NEWS

Does the APD do enough to keep people informed?

Romando Dixson
rdixson@citizen-times.com

T ucked away in a neighborhood near French Broad River Park, Joyner Avenue is normally a peaceful place, residents say.

That changed last weekend after four break-ins during a nearly nine-hour span — from 10:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. — led to a flurry of police activity.

The Asheville Police Department quickly sent officers to knock on doors of houses nearby, looking for information and letting people know about the crimes along the roughly half-mile-long street. Joyner Avenue is typical of surrounding West Asheville, where new homeowners live alongside longtime residents in an area enjoying a resurgence.

A lieutenant for the district later followed up with some residents on the investigation's status.

But not everyone got the warning, raising questions over whether police could have done more in the age of instant information to let people know about the crime spree so they might help catch the thieves — or do more to protect themselves.

Some residents talked with officers directly and were pleased with the communication. Others on Joyner Avenue never heard from police and wish they had known about the break-ins sooner.

"I think when it comes to community outreach and engagement, everyone can be doing a better job," Joyner Avenue resident Sarah Nunez said. "It's not specific to the Asheville Police Department, but most community services can be doing a better job."

Police did not send out a press release about the break-ins or post anything on the department's Facebook or Twitter pages. The police blotter on the city's website also did not mention the crimes.

No arrests have been made. No victims were home when the break-ins happened.

The thieves took more than $13,000 in property — firearms, ammunition, TVs, electronics and jewelry — although about $4,000 worth of stolen items were found in a nearby yard and returned, according to incident reports.

The Citizen-Times, following up on a tip from a victim, received confirmation of the break-ins from police at 4 p.m. Monday. The news circulated by word of mouth over the weekend and into Monday. The news was widespread in the media Tuesday.

Nunez was a witness to some of the commotion. Someone broke into the house across the street from her and attempted to set it on fire, police said. She saw police cars and fire trucks outside.

Two days after the break-ins, Nunez talked with a neighbor who still had not heard about the crimes.

"The big thing was trying to figure out what happened and what was going on and why was there so much activity," Nunez said. "My personal way of handling that was: one, to contact APD and see if I could get information and two, to talk to my neighbors."

Nunez and other residents are organizing a neighborhood watch and setting up a meeting involving police, which is scheduled for May 12.

Letting people know

The Police Department sends out press releases on a case-by-case basis.

"Utilizing our district command system, district (lieutenants) are responsible for communicating crime trends to citizens," police spokesman Sgt. Dave Romick said in an email. "This is normally through our community resource officers, the media, social media, community/neighborhood watch programs, the Community Police Advisory Committee and Crime Prevention Office."

Press releases about residential break-ins are rarely distributed. In the summer of 2011, prior to Chief William Anderson's arrival, Asheville police were criticized heavily for not telling the public about a string of violent home invasions in West Asheville.

Other local law enforcement agencies do not routinely send press releases about individual break-ins or an uptick in a particular neighborhood.

An average of 60 break-ins per month — residential and business — were reported through March this year, city police said.

A total of 50 through March were reported in the Buncombe sheriff's jurisdiction, spokeswoman Natalie Bailey said.

"The Sheriff's Office issues media releases whenever we deem that there is a threat to public safety, if we need the public's assistance in locating a vulnerable person, such as a juvenile or a senior, or if we need assistance in locating a vehicle connected to an active investigation," she said. "The Sheriff's Office also issues a media release when we want to alert the public of any fraudulent activity that might be taking place in the community."

The Sheriff's Office and Police Department encourage residents to go online and search for incidents in their neighborhoods through the "police to citizens" system — also known as P2C.

The Asheville Police Department said outreach and communication is a big part of its three-year strategic plan.

Police blotter is a subsection of the police department's city website, designed to "provide the community with access to information on recent crime related activities and the actions of the Asheville Police Department to deter crime in Asheville neighborhoods."

The section hasn't been updated since Jan. 10. That post was about a homicide investigation. Police wanted the public to provide information on the case.

The assault happened on Jan. 3 and the victim, 31-year-old Patrick Frances Saunders, died on Jan. 6. Quwiivonte Perry Timmons, 17, of Asheville, was jailed on a charge of voluntary manslaughter on Jan. 16.

The homicide notice was the only blog entry this year. Seven posts were done in all of 2013.

Using social media

As social networking sites become more and more popular, people are consuming their news on those sites.

In May 2013, 72 percentage of adult Internet users were using social networking sites, up from 67 percent in late 2012, according to a Pew Internet & American Life Project survey. The number in 2005 was only 8 percent.

According to a separate Pew Research Center report in September 2011, 27 percent of American adults regularly or sometimes get news or news headlines through social networking sites. The number increased to 38 percent for people under 30.

Many law enforcement agencies use social media to reach citizens. The Buncombe County Sheriff's Office has a page with more than 3,000 likes.

"The page was started as a way to communicate directly with residents about important public safety matters, and to share our involvement in the community with the public," Bailey said.

In Jacksonville, Facebook is regularly used to post information about arrests and suspect searches.

The Police Department here has tried its hand in social media. The Facebook page has been active for about three months. It has about a dozen posts this year, with two about crime, both homicides.

The APD Twitter account hasn't been active since a standoff Jan. 2.

"This will be part of our communication plan in the future, to better utilize all forms of social media. A work in progress."

Nunez has said she has seen more patrol cars on her street since the break-ins and appreciates the work police have done. She thinks officers could take it a step further when patrolling neighborhoods by rolling down their windows and talking with people.

"Do they have everything they need to be able to make that happen?" she said. "Maybe they don't. If not, then what are the solutions?"