Alton Aimar says: A pattern of increasing criminal activity downtown
Alton Aimar says
A pattern of increasing criminal activity downtown
On Tuesday, July 27, 2010, I met with Mayor Keyserling and Police Chief Matt Clancy at Police Headquarters. We met to discuss the increased criminal activity occurring in the Core Commercial/Waterfront Park/Marina area in downtown Beaufort.
It was personal activity which had occurred to my car being broken into several weeks prior, my boat being boarded and vandalized at the downtown marina as well as the recent spate of riot-like fights we have witnessed from our vantage point of keeping the boat at the Marina.
In speaking with several other folks, a pattern of increasing criminal activity was emerging, car break-ins, store break-ins, fights, etc.
I requested a meeting of Mr. Keyserling, Chief Clancy and Mr. Scott Dadson to address my concerns. I had to make several requests of Mr. Keyserling before a meeting was called, and in fact, Lt Kenninger of the police department called me prior to the meeting being scheduled in an attempt to address my concerns, I asked the lieutenant a few questions and he informed me that those answers were over his pay grade. I suggested we schedule the meeting I wanted with the chief and the mayor.
Chief Clancy had pulled the call logs for the Core Commercial district and informed me that since May 1 to July 26 there had been some 384 (approximate number) calls logged in, of those 384 only 42 (again approximate) were citizen generated. The others were policemen to dispatch or policemen to other policemen for a variety of issues. The 42 number, however, was not enough volume in the chief’s opinion to alter the existing coverage. I suggested he get ahead of the call volume and address what we all knew to be a growing problem. The Chief informed me he did not act on nor staff up based on anecdotal stories, he preferred specifics.
I started ticking off specific crimes I knew that had taken place and he confirmed each one:
1) Walter Gay’s truck broken into in Marina parking lot week of June 20, money cell phone, etc., stolen. The suspect used Walter’s cell phone to call a cab to take him home. He paid cab fare from Walter’s bank bag. No action as of June 28, 2010.
2) Harvey’s Barbershop was broken into and ATM machine stolen on or about June 26.
3) My car broken into and over $3,000.00 taken night of June 27. Police report filed, Officer Carter investigated. I have heard nothing.
4) Law office broken into on or about June 27.
5) Two churches robbed on or about June 26 in downtown area.
6) Chocolate Tree broken into exact time frame unknown to me but within time line indicated here.
7) Old Bay Market place (the only one reported in the newspaper), July 2/early morning July 3.
8 ) Very large crowd disturbance (300 + fighting) in Marina parking lot early am July 3. City police required county back-up to break up. There was no report in the press.
9) Boats being boarded at Downtown Marina, mine being one.
10) Second night of boats being boarded and vandalized, again mine being one.
The Chief stuck by his call numbers and indicated that there was not enough activity to warrant additional policing other than the two SRO (School Resource Officers) that he had authorized overtime to walk the park on a floating schedule two nights a week until school started back.
Mayor Keyserling then explained that he thought the waterfront park had three issues:
1) The late night bar noise that Spanish Point residents complained about for years and that only the bar owners could control and self-police that activity
2) The trash in the park, and he hoped that Lantz Price’s self-initiated recycling program would spread to others downtown and improve that situation.
3) The young kids in the park late at night, “the folks that you are talking about, Alton”. “These kids are not a city police issue, that is the responsibility of the County recreation department and The Boys and Girls Club!” I was shocked and asked how he thought it was not a city police issue when the foul language was enough to make a sailor blush, the fights were horrible, and the vandalism occurring needed to be stopped. He again said it was a County problem.
The Chief again reiterated his call log numbers and said that they would be more than happy to revisit those numbers at a later date, should they increase. I assured the Chief that those call numbers would increase and the Mayor said that they did not need unnecessary calls coming in. I informed the Chief and the Mayor that I had come to the meeting hoping to find common ground and instead was met with ambivalence, that the numbers would increase, and that from my perspective each call would be necessary since the Chief would only change staffing based on call volume.
The Chief asked if they had satisfied my concerns and I informed him that they had spent an hour giving me excuses and that they had not satisfied my concerns and that I was not finished with this issue.
We now see that it has migrated from property theft and damage to physical violence and the city was well aware of the escalation and chose to do very little about it.
Alton Aimar
Beaufort SC
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One Response to “Alton Aimar says: A pattern of increasing criminal activity downtown”
The new meter system downtown should help curb the crime, as no one wants to deal with that parking system.