Step 1 of "Wall the Ghetto Off" Is Underway

[MKSheppard]

Linka

Criminals to Face New Hurdle On D.C.-Prince George's Line

By Jamie Stockwell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 4, 2005; Page A01

The fences will be chain-link and six feet tall, topped with small spikes to deter those who might scale them.

They will serve as physical barriers and public reminders: Once the 32-foot-long fences go up this month, connecting to two existing fences, anyone who wants to walk from the District into the small Prince George's County community of Capitol Heights no longer will be able to do so on a rugged footpath that has become a corridor for drug dealing, police say.

For years, the footpath, which snakes between two brick houses and is partially obscured by tall oak trees, has been a shortcut into the narrow neighborhood streets of Capitol Heights. Without it, people on foot would have to walk several city blocks that are well lighted and regularly patrolled by police.

"The path has been a nuisance," said Anthony Best, public works director for Capitol Heights. "It has done nothing but worry those who live closest to it."

The daily drug activity, residents and police say, has transformed the footpath: Once it was convenient, the quickest route to and from the District. But now it is too dangerous, they say, even in daylight.

The $5,000 fences -- approved by the town's six-member council in response to a petition signed by several residents -- will create a new boundary more visible than public streets between the square-mile town and the District. It is especially notable because Capitol Heights, like the many communities sprinkled along the city-county border, has experienced an upswing in violent crime, including two homicides within eyeshot of the footpath.

Since January 2003, according to Prince George's police statistics, county and town officers have responded 70 times to the footpath area, mostly for reports of drug sales and suspicious-looking people. Many times the calls ended without a report being filed, an indication that the officer arrived at the scene and found no signs that a crime was in progress, the statistics show.

"They usually outrun the officers or they hide," said Sgt. Robert Middleton of the four-member Capitol Heights Police Department. "It frustrates us, too."

It occurs the same way every day, Middleton said, standing on the footpath one recent cold morning. He pointed to the debris -- empty bottles of Richards Wild Irish Rose white wine, crushed 24-ounce cans of Budweiser and Steel Reserve, and folded bottle caps used to cook heroin. A blue lighter and empty $10 bags of heroin also had been tossed nearby.

The trash formed a careless trail toward Southern Avenue, a busy four-lane road that forms the dividing line between Prince George's County and the District.

"The drug users walk through here to get their buys and they stay for a while, sometimes all night," Middleton said.

"Then they cut back through to go home, whether D.C. or somewhere around here," Cpl. Darrel Piper of the Capitol Heights police added.

The sale and use of drugs, along with other violence, probably won't cease with the building of the fences, the officers said, but the foot traffic will be forced onto the main roads, where they said police are able to keep better watch. "We hope it deters the crime in some way," Piper said.

Robin Hoey, a D.C. police commander who oversees the neighborhoods near Capitol Heights, said the crime problem flows in both directions. "The criminals jump over back and forth, from D.C. into the county and vice versa," Hoey said, adding that he believes the fences will have limited impact compared with more officers in the area.

By definition, fences serve as protection. But it is unusual to see such publicly funded displays in Prince George's County. When completed, they will connect to two other fences built by residents, one made of wood and the other chain-link.

James Robinson, 81, owns one of the existing fences. His house faces Southern Avenue, and he said he has seen a lot of changes, many of them bad, in the border community over the 35 years he has lived there.

"There is a lot of activity on the path," he said. "It would be better to put up a fence. I hope it happens."

In many ways, Southern Avenue defines Capitol Heights, home to 4,100 people. Southern Avenue, along with Eastern Avenue, located a few blocks away, has long been the site of a frustrating game of jurisdictional ping-pong for authorities. When D.C. officers patrol their side of the line, drug dealers and prostitutes often cross over to Maryland. When Prince George's officers arrive, the offenders jump back to the District. Unless officers see a felony in progress, they are generally barred from crossing the line.

"Living here on the border, we see what happens," Robinson said. "The footpath gives criminals another easy way to jump back and forth. I think the fences might stop some of that."

A crime-fighting strategy announced at a public ceremony in October would ease some of the frustration shared by officers on both sides. Signed by officials from the District and Prince George's, the agreement includes the deputizing of 16 police officers -- eight from each jurisdiction -- so they can cross the city-county border to make arrests. The program, first employed in the early 1990s, has not been inaugurated, even though officials said at the time that it would begin three weeks later.

Capitol Heights will benefit from the city-county border patrols, said the town's mayor, Joyce Nixon. Meanwhile, the town's police department participates in its own cross-jurisdictional patrols with Fairmount Heights and Seat Pleasant, two crime-troubled municipalities that share with the District the boundary streets of Eastern and Southern avenues.

But the town cannot rely on patrols alone, Nixon said. The building of the two fences, she said, illustrate most clearly the town's intention to "proactively police" itself.

"It's a quality of life issue," said Nixon, 63, a petite woman with a thatch of closely cropped gray hair.

Nixon, a Capitol Heights resident for 30 years and midway into her four-year term as mayor, visited the footpath one recent morning. She said drugs and crime have delayed the town's growth, but she envisions a place where people will someday shop and eat. She said the town that markets itself to drivers as the "Gateway to the Capitol," as boasted on big blue signs positioned at its geographical borders, has great potential.

"I see this as working out well," she said of the fences. "It is something that will help with the bigger picture and it will help deter the bigger crimes. Everyone just wants to feel safe."

[Fleet Admiral JD]

Uh-huh...

I seem to remember certain incidents in Europe in the 30's and 40's....

No connection, right?

[aerius]

They're going to use chainlink fences which anyone with a pair of diagonal cutting pliers can snip through in seconds. For $5000 I expect something that's actually a barrier, like a modular sheetmetal wall or those noise barrier walls you find beside highways.

[Dennis Toy]

You know MR sheppard i always wondered why don't these people who run this government of DC just wall the whole fucking city off by building a wall around the perimeter of the DC border and putting radar, infrared and automatic sentry snipers linked to biometric databases so we could id criminals and then shoot them when they breach our borders.


Who wants to protect a piece of shit place like Capitol Heights anyway, the only thing that the city is known for is the metro station.

[Mr Bean]

See heres the thing, There is DC which is wonderful and dirty and cramped and drug dealers, and then there is South East which has Black people who arn't Senators and it also happens to have violent crime


See while people might try and sell one of the FBI guys drugs or key his car, They won't even think of touching him, least the SS Snipers drop him for "trying to kill the President" as far as the criminal element is concerned the Four miles around the Whitehouse is a Free Fire Zone for snipers, so they don't fuck around there

But in South EAST they can rape, mug, drug and murder to their hearts content

*Note almost forgot, These fences will be cut through within one week of being set up and then only if they sneak in and do it on Sunday at 11:59 otherwise its going to be sameday

[HemlockGrey]

Wow, and D.C. was willing to blow $300 million on a new stadium for the fucking Expos. I think they have some more pressing priorities.

[Dennis Toy]

shiiddd there are parts of NW just as shit-filled as Southeast Washington. and lets not forget you can't fly a plane around here neither or else you get your ass shot down cause its like missile commend in DC.

[Dennis Toy]

Wow, and D.C. was willing to blow $300 million on a new stadium for the fucking Expos. I think they have some more pressing priorities.

They blew 1 billion on the New Washington Convention Center and didn't use the first one they built in 1982 despite having shitty schools, no affordable homes and no general hospital.

[Mr Bean]

shiiddd there are parts of NW just as shit-filled as Southeast Washington. and lets not forget you can't fly a plane around here neither or else you get your ass shot down cause its like missile commend in DC.

I can look out my window and see two Surface to Air missles sites at home let alone at work

[Big Phil]

Uh-huh...

I seem to remember certain incidents in Europe in the 30's and 40's....

No connection, right?

You've got to be kidding. Nowhere in this article does it say that the residents are opposed to the fence. How does this even begin to relate to Jewish ghettos during the 2nd World War?

[Arrow]

Wow, and D.C. was willing to blow $300 million on a new stadium for the fucking Expos. I think they have some more pressing priorities.

They blew 1 billion on the New Washington Convention Center and didn't use the first one they built in 1982 despite having shitty schools, no affordable homes and no general hospital.

The sad thing is that DC apparently spends the most money per student per year (11+K) in the country. This was actually reported last night on the local NBC station, citing an Education Week study (IIRC).

[Dennis Toy]

Dennis Toy wrote:
Quote:
Wow, and D.C. was willing to blow $300 million on a new stadium for the fucking Expos. I think they have some more pressing priorities.


They blew 1 billion on the New Washington Convention Center and didn't use the first one they built in 1982 despite having shitty schools, no affordable homes and no general hospital.


The sad thing is that DC apparently spends the most money per student per year (11+K) in the country. This was actually reported last night on the local NBC station, citing an Education Week study (IIRC).

Hell No!! if they spend that much then where were all the books, pencils papers, teachers who wanted to teach when i went to HS. Why do all the school seem to be crumbling. Why is the plumbing shot, there is no heat in schools, electrical wiring hanging down nearly causing electrical shock. Why does DC have the country's highest illiteracy rate. High School graduates can't read on a 12th grade levek. Why is the "University" of District of Columbia more like a remedial high school. We only seem to spend the highest rate of money per student per year due to the small population.

[Petrosjko]

Hell No!! if they spend that much then where were all the books, pencils papers, teachers who wanted to teach when i went to HS. Why do all the school seem to be crumbling. Why is the plumbing shot, there is no heat in schools, electrical wiring hanging down nearly causing electrical shock. Why does DC have the country's highest illiteracy rate. High School graduates can't read on a 12th grade levek. Why is the "University" of District of Columbia more like a remedial high school. We only seem to spend the highest rate of money per student per year due to the small population.

I don't know about your situation there, but I've seen firsthand how pumping money into a school district can result in a lot of things besides improving schools and materials for the students. Such as a very nice administration building with beautiful hardwood desks, original art all over the walls, expensive plush carpeting...

While the elementary I went to started out with science classes in what was originally a small book storage room, and then eventually transferred those classes to a couple of portable buildings.

School spending != money making it to teachers and students.

Wasn't there a scandal last year about a principal who had a wad of cash in the school safe that he wasn't supposed to?

[Arrow]

Hell No!! if they spend that much then where were all the books, pencils papers, teachers who wanted to teach when i went to HS. Why do all the school seem to be crumbling. Why is the plumbing shot, there is no heat in schools, electrical wiring hanging down nearly causing electrical shock. Why does DC have the country's highest illiteracy rate. High School graduates can't read on a 12th grade levek. Why is the "University" of District of Columbia more like a remedial high school. We only seem to spend the highest rate of money per student per year due to the small population.

I said they spent the most money, not that DC school administrators were compotent. Are you surprised, given that the DC government has a history of criminal activities, corruption and just plain fucking things up?

[Dennis Toy]

I said they spent the most money, not that DC school administrators were compotent. Are you surprised, given that the DC government has a history of criminal activities, corruption and just plain fucking things up?

you weren't in DC in the mid-late 1990s when everything was FUCKED up and i mean FUCKED up. The Downtown was shit, there was no services and the schools was shit.

[Arrow]

you weren't in DC in the mid-late 1990s when everything was FUCKED up and i mean FUCKED up. The Downtown was shit, there was no services and the schools was shit.

I remember those stories on the news. Made me glad I lived in Maryland.