Working Together with Businesses for Safer Neighborhoods
Mar 4th, 2010
The corner store on 16th & Locust has had its share of trouble over the years. It is a challenging area to run a business, and the current owner has had his own struggles. Reality Check Coalition members Community Liaison Officer Robakowski, Jessica Watson of Safe & Sound, and Jamar Wills of the Boys & Girls Club held a meeting on January 26th, 2010 to discuss the concerns of the store owner and neighborhood residents.
At the table were Mike, the owner of Magic Foods, and the store owner’s nephew. The discussion was centered around several specific issues which consisted of parking, loitering, garbage, and signage. However, the most tragic incident being a hit-and-run incident that killed a little girl last May. A driver speeding down Locust Street, but unable to see children crossing the street because of delivery trucks parked on the shoulder, hit and killed a young girl and then left the scene. Since then, residents have become more and more aware of the safety and nuisance issues associated with the store and the surrounding neighborhood. Everyone wants to see change.
Photographs of the store were reviewed and suggestions made to improve the appearance and address code and safety issues with the property. According to CLO Robakowski, a pay phone on the side of building has been a catalyst for loitering and other criminal or nuisance activity. The store owner explained that he has no authority to remove the pay phone because it belongs to AT&T but would be agreeable to having the phone removed. Officer Robakowski offered to assist in this process. Other issues discussed included fencing to increase security and decrease illegal and unsafe parking. Lastly, the removal of excessive and temporary exterior signage was cited. For example, a spray painted “no loitering” sign will be replaced with a metal sign. Lastly, Mike agreed to immediately begin working with Reality Check to reduce teenage access to alcohol. He is ready to post Reality Check Coalition signage and provide educational flyers at the counter pertaining to underage tobacco and alcohol sales.
Deliveries on Locust Street in general are very dangerous. Officer Robakowski suggested that the store owner apply for a “loading zone” permit with the city on 16th street. This would provide safer side-street delivery and unloading which Mike was very agreeable to. Another suggestion made was to use smaller vans versus large delivery trucks. It might be of great benefit to public safety to ask distributors about the possibility of using smaller vans versus 18 wheelers for deliveries in this area. The group hopes this will increase overall visibility and accessibility on the corner and help children cross Locust in a safer manner.
Since the meeting several of the changes discussed have already been implemented. Diane Wagner of Miller/Coors is part of the Reality Check Coalition and when she heard about the safety concerns of large delivery trucks parking on Locust she immediately made a call to the beer distributor. The distributor was more than willing to provide delivery with a smaller vehicle that would not obstruct traffic on Locust.
The store owner was asked if there was anything the community could do to assist him and to improve relations between the neighborhood and the store. Mike spoke about the problems he encounters which are often times beyond his control, such as loitering, underage purchase attempts, theft, and the destruction of the exterior of his property, such as the removal of no loitering signs and breaking of cameras. Officer Robakowski made it clear that incident reports called in by the store owner were not applied to the 80-10 ordinance and the store owner is not held responsible if he or she makes a call for help. CLO Robakowski offered insight into 80-10 Nuisance Property Code, Open Records and CAD Reports. CAD stands for Computer Aided Dispatch and is a highly specialized application that allows for the coordinated communication, assignment and tracking of Police Department resources in response to calls for service. The Open Records Act pertains to records available to the public and provides various restrictions when dealing with complaints relating to Criminal Investigations. CAD reports are available on all properties through an open records request.
Mike faces many difficulties and despite the fact that not all the issues the community has with the store are always within his control. Magic Foods, the Milwaukee Police Department, Boys & Girls Clubs, Safe & Sound, and Reality Check are eager to bring additional resources and work together to address the issues faced by many corner stores, area youth and neighborhood residents in efforts to make Milwaukee safer for all.
VIDEO: Adrian Thomas of the Boys & Girls Club and the Milwaukee Reality Check Coalition explains the initiatives focus and goals with a little video help from Steering Committee member Keith Stanley, SoHi Business Improvement District (BID) manager, which is a Main Street Milwaukee program housed by the Avenues West Association, BID #10.
