Anywhere but Wilkes-Barre. That’s the job search criteria for one local young professional.
Steve Moyer, 25, of Wilkes-Barre’s North End is looking beyond the local classifieds because he said the city isn’t as safe as it once was.
“[Deciding to leave] the area did not originate because of the violence, however, that is slowly becoming a reason. ...,” he said. “The recent escalation has me looking for greener pastures.”
In 2009, there have been seven homicides in Luzerne County. Four of them have been in Wilkes-Barre — fourth most in the state. Wilkes-Barre, with an estimated 41,069 residents, is the 22nd largest city in Pennsylvania, according to the 2000 U.S. census. In murders, however, Wilkes-Barre has a much higher ranking, trailing only Philadelphia (1.5 million residents), Pittsburgh (311,218) and Harrisburg (47,196).
With the year less than halfway over, Wilkes-Barre is on a pace to break the record for most murders in the city. In 1986, there were 21 murders, 13 of them committed by George Banks. The next highest was in 2006, when there were 18 murders.
The totals this year are staggering, and they might go up by at least two soon. Last Friday, according to Wilkes-Barre police, Lamont Cherry beat 1-year-old Zalayia M. McCloe inside a Carlisle Street home, fracturing her skull. She died Sunday morning at the Geisinger Medical Center in Danville. Luzerne County Assistant District Attorney Jackie Musto Carroll told the Times Leader that charges against Cherry, 35, and originally from New Jersey, could be upgraded to murder depending on autopsy results.
Early Tuesday morning, Joseph Benson, 38, of North Washington Street, was shot outside Liam’s in Wilkes-Barre’s North End and died. Liam’s employee Christopher Krisanda, 40, was also shot and was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, Musto Carroll told the Times Leader Tuesday.
Residents are concerned, and the city is reacting. Just when Wilkes-Barre, especially the downtown, is bustling with activity, renovations and new businesses, the bad rap is beginning again and making folks like Moyer consider a new home.
One recent event was very close to home for Moyer: A shooting which left a man in serious condition.
“I heard the gunshots as I was lying in bed and did not realize how close they were until I heard people outside and a car roaring off into the night,” he said. “The cops showed up very, very quickly and had the situation under control.”
Moyer walked down the block to check out the situation just in time to see a body loaded into an ambulance.
He explained it wasn’t the first suspicious event he’d witnessed in recent months. Moyer also called the police after hearing a woman, who was surrounded by a few men, scream in the wee hours of the morning.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Despite the increase in violent crime, some say it is too early to call this a new trend for the city. Wilkes University Professor of Sociology Michael Garr said it could be a “statistical blip.”
“The rest of the year there may be zero,” said Garr. “Even if it keeps at pace, it doesn’t mean it’s going to be like this next year, and when the year begins and ends for crimes is not a calendar year.”
Wilkes-Barre Chief of Police Gerard Dessoye said that crime is cyclical.
“Some years it is up, some years it is down,” he said.
While some residents are living in fear, others aren’t as fazed by the upturn in violent crime. Some residents and businessmen don’t even think there’s a problem. Like Lorenzo Medico, who recently chose downtown Wilkes-Barre as the home to his new bar, Luna.
“This so-called surge in crime is one I am personally not aware of,” Medico said. “If anything, I believe the crime rate has decreased, especially with the advent of the new light posts, the new influx of businesses downtown and now River Walk. Let us not forget that the police force is out in droves from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. every night. I do not fear the crime or threat thereof. In any major city, you are going to have crime. The important thing is to minimize it, as well as deter [criminals] from the area.”
Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom Leighton said that the city has more police officers than ever, including special patrols that hit up problem neighborhoods. He explained that if a neighborhood is having issues, patrols will be increased in that area until things settle down.
“I feel we’ve come a long way in the five and a half years since the new administration,” he said. “We’ve hired 21 new officers, and that has allowed us to increase patrols in the neighborhoods. The city has made great strides over the past few years, especially the way the chief is deploying the areas.”
As of press time, the police force is 91 strong. Leighton said there are not plans to hire any additional officers, but the city will replace those who plan to retire.
IT’S WHO YOU KNOW
Trend or blip, Dessoye said city residents should not be living in fear.
“Look at the type of crime,” Dessoye said. “All for the most part involve people in close relationships. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen. There are innocent victims, but it’s not that common [in Wilkes-Barre]. The law-abiding citizen is very safe. Very few people actually know someone who was affected by a violent crime.”
Dessoye commented about the recent murder of 42-year-old Sandra White, who was fatally stabbed by her friend, Shannon Chamberlain, 27, after a dispute.
“They hung around each other, loaned each other their [Access] cards. They are in a social group and were a little more than just acquaintances. Crime perpetuates between criminals,” he said.
Garr agreed these recent homicides are not random, but rather crimes committed among people that know each other.
“There’s an argument. There’s a gun. There’s a murder,” Garr said. “There’s actually a criminologist, Marcus Felson, who says the only difference between a fight and a murder is that in a murder there is a gun too near and a hospital too far.”
Disputes over drugs often lead to violent crime, too. The bad news — or good news, if you’re a dealer — is the heroin network seems to be thriving. The good news is reports of police breaking up deals seem to be growing, too.
Earlier this week, according to the Times Leader, Akeem Jahmair Sams, 22, of Penn Street, was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to deliver a controlled substance and criminal use of a communication facility. Police said Sams arranged to sell 50 heroin packets for $500 at East Northampton Street and Wilkes-Barre Boulevard in February. And last Friday, Jamal Agosto, 30, of South Welles Street, was arraigned on felony counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and criminal use of a communication facility, according to the Times Leader. State Office of Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotics Investigations alleged in arrest papers that Agosto sold three bundles, or 30 bags, of heroin stamped “Sin City” to undercover agents for $450 at the intersection of Welles Street and Rose Lane in January.
Naturally, the drug problem is not isolated to Wilkes-Barre. Recent heroin busts have been reported in Kingston, Hazleton and Berwick, for example.
DEMOGRAPHIC SHIFTS
Dessoye pointed out what he considers to be a misconception. Because Wilkes-Barre is the Luzerne County seat, many of the crime reports coming out of the courthouse have a “Wilkes-Barre” dateline in the newspaper.
“People think that’s where all the crimes are happening, and it’s not true,” he said.
Leighton noted that the image the city has attained, fair or not, exists. And it’s an issue.
“I just think that the city has a perception, and we need to rid that,” Leighton said, adding that front-page stories often feature city crime. “It comes with being the county seat, and that’s understandable.”
The names and hometowns of criminals reported in the paper could lead people to believe an influx of migrants and minorities to the area is causing the increase in violent crime. Garr, however, compared the similar demographic makeup between Lackawanna and Luzerne counties.
“Yet, Lackawanna hasn’t had the same surge [in crime],” he said. “[The crime rate] doesn’t seem like it can be explained by a new racial composition.” Garr added that the newcomers to Wilkes-Barre are balancing out the taxpayer base.
“You have a greater number of people coming into a city that has a declining population, so on the other hand you’ve got to stem the tide of people leaving the city to keep the number of taxpayers in the city the same,” the professor said. “Then you think about the number of outside people who have come in and started businesses. If you think about this as a racial thing, you can see whites are really abandoning the city, where as blacks and Hispanics are taking chances that whites aren’t willing to take. How much more abandoned housing would there be if there wasn’t that migration going on? So, there’s a thorny part of the good side of [migration], and that’s the higher crime rate.”
According to the U.S. census, the city’s population has been declining, with 47,523 residents in 1990, 43,123 in 2000 and, according to a 2007 estimate, 41,069.
MORE EYES IN MORE PLACES
A $2 million video surveillance project is underway for the city, projected to be live by this summer. Still in the planning stages, the state-grant funded system would place about 150 cameras around the city. According to Dessoye, the cameras will not only help in responding to occurring crimes, aiding in criminal investigations, but also help in prevention.
Dessoye said there are not a lot of crimes in busy places like South Main Street, but having the cameras there will allow people to feel more secure. Places that have potential for cameras, he added, could be dark corners in the city.
Leighton thinks the camera system will be a great addition to the city.
“There will be cameras at the new River Walk, in parks, by schools. ... It will be a deterrent when people see that these cameras are real. They will be another set of eyes,” he said, adding the cameras will be useful to catch vandals. “Nuisance crimes are our biggest headache.”
“I think it’s a double-edged sword,” Garr said of the camera system. “Think about where the crimes have occurred. Not in the downtown area, and that’s where they want to put the cameras.” However, there is no doubt, he said, that cameras can be an effective deterrent.
Moyer likes the idea of cameras in key locations, but is unsure if the investment makes sense.
“Video surveillance has its place in Wilkes-Barre, I think. Especially around the colleges and bars … As for having them all over the city, I think it would be too costly and inefficient,” he said.
“Certainly [cameras] would deter crime, but it’s a cost-benefit thing,” reasoned Garr. “Is there enough deterrent affect to spend $2 million?”
More eyes on the street don’t only have to include cameras but also local crime-watch groups. The Wilkes-Barre Crime Watch Coalition has more than a dozen neighborhood groups. According to Garr, crime rates are lower in areas where citizens take an active role in patrolling their own communities. He explained there only needs to be three ingredients for crime to occur: A vulnerable target, a motivated offender and a location without a guardian. The third is the probably the most preventable, either with cameras or citizens on patrol.
SHEDDING LIGHT
While the camera system is still on the way, there have been other measures implemented to add security to downtown areas.
“One of the good things, finally, that Wilkes-Barre has done is put in good lighting in the downtown area,” said Garr. “In fact, I just got a monograph on the effects of lighting on crime reduction. You look down Franklin Street at night now, and it’s just very bright.”
Dessoye added, “The more light, the better. Criminals don’t like lights and it gives people the feeling of safety.”
Not only do the gaslight-looking posts add to the city flair, but they make frequent pedestrians like Moyer feel safer.
“In general I do feel safe walking at night downtown. I usually walk home from being out on Friday and Saturday night and have had only one incident in which it was mistaken identity but all was cleared up the next morning,” said Moyer.
Helping add to the more vibrant look downtown, new businesses are filling some vacant buildings.
“I want all vacant buildings torn down — they offer potential problems, but there are so many issues involved,” Dessoye said. “Each individual property has a story.” He added that the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry has a good proactive team in place to fill or remove those vacant buildings.
Leighton said the city has been proactive with this issue.
“The city has been very involved with development of downtown,” said the mayor. “A lot of these buildings are privately owned and neglected. We’ve been very proactive in citing people for lack of maintenance on these properties.”
The addition of the new River Walk project will fill up a once “empty” part of the city. With well-lit paths, landscaping, benches and a structural overhaul of the dike area, the River Walk will add to the downtown landscape, and with it, perhaps deter the undesirables many associate with the river banks. Also, a $13.7 million renovation project is underway at Coal Street Park. The downtown and Coal Street projects will come together, likely in 2011, when Coal Street will be easier to access from downtown through a $23 million Coal Street widening/extending project. Rounding out city renovations are additional lighting, said to be budgeted at $7.8 million, and the in-progress Intermodal Transportation Center at $27 million.
TRYING TIMES
While it’s the homicides that make the news, crimes like theft and prostitution are on the rise, too.
Whereas some of the crimes — violent or not — stem from emotion, some seem to be out of “necessity.”
“I suspect an increase in property crimes because of the economy,” said Dessoye. “It’s a trickle-down effect on unemployed people. You can expect more property crimes and prostitution — crimes to generate money. The detective division has been doing some aggressive work to track stolen property and taking steps to put proactive programs in places to stem the tide. I see Wilkes-Barre being a safer city.”
The median household income in Wilkes-Barre is $42,646, lagging well below the national median number of $60,374, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2005-2007 American Community Survey.
Leighton acknowledged the challenges facing Wilkes-Barre, but is confident about the city’s future.
“Our goal from day one was to reach a level where people are comfortable living in their homes in the city,” he said. “You’re never going to eliminate crime 100 percent, but we’re fighting it to the best of our ability. We will win the battle, and it takes time, but we’ll be successful.”
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