Rockwood Weed N’ Seed

Community Policing Subcommittee

 

5/9/01 Meeting Minutes

 

Members Attending:

Jeff Howes, Carla Piluso, Patti Swanson, Beth Faulhaber (Representing Maura White-Cioeta) Gary Walker, Bob Robison, Brett Walker

 

Welcome and Introductions:

Brett Walker welcomed everyone, and members briefly introduced themselves. 

 

Selection of a Chairperson:

The first order of business was the selection of a chairperson.  Beth nominated Maura, and the committee approved the nomination.  Since Maura was not present, there may be some discussion about this at the next meeting.

 

Review of Guidelines:

Brett Walker led a discussion of the 2001 Weed N’ Seed guidelines for recognition, and the committee discussed the importance of going through a “strategic planning” process.  Four specific point regarding strategic planning were raised:

 

1.      Management Structure

2.      Neighborhood Selection & Assessment

3.      Weed N’ Seed Strategy

4.      Coordination

 

There was a brief discussion of what each of these points involves, and it was determined that at this point we need to focus on points 2 and 3.

 

Discussion of Demographics:

Some concerns about demographics were raised, and it was mentioned that it will be a significant challenge to demonstrate what we already know about Rockwood to the Department of Justice.  It was noted that we will have to be creative in our approach to gathering demographic information.  There was consensus in the committee that it would be far more efficient to collate existing demographic information for the community needs assessment aspect of the application than to collect new information.

 

There was also consensus among the committee that it will be important to focus on a small geographic area within Rockwood, so that we don’t get spread too thin. Bob mentioned that focusing on a small area also makes it easier to show trends. Carla suggested that we target an area inside Gresham Police Patrol District Five (202nd to 175th, Glisan to Powell Valley Rd….for our purposes, we looked at the are from Division to Stark, 182nd to 202nd), to make data gathering easy.  The committee examined a police district map that Carla brought, and agreed that focusing on an area within District Five would be wise.  Bob stated that it will be important get the exact boundaries determined as soon as possible, so as to make the best use of demographics.  There was consensus on this issue.

 

The committee also examined maps that Bob brought that displayed crimes committed by type and location in the last month for Rockwood.    At this point, Carla mentioned that GPD has a data analyst that can do a lot of the demographic work that we need done.

 

Open Discussion:

The purpose of the open discussion was to identify priorities for the committee.  The discussion began by reviewing what community policing is in the context of the Weed N’ Seed strategy.  According to the official Weed N’ Seed literature, community policing serves as a bridge between the weed (law enforcement) and seed (health/social services, and neighborhood restoration) elements of the strategy.  The two most important components of community policing are problem solving and community involvement.

 

To begin the discussion, Patti asked Carla what GPD’s current vision of community policing is.  Carla replied by saying that although there isn’t any direct language in their mission statements, they incorporate the community policing philosophy into the way they approach law enforcement on a daily basis.  She also stated that working with multiple agencies and problem solving are critical aspects of the community policing philosophy that GPD employs.

 

Carla continued on to discuss the broad volunteer and civilian base, such as community safety specialists, that exists within the GPD structure.  She said that the partnerships for a successful community policing campaign are already in place.  She also said that we should select five broad topics (such as juvenile crime, victim advocacy, etc.) to focus on.

 

Jeff agreed with this, and stated that it is important for a program like this to experience success early on.  This will get it started on the right foot and breed future successes.

 

Bob mentioned that all community justice agencies have certain principles they work with, including interagency coordination and being proactive, and that we should incorporate these principles into our work.  He also said that we have a rich opportunity in Rockwood, because there are so many agencies that are focusing on the area.

 

The committee also discussed the issues surrounding the apartment complexes in Rockwood.  Carla had an idea that we should work toward turning the complexes into communities through community policing and interagency coordination.  She suggested partnering with parents in the apartments, social service, and community justice agencies to get residents to feel a sense of ownership in their community.  She said this can be accomplished through simple things, such as on-site recreation opportunities for kids.  She also mentioned GPD’s enhanced safety program and landlord training programs as being community-building tools.  Additionally, she stated that parenting education is an essential part of all youth activity.  Finally, she said that some apartments are owned by HAP or Human Solutions, so possibilities for good partnerships are already in place.

 

Bob said that he thought one of our objectives should be to increase youth activity around the apartment complexes using volunteer supervision, and he also mentioned the organizing work that the Alliance of Latino Parents has been doing in the apartments.  He said that increasing home ownership and building community are the two key areas in preventing crime, and that these are things we should consider.

 

Patti said that as we proceed, we need to be aware of “cultural pockets,” and she also said that East County has a high rate of parent involvement that we should capitalize on.

 

Carla said that we should also partner with local churches, which are good sources of information dissemination, and local schools.

 

Gary stated that public safety plows the way good social service work.  Bob agreed with this, stating that public safety should be our main focus, and thus it makes sense to use GPD demographic data/district boundaries to define our target neighborhood.

 

At this point it was suggested that Carla talk to the GPD data analyst, and have her use a few specific criteria to help us determine the best possible target neighborhood.  The criteria are that the target area 1) be located around the Rockwood “triangle” 2) contain roughly 20,000 people 3) highest rates of crime and poverty.  Bob volunteered to work with the data analyst to fuse crime and poverty statistics.

 

Before adjourning for the evening, the committee identified four broad areas of focus – reducing crime, reducing poverty, increasing community involvement/spirit, decreasing peoples’ fear of crime-- for which we will identify goals, objectives and strategies as our work proceeds.  Within this broad framework, the committee identified its vision for community policing in the Rockwood Weed N’ Seed effort as taking a proactive approach to community justice & public safety, utilizing interagency collaboration, community building around apartment complexes, empowering the community, and creating linkages to community centers. 

Finally, the committee identified agencies that can be partners in the community policing process.  They include, but are not limited to, Gresham Police Dept., Multnomah County Dept. of Community Justice/Parole & Probation, District Attorney’s office, Eastwind Center, PAL, Multnomah County Sheriff’s Dept., El Programa Hispano, Alliance of Latino Parents for Better Schools, Housing Authority of Portland, OLCC, Human Solutions, East County Caring Community, Drug Free School Zones, Multnomah County Aging & Disability Services, Multnomah County Health Dept., and local schools.

 

Next Steps:

1.      GPD demographic analysis.

2.      Individual brainstorming of goals, objectives, and strategies within the four identified focus areas.

3.      At the next committee meeting, the committee will need to address liabilities.

The next meeting will be on Wednesday, June 6th, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM in the Springwater Trail Room at Gresham City Hall.