Program works to decrease crime, implements prevention strategies

It was the neighborhood she grew up in, the one she raised her children in and year after year, it was the neighborhood she watched slip by the wayside. From a calm quarter of Huntington – one where families sat on their front porches talking, playing games, growing up together – Sandra Clements watched slowly until eventually she was the only one on the porch.

"I began to realize I was the only person sitting out on my porch in the evening," Clements said. "And I thought, ‘this is really bad, because if something happens then who do I have to help me?'"

In the course of 10 years, Clements said she watched the friendly place she knew become overrun with trash, drugs, prostitution and death. It was a slow process, but not one that was getting fixed.

"Drug dealers know the police aren't going to come,"Clements said. "What I began to see was in a community that has no jobs for people. When you don't have a job, you don't have a degree, what do you do? You sell drugs on the street."

Clements is a member of the Huntington City Council. Her district is in the Weed and Seed area. Weed and Seed is a nationwide initiative designed to weed out violent criminals and drug abusers and plant seeds of prevention, intervention and treatment. The idea is to grow the community together, but now organizers are worried it might fall apart after President Barack Obama announced the end of Weed and Seed funding in 2011 – just three years after Huntington's chapter began.

According to 2008-2009 data from the Huntington Police Department, 5,370 criminal reports were made in Huntington, a city of fewer than 50,000.

Sixty-six of those offenses were for prostitution; 983 for drug or narcotic use or possession of drug paraphernalia. Fourteen were for murder. All that in 365 days – in a city less than 16 squares miles.

The 2008 Weed and Seed data show crime has steadily increased in the district by 6.5 percent the last few years. Tim White, the program coordinator, said his only concern was keeping crime growth at zero.

"If it had just stayed the same we'd be happy," White said. "But not only did it not grow, it dropped 13 percent."   

Factoring in the 6.5 percent projected growth and the 13 percent drop, city leaders were looking at an almost 20 percent decrease right off the bat in that particular area.

 "We have met or exceeded every benchmark we've had in the first year of the program,"said  Lt. Ray Cornwell of the Huntington Police Department.

With a first year budget of $175,000, the program met or exceeded all of its first year weeding and seeding goals, according to a study completed by a third-party team. According to the report, police activity increased in the form of additional undercover hours, directed patrols and bicycle patrols. Also, a special prosecutor was hired in the Cabell County Prosecutor's office to focus on Weed and Seed cases. That led to 349 offenders being charged and the conviction of 96 repeat offenders.

The study notes the implementation of four neighborhood crime prevention strategies, 29 vacant structures being demolished and 21 first time homebuyers taking home buying classes and purchasing homes in the Weed and Seed district.

"If crime goes down, people feel safe," White said. "They want to move in, buy houses and raise their kids. That's really how you change a neighborhood and community."

When the National Symphony Orchestra came to town April 10, nearly 600 people from the Weed and Seed district came out to enjoy the music. On Earth Day, April 22, 1,000 residents took part in a celebration geared toward green living. White said the fact that people feel comfortable enough to come out and participate shows what can happen when a community works together.

If Congress approves Obama's measure, after 2011 funds that are used for Weed and Seed will be transformed for a proposed program called the Burn Criminal Justice Community. The possibility is that the Huntington program's budget could double under the program, but the bleak reality is that organizers may have to go back and reapply for grants.

White said he's not going to give up because it isn't just his job that hangs in the balance.

"People ask me how many kids I have, I say I have two that live with me," he said. "But I have about 500 that I claim."

Hannah Francis can be contacted at francish@marshall.edu.