Many expect continuity with new chief

COMMUNITY REACTION: Neighborhood activists divide between those who wanted more of Goliath Davis and those who wanted an outsider.

By BRYAN GILMER

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 8, 2001

ST. PETERSBURG -- The choice of Mack Vines as police chief is popular with neighborhood activists who liked Goliath Davis' service-oriented approach to policing, but troubling to those who see the department as understaffed or too soft on crime.

Both sides said they expect Vines to continue to run the department in a style similar to Davis, emphasizing racial diversity in the ranks, community policing and the causes of problems such as drug use.

The Police Department's performance with Davis as chief was perhaps the biggest issue in the mayoral campaign earlier this year.

After Davis surprisingly announced his retirement from the department in March, Baker's search for a successor drew close scrutiny.

"That's the kind of person we need as chief of police," said Watson Haynes, director of the new substance abuse treatment center that Davis pushed to establish south of downtown. "People can expect a firm, fair chief of police."

Others disagreed.

"He picked Mack Vines? Oh man, here we go again," said Charles Payne, president of the Bartlett Park neighborhood association, which keeps a watchful eye for drug dealing and crime and thinks Davis has been too soft on lawbreakers. "That's his choice, but I'm sure it's not too popular with the neighborhoods. The community was due a change."

Baker's choice is sensitive in part because St. Petersburg is just five years removed from two nights of violence after a fatal police shooting in 1996.

Black activist Omali Yeshitela, who was out of town Friday, continues to hold press conferences at the intersection where the shooting occurred.

Many saw the arson and vandalism as the boiling over of African-Americans' frustration with a police department that often treated them with too heavy a hand. Davis, the city's first black police chief, was appointed in the aftermath of the disturbances.

The Rev. Gustave R. Victor, president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, said he is confident that improvements begun under Davis will continue.

"I think it will get even better," he said. "The members of the community are happy with the decision, and Chief Davis endorses him."

It was comforting to some in south-central neighborhoods that Vines previously served as chief without causing a disaster.

"I know Mr. Vines," said Dorothy Gilliam, Thirteenth Street Heights Neighborhood Association president. "I know him well enough from his past operations that he will do a good job."

Johnny Welch, the Casler Heights Neighborhood Association president, agreed, saying, "We need someone who knows the city well."

Clifford Holensworth, president of the Crescent Lake Neighborhood Association north of downtown, disagreed. He said the department fails to motivate many of its officers and needs a fresh style of leadership.

"They're almost hand in hand, the leadership style," he said of Vines and Davis, who has said the police force is the right size. "We need more officers on the street. I don't think we're going to get that from Mack Vines."

The president of the Jungle Terrace Civic Association in western St. Petersburg agreed.

"Our issues are mostly traffic control, and our issues with the Police Department in the past about traffic control is that we've been told there aren't enough police to enforce the traffic laws, and we've also been told that we don't need more police," Steve Plice said, adding that he would have picked a candidate from outside the city.

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