Violent crime slashed in troubled Leesburg neighborhood

Police Department dedicates officers to Get Results on Crime

LEESBURG, Fla. – Carver Heights comprises less than 1 square mile of Leesburg yet it is where most of the violent crime occurred as recently as six months ago.

Between Aug. 1 and Dec. 31, 2015, Carver Heights experienced 14 aggravated assaults/batteries, two weapons offenses, two robberies, and 24 simple assaults/batteries, according to police.

So on Jan. 1, 2016, the Leesburg Police Department took A.C.T.I.O.N. - Addressing Crime Trends In Our Neighborhoods.

The four dedicated ACTION officers get out of their patrol cars and regularly engage residents, asking what they need from police and from their city. Their goal, they say, is to get to know every single resident by name and, likewise, have residents learn their names.

"Everybody who's part of the ACTION team has their names on their car," said ACTION Officer John Snow. "That way the people in the community can know who it is that's working."

The first phase of the ACTION plan was to scare off criminals.

"Flood the area with as many officers as you can when you can to show a force to let them know we're here," said Snow.

The second phase was to gain, or in some cases regain, the trust of residents by assigning the same four officers to the same area.

"If you go into a place and see a different face all the time, chances are you're not gonna build that comfort with that person," said Snow. "If the people here in Carver Heights see the same officer all the time they build that comfort of knowing they care, they're here, they're here because they want to be here. That's somebody I can trust. And the phone calls will start coming in."

Tips have led to arrests and arrests have led to less crime and a safer community.

"A suspicious person in the area or something they suspect might be drug related," said Officer Snow, referring to recent tips he's received. "They'll give me the make, model and description of the vehicle and possibly a tag number. And we never used to get that. Never. Nope. Now people are seeing it and concerned and want it addressed."

From January to June 2016, police said robberies and weapons offenses dropped to zero. Aggravated assaults/batteries dropped to three. Simple battery/assault fell to seven.

"How does ACTION get crime results?" asked News 6 anchor Erik von Ancken.

"Because now you have the community taking an active part," said Officer Snow. "They're helping us fix the problems. As a police officer you will not fix everything by yourself. You have to have the help of the community."

Twyine Littlejohn, leader of The Great Plan, a program that mentors and guides young black men in Leesburg, appreciates the ACTION approach.

"The police were very instrumental in engaging us," said Littlejohn, referring to police participation in a recent car wash fundraiser. "They stopped, they talked to us. That encouraged these young men to see that the police are not just someone protecting and serving but they are human."
ACTION is a pilot program. Leesburg police said they plan to expand the program after evaluating results and statistics from the past year.
 


About the Author:

Erik von Ancken anchors and reports for News 6 and is a two-time Emmy award-winning journalist in the prestigious and coveted "On-Camera Talent" categories for both anchoring and reporting.

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