Community Relations A newsletter of the Winston-Salem Police Department Community Relations Division

Transcription

1 Vol. 1, Issue 3 Fall 2014 Community Relations A newsletter of the Winston-Salem Police Department Community Relations Division 31st Annual National Night Out Welcome to COMMUNITY RELATIONS, a quarterly newsletter with information and insights about the programs and partnerships established with the Winston-Salem Police Department. The Community Relations Division creates opportunities for the Police Department to positively interact with various community groups and citizens. Community Relations is published by the Winston-Salem Police Department Neighborhoods throughout Winston-Salem joined with thousands of communities nationwide on Tuesday, Aug. 5, for the 31st annual National Night Out for crime and drug prevention. Residents in neighborhoods throughout Winston-Salem and across the nation were asked to lock their doors, turn on their outside lights and spend the evening outside with neighbors and police. Local observance of National Night Out began at 6 p.m. at 612 Mc- Creary St., where Mayor Allen Joines, members of the City Council, city officials, police officers, and local residents kicked off National Night Out in the Ogburn Avenue neighborhood. Elsewhere in Winston-Salem, participating neighborhoods held such activities as block parties, cookouts, visits with police officers, flashlight walks, contests, youth activities and anti-crime rallies. National Night Out is sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch and co-sponsored locally by the Winston-Salem Police Department. National Night Out is a community-building activity designed to: heighten crime- and drug-prevention awareness; generate support for, and participation in, local anti-crime efforts; strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships; and send a message to criminals that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back. Police Chief: Barry D. Rountree Editor: Pam Peoples-Joyner, M.Ed. Copyright 2014 Winston-Salem Police Department, 725 N. Cherry Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, (336) CITY OF WINSTON-SALEM Mayor: Allen Joines City Council: Vivian H. Burke, Mayor Pro Tempore, Northeast Ward; Denise D. Adams, North Ward; Dan Besse, Southwest Ward; Robert C. Clark, West Ward; Molly Leight, South Ward; Jeff MacIntosh, Northwest Ward; Derwin L Montgomery, East Ward; James Taylor Jr., Southeast Ward City Manager: Lee D. Garrity Clockwise from top left: Kristopher Ladd and William Knowlton of Target, Sergeant Snow and Mr. John Toomey, Council Member James Taylor and Vanessa Smith, Ms. Claudette Bailey

2 Community Relations A newsletter of the Winston-Salem Police Department Community Relations Division Police Support No Parent Left Behind Conference The annual No Parent Left Behind conference was held Aug. 14 at the Career Center on the campus of Kennedy High School. The conference is an outreach program to keep parents informed about issues affecting their school-age children, and to give them information to help their children succeed in school. Workshops this year included common core standards, reading to achieve, programs for exceptional children, bullying, school safety, and more. The Winston-Salem Police Department, which co-sponsors the conference, donated 150 bags of school supplies that were distributed by Officer Lisa Williams at the conference. Also cosponsoring the conference were the Forsyth County Community Youth Council, the Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools, Northwest Piedmont Workforce Development and the Forsyth County Council of PTAs. Youth Citizens Police Academy About 30 young people age 16 and up attended the 2014 Youth Citizens Police Academy, held July 7 to 11 at the Alexander R. Beaty Public Safety Training and Support Center. The Youth Citizens Police Academy is held every summer to give young people insight into how police officers perform their duties and how the department as a whole serves the community. Youth Citizens Police Academy is especially useful for young people interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement. Each day the youth learned about a different aspect of the Police Department. Topics included criminal investigations, forensic services, SWAT, the canine unit and the firearms training simulator. Dates for the 2015 Youth Citizens Police Academy will be announced next spring. Officer Williams distributing school supplies at No Parent Left Behind Conference

3 Happy Hill Reunion Police officers who served on foot patrol in the Happy Hill neighborhood over the past 20 years were honored during a meeting of the Happy Hill Reunion Committee on Aug. 11 at the William C. Sims Sr. Recreation Center. The invitation list included Chief Barry Rountree, Lt. Tyrone Phelps, Sgt. Delray Anthony, Sgt. Jimmy Boyd and Officer Ralph Mason. The reunion brings together current and former residents of Happy Hill, the city s oldest African American neighborhood. Summer Interns From top left: Alexander Crawford, Livingstone College - Dyora Dove, Winston-Salem State University - Lauren Dubose, Appalachian State University - Titus Lee, Elizabeth City State University - Jane Garrity, Wake Forest University Law School - Charles Mauney, East Carolina University - Jessie Wilson, Appalachian State University - Nilsen Tesh, Appalachian State University - Nicholas Hensley, UNC Charlotte From top: Council Member Derwin Montgomery, Sergeant Jimmy Boyd and Ben Piggott Montgomery, Sergeant Delray Anthony and Piggott Chief Barry D. Rountree Liberty CDC Challenge Fire Chief Antony Farmer, Jim Shaw, and Police Chief Barry D. Rountree. The event was on July, 12, 2014

4 Inaugural Gospel in the Park Council Member James Taylor, Chief Barry D. Rountree, Southeast Ward Basketball Team and WSPD Basketball Team Police Take on Southeast Ward Team in Basketball The Winston-Salem Police Department s basketball team took on a team of citizens representing the Southeast Ward in a free exhibition game held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug.9, at the Sprague Street Recreation Center. Special appearances were made by Council Member James Taylor, who arranged for the game, along with City Manager Lee Garrity and Police Chief Barry Rountree. The Southeast Ward team showed up and gave Winston-Salem s finest a run for their money, but at the end of the game the Police Department team pulled out a win. Council Member Taylor set up the game as an informal way to promote positive relations between police officers and citizens in the ward. Approximately 175 city residents attended the inaugural Gospel in the Park song fest at Fairview Park, 1690 E. 19th St, at 5 p.m. Sunday, July 20. Participants included Freedom Baptist Church Youth Choir, Greater Cleveland Avenue Christian Church Youth Choir, Galilee Missionary Baptist Church Mime Team and New Hope Baptist Church Youth Choir. Each choir and dance team performed their favorite gospel songs and dances. Union Baptist provided their ice cream truck and refreshments were also given out to the public. The event was a major success it brought community members out from all wards to hear some great gospel music. Gospel in the Park was an initiative of Council Member Vivian H. Burke to revitalize and reenergize Fairview Park. The park s amenities include a playground, track and basketball court. Union Baptist Ice Cream Truck Council Member James Taylor and the Southeast Ward Basketball Team Council Member Vivian Burke and Pam Peoples-Joyner

5 City Offices Open in Winston Mutual Building Winston-Salem Journal, July 12, 2014 Several city of Winston-Salem offices have officially moved into the historic Winston Mutual Building in eastern Winston-Salem, according to the Winston-Salem Journal. The Winston-Salem Police Department s Community Resources Unit is on the second floor and the city s engineering field offices are housed on the third and fourth floors of the 18,760-square-foot building at 1225 E. Fifth St. One of the things that we re trying to do is have police in the community and also have some police facilities in the communities that we serve, so this is of the first steps in that plan to move toward that, said Police Chief Barry Rountree. The Community Resources Unit has six employees in the building. The unit conducts various crime prevention and community relations activities, including the organization of neighborhood watch groups, residential and business security inspections, the Citizen s Police Academy and appearances of McGruff, the crime-fighting dog. Sgt. M.J. Snow, the supervising officer for the Community Resources Unit, said that the Winston Mutual Building provides more space for the unit. We lacked some of that over at the police department because of manpower issues and size, and it s given us an opportunity to be in the community, Snow said. Eight engineering field offices surveyors are on the third floor and an additional eight engineering construction inspectors are on the fourth floor. The division was previously in the City Yard but it had to move to make way for the Salem Creek Connector road project. The division expects to be in the building for 2½ years. This has worked out fine, said David Doss, engineering field manager. The nice thing about it was when I first came in here, the building was gutted and we were able to design our own space. The Winston Mutual Building is a landmark in eastern Winston-Salem. Over the years, it has been home to various civic and political groups but had fallen into disrepair. The four-story Modernist building was built in 1969 for the offices of the Winston Mutual Life Insurance Co. It sits on 1.6 acres. The words Winston-Mutual are still on the side of the building. Winston Mutual was founded in 1906 by 12 black business officials who wanted to provide insurance and home mortgage products in their community. Besides the business that was conducted in the Winston Mutual Building, its historic significance was derived from community leaders using the site to discuss social issues and organize political campaigns. In the mid-1980s, Winston Mutual was sold to Golden State, which put the building up for sale. As Golden State began experiencing financial difficulties, the building fell into disrepair. Fifth Street Investments LLC is the building s current owner. Now that several city offices have moved into the building, Council Member Derwin Montgomery, who represents the East Ward, believes that it s an opportunity for the building and the community, particularly because the Winston Mutual Building had been vacant for several years. By the city leasing space there, it helps show the economic investment there, and also gave the opportunity for the owners of the property to really bring it back up to a standard that I think is great in that community, Montgomery said. He believes that the changes at the Winston Mutual Building only gives a glimpse of what is to come in terms of development as it continues to move east from downtown.