After a six-month project by Tallahassee police officers, Frenchtown has cleaned up a bit, but there’s still a ways to go, said Vincent Vickers, a barber at the Artistic Barber Shop on North Macomb Street.
Advertisement

Vickers said fewer homeless people have been gathering and sleeping on private property near his business since police put up more no trespassing signs. But just last month, the shop’s window was broken overnight and the culprit was never caught.

“I’ve seen a major improvement,” Vickers said, of Frenchtown. “But it still needs work.”

As part of Project Gateway, which ran from October to March, the Tallahassee Police Department midnight squad focused on the historically black neighborhood to improve the quality of life there, said Investigator Dan Copelin, who initiated the project with the encouragement of Sgt. Mike Abbey.

Officers armed themselves with literature from social-service agencies like the Veteran’s Administration for people living on the street who needed help with housing, employment, mental-health issues and drug- and alcohol-abuse problems.

“Whether they chose to take the next step or not, that was up to them,” Copelin said. “But we were able to take them from not knowing what to do to having an answer or possible solution to their problem.”

Police made more than 40 referrals to agencies and non-profit organizations, including Alcoholics Anonymous and the Frenchtown Recovery Center.

Officers stopped and got out of their patrol cars to talk to these people and encourage them to spend the night at The Shelter or the Haven of Rest, Copelin said.

Jimmy McMillan, a 37-year-old man staying at The Shelter, said he can understand why some people prefer to sleep on the street.

“You’ve got nasty people in here who refuse to take a bath,” said McMillan.

McMillan said The Shelter also has strict rules, prohibiting people from bringing in snacks or blankets. If the rules are violated, you could get banned for 30 days, he said.

McMillan is having a hard time getting himself back on his feet. Most of the homeless people can only get day labor jobs, and even those are scarce these days. McMillan said he was only able to get work for 11 hours last week, amounting to about $77.

“It’s hard to make it on that, and that’s when you don’t do drugs,” said McMillan, who said he’s kicked a drug addiction he had in 2005.

Copelin recalls one homeless man he had regular communication with while on patrol. At first, the man was confrontational and frustrated with being approached by a police officer, but Copelin said he talked to him with respect to gain his trust.

“I was building a good relationship and rapport with him and motivating him to better his life,” he said.

But the man, who has a drug addiction, slipped back into his old habits. On one of Copelin’s last nights on patrol before becoming an investigator, he arrested the man on a charge of conspiracy to sell crack cocaine.

“That’s probably a cycle that is indicative of the hopelessness that some of these people can feel, where they gain ground and they lose ground,” he said. “Two steps forward, one step back.”

Mel Eby, director of The Shelter, said he thinks the officers made an improvement in the neighborhood, but that they need to maintain it.

“I think it was important work if police officers do that when they’re not tied up with something more urgent,” Eby said. “So many officers might sit in one place at a time because there’s nothing going on, but (Copelin) was always on the move.”

Eby said it’s better to have people who are homeless sleep at The Shelter because they often victims of violence or other crimes. Some are preyed on for their disability or social security checks.

“You could absolutely save people’s lives to get people to come into The Shelter instead of staying in these secluded spots,” Eby said. “Just being out there, they’re vulnerable. It’s easy to kill people and get away with it when it’s 3 a.m. and it’s a wooded area and there’s no one to see them do it.”
Morning update

In response to frequent complaints from Frenchtown residents and business owners about trespassing and loitering, the Tallahassee Police Department conducted a six-month project to increase the quality of life in the neighborhood.

The officer who initiated Project Gateway, Dan Copelin, was recently honored at the Police Ball.

Officers stepped up patrols of the neighborhood at night from October 2007 to March this year and gave out more than 40 referrals to social-service agencies to homeless people, some of whom needed help with alcohol or drug addictions, Copelin said.

The officers would discover homeless people sleeping on the steps of a church or camping out in an alley and would encourage them to go to The Shelter or the Haven of Rest. Copelin said he would talk to them and try to get them to turn their lives around.

“I think it helped clean up the neighborhood, and I think it had a positive impact,” said Mel Eby, director of The Shelter.
Source