Las Vegas police, residents unite to make public housing safer

They race each other on bicycles through the West Las Vegas public housing complex, play hide-and-seek behind its concrete block apartments, kick their legs on the swings.

Even as the sky darkens, their mothers don’t worry so much anymore about them staying outside.

"Our kids can play in the street now," said Tina Smith, 52, who has lived in the complex at Doolittle Avenue and H Street with her daughter for about eight years. "Before, it was rare with all the shooting going on."

The 160-unit family complex, popularly known as The Jets, is infamous for being home to gang members who long used violence to defend their turf.

Not long ago, shootings and other violence were a part of life.

" I wasn’t allowed to play out here," said Robyn Traylor-Smith, Tina Smith’s daughter, now 18. "I was in the house."

But over the past couple of years, life at the annex and two adjoining public housing complexes – Villa Capri and Sherman Gardens – has changed. Overall violent crime fell by 44 percent between 2010 and 2011, Las Vegas police say. The number of gun-related incidents plummeted by 89 percent, while robberies decreased 80 percent. There hasn’t been a homicide reported inside the three complexes in 18 months.

Those familiar with the neighborhood say a partnership involving police, residents, religious leaders, public housing officials and others is responsible for the transformation.

The nearly two-year collaboration, dubbed the Sherman Gardens Initiative, is an extension of Safe Village, a program begun in 2006 to reduce violent crime in West Las Vegas, a poor, historically black neighborhood.

The Metropolitan Police Department last year was nationally recognized for its Safe Village program, receiving the Webber Seavey Award, the International Association of Chiefs of Police’s top honor for community policing.

Both Safe Village and the Sherman Gardens Initiative encourage everyone with a stake in the neighborhood to become more involved in the community.

But Safe Village tends to have a more reactive approach: After traumatic events – such as homicides – police, religious and community leaders go to crime scenes to help relatives of the victims and quell fears in the community.

The Sherman Gardens Initiative, meanwhile, focuses more on preventing those crimes from happening in the first place.

Police in the area now spend more time getting to know residents instead of arresting them. Housing officials have partnered with nonprofit groups to open a resource center for children and a computer lab.

Neighborhood religious leaders go on regular weekend "night walks" to talk to young men about being responsible. The Police Athletic League, a group dedicated to helping youths resist gangs and drugs, provides children with free sports activities.

"Once you get the kids involved, whole families come together," Smith said.

But the most powerful change also was the simplest: People began talking – and listening – to each other.

"The community was getting tired of the way we were doing our jobs," said Capt. Larry Burns, supervisor of the Bolden Area Command, which includes the three public housing properties.

"We were good at chasing people around and taking them out of the community, but we hadn’t done enough to build relationships there," he said. " We hadn’t done anything to change the paradigm of life for them. "

Now, Burns and his officers work with residents, including former gang members he once locked up, to address problems.

"We learned it’s not about us telling them what we want from them, but listening to what they want and need from us," Burns said. We are changing the way that we do business. "

THE BEGINNING OF CHANGE

Burns’ predecessor, now-Deputy Chief Kevin McMahill, launched the Sherman Gardens Initiative in September 2010 in hopes of stemming violence in the roughly 1-square-mile area.

One of the first orders of business was surveying residents about their needs.

" We walked around talking to them," said John Hill, director of the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority. "People said they felt ignored. They felt left out."

Residents previously weren’t being treated with enough dignity and respect, said Dora LaGrande, chairwoman of the authority’s board.

It was clear there was a lot of work to do," she said.

The residents complained about repairs going undone and problem tenants being overlooked, with crime in the neighborhood and how police were handling it.

The issues included "how do we get homicides to stop?" said Mujahid Ramadan, a well-known community activist who is part of the initiative. "We had gang members shooting and citizens afraid of the gang members."

Housing authority staffers got to work on their end. They made repairs to the properties and improved the landscaping. They reached out to several faith-based groups and nonprofits for help. They began more quickly dealing with problem tenants, including women with trouble-causing boyfriends.

"We said, ‘Are you going to let this person cause you and your kids to lose your lease?’ " Hill said.

Meanwhile, officers in the area began focusing more on community policing and less on " saturation." The same officers were assigned to the area most nights so residents got to know them.

" We ditch the cop car and walk around," officer Ryan Glass said at the beginning of his recent Friday night shift. That way, "they see us as people, not just as the cops."

Glass has worked the area for four years. In the beginning, "it was crazy," he said. "We were having shootings all the time. Now, it seems like they are few and far between."

He and other officers spend time chatting with residents. They hand out stickers and Slurpee gift certificates to the children. They give out their cellphone numbers.

"Instead of coming in and forcing them to do whatever we want, we take a minute to talk to them," he said. "It changes people."

Now, resident Smith said, instead of running away from officers, the kids run to them. "Everybody knows Metro is family here," she said.

Residents began calling Glass or other officers at the first signs of trouble.

"They want a safe community," said Pastor Willie Cherry, of Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church, who is part of the initiative. " They want their children to be able to come out and play. They want to feel safe walking down the street without worrying about being jumped."

Even those who live outside the complex noticed a difference.

" It used to be real bad, but not anymore," Betsey Walker said while sitting outside her apartment at Lake Mead Boulevard and H Street with her 5-year-old granddaughter.

"It’s been a blessing. I just thank God they got a change over here."

Lower crime statistics prove the initiative’s success, Burns said. And they were achieved without increasing police presence in the three complexes.

"In fact, we decreased the overall police presence," Burns said. "We learned some lessons."

Not only did the initiative succeed without more officers on the street, it was built without any special funding from the Police Department or the housing authority.

"What we had is human resources," Hill said.

MOVING FORWARD

The challenge now, those involved in the Sherman Gardens Initiative say, is to maintain positive momentum and the initial energy that came from witnessing change for the better.

Dozens of stakeholders meet each Monday afternoon at housing authority headquarters to hash out any problems that arise and make plans for the future.

At a recent meeting, a police lieutenant expressed frustration about a drive-by shooting that occurred just outside the initiative’s boundaries. He wondered aloud whether the group is making enough of a difference. Other stakeholders offered support and encouragement.

"I ask myself, ‘What is the value of a life?’" LaGrande said, adding that she knows the group’s efforts have saved more than one.

Burns said he noticed the change when he and other officers went to the hospital to visit family members of the shooting victim. They were embraced instead of shunned.

"It was completely different," he said.

The group also holds regular town hall-style meetings at nearby Matt Kelly Elementary, where public housing residents can ask questions or vent frustrations.

Those involved with the initiative have each promised their continued commitment.

" We are not going to let this thing go," Hill said.

Smith attends most of the meetings to offer her "two cents."

"I want to give my support in hopes they’ll support us" residents, she said.

She said her and other residents’ opinions are now heard and valued.

But she keeps returning to the children, and what changes in the neighborhood have meant for them.

"They’re playing football up and down the side of the street," she said. "They’re running back and forth. The best sound is to hear them laughing, running and playing."

Contact Lynnette Curtis at Lynnette.Curtis@yahoo.com.