Center Works to Keep South Campus Neighborhoods Safe

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Coordinating police, residents and campus officials in an effort to crack down on disruptive student parties in University Heights is just one of the many projects of the Regional Community Policing Center (RCPC), a University at Buffalo initiative that works to reduce crime and increase safety in seven neighborhoods surrounding the South Campus.

The University District Problem Properties Task Force is an RCPC-coordinated effort with the University Heights COPS Station whose main goal is to curtail out-of-control parties around South Campus, said Pamela Beal, coordinator of RCPC, which is housed in the University-Community Initiative, part of the UB's Division of External Affairs.

The task force includes local law enforcement and fire agencies, the New York State Liquor Authority, neighborhood watch groups, faith-based organizations and NFTA Transit Police.

According to Michele Graves, citizen preparedness supervisor of the Community Oriented Police Station (COPS) Satellite Program, cracking down on student parties became a priority after cable channel MTV staged two reality shows, "Fraternity Life" and "Sorority Life," at UB. Student parties in University Heights grew increasingly dangerous after those shows aired, Graves noted.

"When we formed three years ago, it was because parties had really become out of control," she said.

Maureen Milligan, president of the Winspear Avenue Block Club, says she and other neighbors accompanied police on a midnight tour of student houses to issue warnings soon after the task force was organized. An eight-year resident of Winspear Avenue, Milligan was shocked to see some of the conditions. One house had 250 students in a basement; another had 160 students packed into an attic, which took a half-hour to evacuate.

"That's way too many people to have inside a house," she said. "I don't mind parties, but within reason."

Several years ago on Halloween, there were more than 1,000 people partying in the streets, said Graves.

People can feel overwhelmed when they think they are facing a problem alone. The RCPC puts people and organizations together to address issues with a united front, said Beal.

Just knowing faces and contact information is important, Milligan added.

"After the creation of the Problem Properties Task Force, things have changed significantly for the good," she said. "I don't know what we would have done without it. The task force has made a huge difference."

Milligan noted the RCPC has assisted with smaller initiatives in her neighborhood as well. Recently, the Heights obtained a second bulk trash pickup in the spring from the City of Buffalo to deal with garbage from students moving home after Memorial Day. A recycling campaign also has taken off in the neighborhood, she said, thanks to an RCPC awareness blitz. Graves' organization supplied recycling bins, which Milligan helped distribute at a small party she hosted to welcome new students to the neighborhood.

"We're trying to make the landlords accountable too," Beal said. Police investigations have uncovered windows painted shut, electrical wires over gas stoves and other illegal hookups. Some renters answer to out-of-state managers or mail checks to a post office box. "Students that rent often never see the landlords," she said.

Graves works with the courts to ensure that arrests that are made benefit the neighborhood. "Those community service hours are performed in University Heights," she said.

Graffiti Hurts is another project run by RCPC, Beal said. It works to reduce graffiti in neighborhoods surrounding the South Campus. Beal has worked with the Erie County District Attorney's Office to develop a training bulletin to educate police on how to deal with graffitists. Beal said a three-month court case recently was resolved, with two 25-year-old graffitists from Snyder being sentenced to 150 hours of community service each. They also must make financial restitution to the owners of the vandalized buildings.

Beal explained that some graffitists are art or design majors, and that only 20 percent of graffiti is gang-related. Nevertheless, she said, "People are afraid when the see graffiti." Graffitists often include signature marks or "tags" in their designs that can identify them. The RCPC maintains a database of known offenders, facilitates information-sharing on graffiti and assists community groups in organizing graffiti-abatement days to paint vandalized areas.

"Many law enforcement and community members, both urban and suburban, are now communicating with each other about who is tagging where," said Beal, and are sharing information on how to remove graffiti paint and marker. "We are working together to develop short and long-term solutions to the problem."

RCPC's Project Safe Neighborhoods tackles the issue of gun violence, said Beal. Working with the Buffalo Police Department and the U.S. Attorney General's Office, Project Safe Neighborhoods seeks to lessen gun violence by taking offenders paroled on weapons charges to notification sessions, where they meet with various educators. Of nearly 120 participants, Beal said that only six have re-offended, five of whom were charged with possession, not use, of a firearm.

In addition, Beal said RCPC has developed an award-winning Prostitution Task Force. However, funding for that program recently was cut due to the Erie County budget crisis.

Not all RCPC projects focus on crime, however. "Part of community policing is doing things that make the community more cohesive," Beal said. She has worked to organize the Samuel P. Capen Garden Walk and the Kensington-Bailey Blues and Barbecue Festival, both of which showcase the positive assets of the communities near the South Campus. Despite its reputation as a "party street," six homes on Heath Street participated in the Garden Walk this summer.

"We're trying to aim at more stable neighborhoods," said Beal, who also pointed to the Home Loan Guarantee Program that UB created about a year and a half ago. So far, 10 faculty and staff members have purchased homes through the program.

The RCPC is involved at all levels of its projects, Beal said, from raising awareness of programs with media campaigns, to technical assistance and coordination, to compiling statistics and evaluations, and running data-gathering circles. Beal frequently provides technical assistance to local law enforcement agencies to manage projects and provide student and faculty resources from the university to assist with data collection, analysis and the creation of reports. Over the past five years, she has been the contact person for nearly two dozen projects and has developed strong connections with local law enforcement, social services agencies and members of the community.

An organizing force is required to get some projects off the ground and keep them rolling, Beal said. The RCPC offers that momentum.

"You need some sort of intermediary to put projects together," she said. "Then you can ask the government to come in and do its part."