WYPR: Federal Hill Residents Meet With Officials to Discuss Issues of Safety (2008-06-24)

A pair of murders on the streets of Federal Hill over the weekend has left residents there shocked and frightened. Nearly 200 turned out last night at a community meeting to discuss the neighborhood's safety with city police and politicians. WYPR's Melody Simmons was there and filed this report.

A steady string of Federal Hill residents came to Christ Lutheran Church last night to ask what could be done about a rash of violent crime in their tony neighborhood. A couple of homicides on Friday and Sunday have many who live here jittery about personal safety.

Ricky Yankelov (Yankle-ov), a 10-year resident of Federal Hill, said he suspects the killings were drug related.

I've been complaining to the police department for years about an open air drug market between Henrietta Street and Hamburg Street, and there's a place called Sharp Ledenhal Apartments, which is the haven for the open air drug market and I've been complaining to the mayor, the mayor came to our community meeting. Nothing has changed.

City police last night described the victims as outsiders to the Federal Hill community. One slaying took place on Battery Avenue and the other on trendy Montgomery Street, where historic, rehabbed row houses post selling prices upwards to a million dollars.

Cobber Eccles has lived on East Montgomery Street for 31 years. He awoke early Sunday to the sound of gunshots. Police found a dead body just outside his front door. Last night, he was trying to make sense of it all.

My wife is reading a book about randomness and I think this is a lot of randomness at work. I think when you have a couple things occur, you need to have some diligence to make sure it doesn't become a pattern. But I think it's going to settle down.

The weekend killings - which also included three other murders in other parts of the city -- brought Baltimore's year-to-date homicide rate to 102. Police point out that figure is 30 percent lower than the homicide rate at the same time last year.

Col. John Skinner, chief of patrol for the city police department, said police will flood the Federal Hill community with patrols by car, foot, motorcycle, and even bicycle in the coming weeks.

Obviously, these are all for the most part homeowners who have invested in this neighborhood and believe very strongly in the neighborhood. They are very concerned because this is obviously unique for their neighborhood, they're not used to dealing with violent crime issues, but they are very concerned about their personal safety and the safety of their families.

Paul Robinson, president of the Federal Hill Neighborhood Association, said the mood of the community was one of justifiable concern. The meeting, he said, helped to calm some nerves.

Certainly, we have a great deal of confidence as a group as neighbors in both our elected officials and enforcement folks. They provided a pretty persuasive argument for us to feel a lot safer here tonight.

Residents told police they would like to see video cameras installed on Federal Hill streets to promote safety. They also asked for a crackdown on illegal parking.

Many requested better patrols of Federal Hill Park, which is posted to close at 11 p.m on one side of the park and at midnight at the other. That confusion, Col. Skinner, said will be fixed immediately. From here on out, the park will be closed at 11 p.m.

And, in a further promotion of public safety, basketball courts in the neighborhood will close at dusk. Such changes - along with nine extra officers dispatched to the Southern District for patrols between 5 p.m. and 1 a.m. - should help boost the mood in the community.

I'm Melody Simmons, reporting from Federal Hill, for 88.1, WYPR.