A Plan To Fight Crime In Eight Mile

Alabama Mobile A community watch group is starting there.
by Steve Alexander
Published: Fri, July 17, 2009 - 9:39 pm CST Last Updated: Fri, July 17, 2009 - 10:15 pm CST
People in one part of Mobile County are saying they're tired of crime, and they're taking a big step to fight back.
Residents and business owners in the Lott Road area met Friday night for the first meeting of the Eight Mile Community Watch Association.
Peggy Albritton Smith was one of several dozen people attending the meeting.
She said she was afraid she could have been a crime victim the last two nights after a car came down her dead end street in the early hours of the morning.
Smith said, "Last night, they came back and I came out the side door there, 2:00 in the morning, and I hollered at them. I said, 'You all looking for somebody? You all wanting somebody?' and they took off."
Those attending the meeting had a chance to share some of their concerns with Prichard Police Chief Lawrence Battiste and Mobile County Sheriff's Deputies.
There was plenty of give and take.
One person asked Chief Battiste, "If we start a community watch group and we get where we're in a situation and we need your (the department's) help and we call, are you all going to come or are you going to tell us we cant come right now?"
Battiste said, "I think that an officer would always respond. They may not respond as quickly as you would have liked, but they always respond."
Another person told Battiste, "I have called the Prichard Police Department and do you know how many out of three times that they showed up? Zero."
Battiste said, "I don't know how many times they showed up, but I do know I never talked to you personally. You never called my office."
Chief Battiste believes a community watch group can help with communication and crime fighting.
He said, "We've had our greatest success in the communities where there have been community watches here in the city of Prichard. To date, we've probably formed over 13 different community watch groups."
The Eight Mile Community Watch Group plans to meet once a month.
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Bikermike
Bikermike Says:
Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 10:37 am

there is no way that I would walk these streets unarmed,that is just crazy.you are lucky if the police get there within an hour after you call them,by then you could be dead and the criminal would be long gone.

Bikermike
Bikermike Says:
Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 10:33 am

the problem is that Prichard police don’t patrol this area enough and the Sheriff’s department will not respond because of jurisdiction boundarys,the Prichard police are always seen at the shell in Eight Mile but it takes up to 30 minutes or more for them to respond if they are called to the Lott road area and the criminals know this.the community watch organizers ask that no member on patrol [a] carry firearms or weapons consume alcoholic beverages or controlled substances [c] put themselfs in danger by trying to apprehend anyone… that is what the police are for.

Alabama Patriot Says:
Sat, Jul 18, 2009 at 7:48 am

From past news articles about the police presence
(or lack of) in the city of Prichard, you would think that they use only one patrol car like the town of Mayberry did on tv.  The city of Prichard spends more money on other things than police protection and the retirees pension fund, and when the citizens speak up about the problems with crime in the city, they are told by the city leaders that there is no problems with money. However, the people are watching the actions of the Prichard mayor and city council with open eyes.  They have witnessed the number of police cars on the streets at one time and the number of minutes that it takes for a police car to respond (if at all) to a trouble call. The community watch groups only work if the police can respond to trouble calls within only a couple of minutes. Longer than that usually means that the bad guys get away (and they count on the slow response of the police so that they do not get caught). Mobile’s crime rate is getting quite high, as well. Maybe the two cities can combine and have the worst crime rate in the state?! At least, the response time of the police would be faster.

alabamaoutlaw Says:
Sat, Jul 18, 2009 at 7:29 am

This is the one reason that we have all the dilapadated businesses in our towns honest merchants can’t make a living in these surrondings.Can the police be found incompetent or the city for not having enough protection for these people.Brazen criminal factor shooting video equipment thank God that it wasn’t somebody.For our size of town crime is outrageous in this area.The culture has followed Obama’s economy in reverse.
Alabamaoutlaw

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