealers. If somebody is dealing out of a house nearby, they might be able to raid the house and arrest the person, but it doesn't solve the problem because the person gets out on bail and continues dealing while the case moves through the courts. Lt. Hassett has said that the best way to get a dealer out of the neighborhood is to talk to the landlord and try to persuade the landlord not to renew the lease.
Maybe we should try this approach with prostitutes as well. If we know a prostitute working in the neighborhood also lives in the neighborhood, we could bring it to the attention of the landlord. We don't have the power to force the landlord to do anything, of course, but community pressure might be enough to convince the landlord to get the prostitute out, at least in some cases.
Anonymous (Guest)
John Fitzpatrick (Registered User)
wilpower (Guest)
John Fitzpatrick (Registered User)
guest (Guest)
Sorry, I think it is incredible that somehow Pd got a free pizza stop out of your drug house complaint and nothing else.
they don't raid these houses because it is too much work. yes, they may get out on bail and live there, but it is harder to live there, and it does make a difference.
I can't tell you how many times police raid houses where the occupants DON'T come back but move elsewhere and the neighborhood is fine afterward. Raids work. PD does them when they have gotten in trouble and have outside consultants watching them. As soon as they are gone, they start blowing off the neighborhoods they know don't have clout and extracting free pizza from beleaguered neighbors.
Quit cow-towing to them and get the raids. The whole street is a red light and drug district and the gunfire is almost every week
CT Livable Streets Campaign (Registered User)
guest (Guest)
Closed Concerned Citizen (Guest)