While Historic Northeast residents comfortably slept, safe in their homes, a small army of police officers were making life difficult for those who make Independence Avenue their area of operations for illegal and illicit activity.
During the first 10 days of the Independence Avenue Project, which took place these poast few week, officers working along Independence Avenue stopped more than 162 individuals along the Avenue resulting in 92 searches and 60 arrests.
Officers are making such an impact that three of the subjects stopped by officers indicated things were so “hot” along the Avenue that they were actually departing the city for supposedly greener pastures elsewhere. One of those was heading toward the railroad tracks, in search of a freight train to hop in order to flee the city.
“That’s essentially what we’re looking for,” East Patrol Commander Major Laura Barton said. “We’re trying to address quality of life issues for residents and business people along Independence Avenue.”
The goal is to get most of the criminals off the street and get the illegal activities off the Avenue without simply pushing into the neighborhood streets, Barton said.
“That’s the balancing act,” she said.
Mobile Crime Watch volunteers out on patrol last weekend noticed a substantial up tick in police presence, specifically during the overnight hours on the weekend.
In an attempt to insure those arrested during the project don’t get rolled back out after the normal 20-hour detention, Barton and other police officials will be scheduling meetings with both the city and County Prosecutors office to coordinate proper and effective prosecution of those arrested.
“We’d like to make staying off Independence Avenue a condition of their punishment,” Barton said. “The more of these people that don’t come back here, the better off the community at large will be in the long run.”
