“My neighbors are putting bars on their windows!” cried one woman, as locals urged the police chief to take crime in Westville seriously.
Natalie Judd (pictured) worries that an increase in crime in affluent Westville could spell the demise of New Haven. “If Westville goes down, the rest of the city goes down,” she said. “We write the checks.”
Judd was one of several Westville residents to voice their alarm at Wednesday night’s meeting of the Westville/West Hills Community Management Team. Twenty-five neighbors gathered in the Westville police substation on Valley Street to meet the city’s new police chief, James Lewis, and hear about his plan for tackling crime in New Haven.
Locals said their neighborhood doesn’t get adequate attention from police, since Westville doesn’t have as severe crime problems as other parts of the city do. Burglaries and out-of-control ATVs were two of their top areas of concern.
Bars
“What can we do about the break-ins and burglaries throughout Westville?” Judd asked the chief during the meeting. She said that there had been several recent burglaries targeting locked garages near her home on Yale Avenue. So far it has been limited to bike thefts, said Judd, “but it’s going to escalate.”
Chief Lewis (pictured) responded that burglaries are up city-wide. He said that neighbors could take precautionary measures such as outdoor lighting and security systems.
Judd said that some of her neighbors have recently purchased bars for their windows. “I don’t know if this is the kind of neighborhood we want to live in, where our neighbors are putting bars on their windows,” she added with alarm.
Checks
After the meeting, Judd said that “Westville is seen as a check-writing, tax-paying base,” but that its thefts and other crimes are not taken seriously. She said that Westville residents are unfairly characterized as naive and careless when it comes to crime.
“I’m very tired of our alderperson telling us that we’re a bunch of pollyannas,” said Judd. She said that her alder, Ina Silverman, has attributed thefts in Westville to residents not taking adequate precautions, like locking doors.
Judd said that she has seen an increase in crime in the ten years that she has lived there. She doesn’t think that the neighborhood gets the attention from the NHPD that it needs, because its crimes are not as severe as other neighborhoods.
She foretold dire consequences if the NHPD doesn’t put an end to Westville crime. “Westville is the highest taxpaying district in the city,” she said. “People here can afford to live elsewhere.”
“If Westville goes down, the rest of the city goes down,” Judd said. “We write the checks.”
West Rock Avenue resident Kate Bradley voiced a similar sentiment after the meeting. “The middle class votes with its feet,” she said. “If they leave, you lose your tax base.”
Attention-Seeking Behavior
Bradley (at left in picture) said after the meeting that she could understand Judd’s frustration. So did Mary Faulkner, the Westville/West Hills Management Team chairperson.
“Natalie has a very good point,” Faulkner said. “She pays a lot of taxes and she’s very involved in the community… and she just keeps hearing negative things from the police.”
“Meanwhile, her kids can’t play in front of her house,” continued Faulkner, saying that the illegal ATVs zooming by on Yale Avenue made it too dangerous for Judd’s children.
Faulkner said that if a bike is stolen in Westville, the victim often hears a dismissive, “It’s just a bike,” from the police. She said that neighbors are looking for more from the NHPD.
“The sentiment has been, ‘We need the police department to take us seriously,” Faulkner said.
Judd, Faulkner, and Bradley all said that the police have been largely unresponsive to one of the most persistent problems in Westville: illegal ATV use in and around Edgewood park.
“If you call the police, it’s like ‘What are you calling us for?’” Bradley told the chief during the meeting.
“We understand it’s not someone getting shot,” Faulkner said after the meeting. “But they could at least show up.”
Optimism
Despite their complaints, Westville residents were optimistic that Chief Lewis would be responsive to their neighborhood.
“I’m impressed with the chief,” Judd said. “I’m hopeful.” She mentioned the chief’s “track record of success in other cities.”
“I’m encouraged by the chief in general. It seems like he’s gotten quite a bit done already,” said Bradley, adding that she was impressed by the chief’s apparent accessibility, his work on cleaning up the NHPD’s outdated policies and his acquisition of Blackberries for his staff. “He’s being a lot more open.”