Police gearing up for Weed & Seed [Northside]

[ForumManager]

I've noticed that they put the names of criminals and crime victims and street numbers and street names in their articles.  We need to know who lives around us and where.

Current inmates of the county jail are listed on this page with their home addresses.
http://www.mahoningcountyoh.gov/MahoningWeb/Department+and+Agencies/Department/Sheriff/Inmate+Information.htm
It is not everything you are looking for but it is a rundown of who is serving time for what locally.

State Offender search page
http://www.drc.state.oh.us/OffenderSearch/Search.aspx
search by zip... no specific addresses given
APA means released under supervision.

Federal inmate search is below but you need a name and it really won't bring back details of the crime
http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/LocateInmate.jsp

[Micky]

Thank you for the info.  I looked at it briefly before saving it to disc.  I'll read it thoroughly as soon as I have a little more time.

[yfdgricker]

I found this report on the outcomes of the previous Weed and Seed program in Youngstown. It might answer some questions. The link is http://www.weedandseed.info/docs/studies_local/youngstown-oh.pdf

I have it saved on my hard drive should the link disappear.

[Micky]

Why do we get more news about Youngstown from the Tribune Chronicle?  I've noticed that they put the names of criminals and crime victims and street numbers and street names in their articles.  We need to know who lives around us and where.

However, what exactly did Weed & Seed do for the Southside when it was here?  I know we had community police officers (?) but what did they really do?  We have more crime than ever!

[jay]

Most of the crime problems are on the south side not the north side.  Moving the program means the city has left the lives of south side residents in grave danger.

[yfdgricker]

Police gearing up for Weed & Seed
Story from the Warren Tribune Chronicle By JOE GORMAN on 1/2/2007.

YOUNGSTOWN — Police patrols in the new Weed & Seed target area on the city's North Side will be guided by citizen complaints and suggestions, but one block watch leader says she simply would like to see residents able to go out safely after dark.

Youngstown police Detective Sgt. Patricia Garchar, who will be coordinating law enforcement activities among three police departments in the grant area when the Weed & Seed starts sometime in February, said patrol activity will be guided primarily by what she hears from block watches and other citizens in the target area.

Weed & Seed is a community effort that targets criminals in high-crime areas and increases community activities.

People often do not go to weeknight church services or try to get all their activities done before it gets dark because they are afraid to be outside, Willie Williams of the Eagle Eye Block Watch said. She said she hopes the program will be able to solve that problem.

''Once it gets dark, if they don't have to be out, they're not out,'' Williams said of her neighbors.

The Weed & Seed on the North Side is the second one in the city since 1999. A Weed & Seed that encompassed almost the entire South Side ended its five-year run at the end of 2005.

Under the ''weed'' part of the program, money is set aside for extra patrols and other law enforcement activities. The ''seed'' portion is community activities and after-school programs, as well as efforts aimed at reducing blight and encouraging economic development. The program runs in the target area for five years.

The program is run by grant funds from the U.S. Department of Justice and lasts in each target area for five years. The program cannot return to the target area once the grant runs out.

Unlike on the South Side, the current edition of the Weed & Seed will use three police departments; besides the city police, the Youngstown State University and Humility of Mary Health Partners police departments also will take part because the target area surrounds YSU and St. Elizabeth Health Center.

Garchar has been making the rounds of community and block watch meetings to find out what residents believe the focus should be. She said complaints thus far have ranged from drug houses and other drug activity to traffic problems around St. Elizabeth.

Williams, whose block watch is in the Delaware Avenue area said she wants the extra patrols to watch drug activity and loitering on street corners. She noted four drug houses in the areas of Delaware, Crandall and Broadway avenues.

Williams also said she hopes officers get to know residents in the target area, especially youngsters.

''Maybe the police can interact with our youth, and that way the youth can have a different perspective on what law enforcement is like,'' Williams said.

Garchar said the police portion of the program will focus on community-oriented policing techniques, such as increasing visibility.

Williams said she is looking forward to other benefits of the Weed & Seed other than a crackdown on crime. She said she hopes blight in the area can be combated and also that some economic development can take place because the people in the target area need jobs.



jgorman@tribune-chronicle.com