Allan Appel Photo
Allan Appel
Block watchers said goodbye and hello: Goodbye to Police Chief James Lewis, and hello to other neighborhood groups that have flourished and helped cops fight crime during his tenure.
They did so at an event Saturday organized by SoHu (South of Humphrey) Block Watch Lisa Siedlarz (pictured with Newhalville District Manager Lt. Thaddeus Reddish) and Karri Brady of the Wooster Square Watch. They billed it as a community farewell to the chief, who leaves town at the end of the week after a heralded 20-month stint cleaning up a scandal-plagued department. Organizers also billed the event as a summit of New Haven block watches.
Several watches have been created or re- energized in the 20 months Chief Lewis has led the NHPD.
Saturday’s was the first good-bye of Lewis’s farewell week in town. A larger gathering in honor of both Lews and Assistant Chief Ken Gillespie, organized by members of the department, is scheduled for Monday evening.
More than 50 people including watchers old and new, cops, Mayor John DeStefano and other officials gathered in the community room of the Strouse Adler apartment complex on Olive Street (aka the Smoothie Building) Saturday to eat from a cake that featured a genially smiling chief.
The setting was specifically chosen because among the newest neighborhood watch groups is the Strouse Adler Tenants Association, or SATA.
One of its founders, Gloria Wang, said her group was invigorated last summer by its association with Wooster Square’s watch. Wooster Square in turn started back up in earnest last year to demand more policing and better lights on the Court Street bridge by the example of SoHu, said Brady.
“You start saying the police are not doing enough, never enough, then you see they are limited in resources and [you end up asking] how you can help,” said Brady.
Chief Lewis praised just such partnerships in his acknowledging remarks.
“It’s not hard to have a city – just put in some streets and buildings. It’s difficult to build community,” he said.
For SoHu that “building” got some new floors put on it when Lewis attended one of the initial block watch meetings in 2008, said Siedlarz.
The community had felt like a forgotten part of East Rock, envious of the greater police presence in Newhallville, and concerned about rising crime. Citizens began to patrol on bikes. There was even thought of bringing in armed patrols, as had occurred in Edgewood. It was a tense time.
“He was straightforward and thoughtful,” Siedlarz said of Lewis. And responsive. He told them about some of his aims, including starting a canine team within his reconstituted narcotics unit.
In short order, Siedlarz and SoHu organized a photo contest that resulted in a calendar. They raised $5,000 toward the purchase of Orvis and Nia, who now sniff out drugs citywide.
Crime went down in SoHu so now they could focus on community events and improvements including the planting of some 70 new trees, and counting.
A partnership was born, and now SoHu is 300 strong and one of the most active watches in the city. When citizens want to start a block watch, the department’s community liaison officer Joe Avery has a regular mantra: Go visit SoHu. Which is what Wooster Square’s Brady did.
“We are trying to inspire other watches,” said Siedlarz.
Pride, and Unfinished Business
This whole coming week will be a long goodbye to the chief in which he reflects on his tenure. At Sunday’s community appreciation, he summed up these thoughts:
What was the best of his time in New Haven? Answer: Helping the officers regain pride in their work protecting the people of the city. He said he hears this from the officers themselves, that they have a “new spring in their step.”
Lt. Reddish corroborated that. “He gave us back our freedom of speech. He allowed us to be creative,” Reddish said.
Lewis’s worst moment: the death of Sgt. Dario Aponte. “You never get used to such tragedies,” he said.
What piece of business feels most unfinished? “We improved enforcement, but we didn’t get a [sufficient] handle on turning kids around,” he said.
Allan Appel Photo
Lewis [pictured] said he was pleased with the growth of some programs like the Police Athletic League, Boys and Girls Clubs, and the Explorers. But too many kids already on the road to trouble weren’t reached.
“I went to a lot of meetings but I didn’t see much follow-through. I proposed the churches reach out [and each take] four or five, the kids already on a bad path,” he said.
Neither Brady nor Siedlarz expressed anxiety about the chief’s as-yet unnamed successor. Siedlarz said he has left “a good feeling.” Karri Brady too was optimistic: “Crime is down 10 percent overall. I’m trusting someone will follow in his footsteps.”
Lewis and his wife Kris leave town on Feb. 26, retiring to their house and two young grandkids and more on the way in Black Creek village, Wisconsin, population 3,000.
“I’ve retired five times,” he said. Does a sixth retirement loom somewhere else? “My wife says no.”