New Haven Independent

Posted by: chingy | June 26, 2008 8:00 PM

getting pretty bad. hope new chief can bring morale up in the police department. i think that morale will be a big boost for community policing

Posted by: bugupit | June 26, 2008 8:42 PM

chingy, what morale the police chief giveth, the supreme court taketh away!

melissa: Capt. Reichard said recent drug arrests have been made at WHICH address --310 or 304/6? [Ed: 304/306]

Posted by: Sad Logic | June 26, 2008 9:46 PM

Arrest the victims now. they'll be our next suspects.

Posted by: jade | June 26, 2008 9:56 PM

maybe i'm naive, but if the neighbor woman says the house has been a problem for 11 years, and the cops know about it, why does it continue? i just don't understand...it's too sad.

Posted by: anon | June 26, 2008 10:11 PM

If we seriously cracked down on speeders/red light runners, and searched their cars, we would probably catch a lot of the same people who do this kind of thing.

Posted by: PowerToThePeople | June 26, 2008 11:08 PM

Just to be clear 310 Chapel is not in the West River neighborhood but as a resident of West River it is WAAAY too close. This house has been a problem for years. It is one of the few places in the city that I fear walking by. At almost any time of the day or night you will see at least 10 teens hanging out in front of this house or the one across the street.

While I am not really for the police solving our problems (we don't want to become a "Police State") I still can't help but think that there is more that can be done. The fact is that some kids are just NOT going to try to do the right thing. My response to those kids... LOCK THEIR ASSES UP!!! I also wonder why the city is so helpless. I think we should be able to take the house if there is a record of criminal activities emanating from there. I'd rather see a vacant lot than a house that's full of knuckleheads doing whatever the hell they want at the expense of community.

Still, I can't help but recognize that there are a myriad of issues that lead to this behavior but there are too many services being offered in this city and this country for that to remain a valid excuse. Some of us make it out. I'm nothing special and I'm making it so far (by the grace of God.)

I feel for the families of these shooting victims. I feel for the families of the shooters. But more I feel for the families who live in the neighborhood and just want peace.

Posted by: -fairhavener- | June 26, 2008 11:16 PM

We used to live at Winthrop and Edgewood not too long ago (oh darn, sorry another Mother Goose story for Hooligan) and yes, that area is on the edge.

"He did confirm that police have "a lot of info" about drug sales going on on. Recent arrests have been made at that address for narcotics charges, [Reichard] said."

Good job once again geniuses. Way to keep the peace and to keep crime in check. It has only been going on there for how long? What 11 years (plus 20)? And you knew this? We knew this when we were there. What's the problem? Are you guys scared? It seems so.

Good thing I don't have to rely on you guys to keep my street clean and safe.

Posted by: Anon | June 27, 2008 7:42 AM

I live on the block where this shooting took place. This street is not all bad. There are good families living here too, raising beautiful children, and for one reason or another, they are stuck here.
No one has mentioned the landlords, most of whom don't live around here and don't seem to care what's going on in the apartments they rent. There is one landlord who we never see ... but he did show up about a month ago at 5 a.m. to mow the lawn. We don't think he'd mow the lawn at 5 a.m. in his neighborhood in Milford.
We used to visit two nice old ladies in the house next door. In the last year or so, a new landlord bought that house, and there are police and ambulances pulling up every week. He seemed to be renting the backyard to someone who works on cars. (Probably not legal, I don't know.) Every Saturday the yard would fill up with cars. One afternoon the alarm went off on the garage and nobody could track the landlord down to turn it off until the next morning.
We own our house and maintain it, and actually we have had some wonderful tenants.
We also pick up trash all the time. I watched a teenager rip up a Hillhouse High School year book and throw it in my driveway. Last week I watched two teenagers pull off a drug deal. For some reason, they looked annoyed as they pulled away, and the driver tossed a large soft drink he'd been working on out the window into the street. (Well, it's not just the kids ... I saw a taxi driver do the same thing once.)
Obviously the shooting is the tip of the iceberg.
Bottom line: The police are wonderful and they have been very responsive lately. But we have to get rid of the bad landlords -- there is no excuse for them. We have to start providing more support to needy families in New Haven ... including grandmothers raising children ... or take the kids away if we have to. These kids need to grow up seeing that they can do something better with their lives than steal cars, sell drugs and shoot at innocent people.

Posted by: BrokeinWestville | June 27, 2008 8:30 AM

Its been all over the news this week about parents now being legally liable when their kids host booze parties at their home. It is time to take this one step further, FINE and JAIL the parents/guardians that knowingly stand by and do nothing , while their punk kids are repeatedly breaking the law and committing violent acts. Not sure if it would help, but it couldn't hurt

Posted by: Genius | June 27, 2008 9:41 AM

FairHavener,
Wow, you certainly have all the answers. Maybe YOU should be the new chief of police! The judicial system is part of the problem. Not enough room to keep these dregs of society locked up, fed, educated and physically fit (that would be in jail). Criminals have way too many rights and it is tearing up New Haven and this country. I love it when people come up with answers but probably never lend a hand when it comes to community service or attending meetings. It's one thing to say...another to DO! Westville, it would be nice to hold parents responsible....but when you look at our younger generation and thier parents, you'd only see a 13-18 year age difference. Plus, you'd have to FIND the parent to hold them accountable. You've got a better chance at finding a snowball in hell.

Posted by: Ned | June 27, 2008 3:41 PM

Yellow police tape, garbage filled streets, some scattered bullet casings and unkempt grass - kind of sums up New Haven.

Posted by: Chris Gray | June 28, 2008 1:43 AM

Genius,

It is a little more complex than that. Our justice system is screwed up, it is not just the judges but the juries and it is also about priorities which are set by the Legislature, which is influenced by the electorate who have been inflamed by the media in competing campaigns of hysteria over a long period of time. With the Duke case, we saw prosecutors are also sometimes guilty and isn't it a defense attorney's job to screw with justice? Unless their client really is innocent, that is.

Fairhavener,

Don't worry about Hooligan. I tell many stories that I am confident are unbelievable, but as Shakespeare's Hamlet said, "There are more things in Heaven and Earth..."

Anon and Powertothepeople,

Compelling testimony, both of you.

Posted by: robn | June 28, 2008 12:45 PM

The owner of 304/306 is John Arnone. When is the city going to publish the home address and telephone numbers of propoerty owners so tey can be held accountable for propoerty neglect?

http://data.visionappraisal.com/NewHavenCT/findpid.asp?iTable=pid&pid=22247

Posted by: -fairhavener- | June 28, 2008 10:43 PM

ANON,

EXACTLY. Well put.

Posted by: Fedupwithliberals | June 29, 2008 7:22 AM

ROBN is right. Paul, you should have a special section dedicated to "absentee landlord of the week", where we can all send our suggestions for most neglected property. The only way you get people to do the right thing is embarass them in public.

Posted by: Liberal Defender of Private Owners | June 29, 2008 5:44 PM

Say what you will about the low quality of housing provided by absentee landlords, but keep in mind they have to follow fair housing laws when choosing who to lease to, and keep in mind the buildings are inanimate objects and for the most part not the reason for emergency calls to our neighborhoods.

Landlords don't deal drugs. Landlords don't create teen mothers. Landlords don't fire guns in any directions at any hour. Landlords have a legal source of primary income. Landlords don't lead police on car chases. Landlords pay property and income tax.

Posted by: robn | June 29, 2008 7:12 PM

LDOPO,

Absentee landlords are, by definition, not around and are therefore (relative to owner/occupiers or remte landlords with attentive property managers) negligent in monitoring their property. Its perfectly legal for landlords to evict tenants for breach of lease terms, which could include disturbing ones neighbors. But absentee landlords don't do that becuase they're absent.

Posted by: citysavior | June 29, 2008 10:01 PM

NOW A PERSON IS KILLED ON WINTHROPE. WHEN CRIME WAS OFF THE HOOK IN NEWHALL AND DIXWELL THE CITY SENT OFFICERS, DETECTIVES AND TONS OF RESOURCES TO THE AREA. PEOPLE ARE GETTING SHOT LEFT AND RIGHT IN THIS CITY AND NOT A WORD FROM CITYHALL OR OUR POLICE DEPARTMENT. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!!!!

Posted by: Deuce | June 30, 2008 8:14 AM

"Blood in the streets in the town of New Haven..."

Posted by: anon | July 1, 2008 2:27 PM

To the defender of private owners:
Do you live near any of the houses we're talking about? Do you live in New Haven? Are you a landlord?
I think if someone was shot two houses away from you, and you were seeing the tenants trade drugs in the backyard of that house, and tenants were outside all day and all night (even at 7 in the morning) talking loudly and cursing at each other, you might begin to wonder about the landlord.

Posted by: Kevin Ewing | July 2, 2008 11:58 AM

The West River Neighborhood Services Corporation will be hosting a conversation on the violence that is happening recently in our neighborhood. We have invited the mayor and police chief to answer our questions and help us to work TOGETHER on solving this issue. This will NOT be an 'attack the police and city hall" meeting but a chance to start to develop real solutions.

There are many good things that we as residents are trying to make happen in the community and we cringe at hearing our neighborhood described as dangerous. 90% or more of the residents are decent and most of our streets are as safe as anywhere else but we have been portrayed as a 'bad' neighborhood.

The meeting will be Tuesday, July 8th from 6-7:30 at Berger Apartments, 135 Derby Ave. For more info contact me at kevin@ westrivernsc.org

Rev. Kevin G. Ewing, President
West River Neighborhood Services Corporation