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Residents demand patrols
By ANGELA MOORE © St. Petersburg Times, published November 10, 2000 TAMPA -- People who live around Copeland Park, in an area known as Suitcase City, all sang the same song to the city officials who met with them Thursday night: They need more police officers patrolling the park; they need more lights; they need to feel safe. Some of them, through their anger, even managed to be eloquent. But the room fell silent only when one man stood up to the microphone and identified himself as the husband of the woman who was raped last week in the park while the couple's four children stood a few feet away. The attack prompted community leaders, police and City Council members to call the meeting to talk about how to make the park safe again. The woman's attacker forced her into a clump of bushes near the park's basketball courts by holding what turned out to be a toy gun to her head the morning of Nov. 1. There, he raped and beat her. Police have arrested 12-year-old Tavaris Knight in the attack, and the Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office announced Thursday he will be tried as an adult for the crime. "I've never been to a community meeting before," the victim's husband admitted. "I've never even voted before. But things happen to you or your family that change your attitude. "I used to think I was big and bad," he said. "Now I don't. I'm afraid. . . . Crime is everywhere, drugs are everywhere, but nobody does anything but complain. I'm here to say we've got to stand up for our rights and ask for help. Please, don't wait until another child gets hurt or another woman gets raped." City Council members Rose Ferlita, Shawn Harrison, Bob Buckhorn and Charlie Miranda moderated the night's discussion alongside Tampa police Maj. Earl Pegram. The crowd of nearly 50 people included people who live nearby, the local Neighborhood Watch chapter and more Tampa police officers. Residents asked for help and answers. Many recalled that the park felt much safer when park rangers could carry guns and make arrests. In early 1998, the city took away the rangers' law enforcement role, and their guns. "When we lost our park ranger, we were told not to worry, that we were going to have police patrolling the area on a regular basis," said B.J. Thomas, a soft-spoken woman who lives in the Briarwood subdivision. "But as far as I can tell, that hasn't happened." Jesse Binford, who has lived in the neighborhood close to 40 years, spoke up. "There's never any police surveillance in this park," he said. "Never." Other residents agreed, and said that the city can't expect to take the park back from criminals without making officers more visible where patrol cars can't go. Neighborhood Watch leader Betty Schaffer said she used to take her grandchildren all around the park. "When the ranger was here, I was never afraid," Schaffer said. "But I haven't been back to this park with my grandchildren in almost three years." At least for now, residents got the answers they wanted. City Council member Charlie Miranda promised that residents would see police officers patrolling the park as early as Monday morning. Tampa police Deputy Chief John J. Bushell suggested several ways police might make their presence known, including assigning a mounted patrol unit to the park during the week. "One thing we've learned by using the mounted patrols in Ybor City is that it makes people feel safe," Bushell said. "There's no place a mounted patrol can't go."
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From the Times |
