What’s up with crime in Lake Worth?
In his closing remarks at a recent candidate forum, Omari Hardy told a story about the time he asked a friend if she would ever consider buying a home in Lake Worth.
Hardy, a civics teacher at Roosevelt Middle School who’s running for the District 3 seat against Christopher McVoy and William Joseph, recalled his friend said Lake Worth isn’t a nice place to live.
“I found that upsetting,” Hardy said. “I don’t like hearing people bad-mouthing our city, but I knew what she meant. Why would she make the most important investment of her life here in Lake Worth when she could go to any other community in this county and enjoy well-paved roads and the comfort of a safe community?”
When Hardy mentioned “safe community,” clearly he was referring to crime, a vexing issue that has dogged the city for years.
Which is why Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell earlier this year suggested city commissioners hold a work session on crime and what can be done about it. The meeting was held Tuesday and lasted two hours.
Maxwell said that crime is a symptom of the city’s societal conditions.
“We’re no different than a lot of other cities,” he said at the start of the meeting. “We have our issues.”
Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s Office Capt. Todd Baer told commissioners that many of those issues include the following: a disproportionate number of slumlord rentals, a transient population of homeless people, addicts, immigrants in the country illegally, poverty, high unemployment, gangs and sober homes.
“This is a national issue,” Baer said. “I’m talking about issues, but that doesn’t mean I’m blaming. The goal is bring Kevin D. Thompson up the causes to find out what we can do solution-wise. You can’t just arrest your way out of this.”
Baer said 60 to 70 percent of the homes in Lake Worth are rentals.
“That’s not a bad thing ... but you have slumlords and absentee landlords,” Baer said. “You can’t check your property twice a year and expect it to be OK.”
As many residents know all too well, addicts, crooks and prostitutes often use vacant properties as hangout spots.
While Lake Worth officially has about 38,000 residents, Baer argued that number is more like 45,000 to 50,000. “A lot of people aren’t counted,” he said. “I’ve been to two-bedroom apartments that had 18, 19 people in it.”
That fact has a tendency to skew the city’s crime figures, Baer said.
Some of the major crime hot spots in the city are: 9th Avenue South/South G Street; the Washington Avenue area and the 800-1000 block on South J Street, according to PBSO statistics Baer presented at the meeting.
On Ninth Avenue South, Baer said there have been several drive-by shootings the past several months. Three deputies’ cars were intentionally rammed.
It’s so bad on Washington Avenue that Baer, who started working in Lake Worth 22 years ago, said his deputies are arresting the grandchildren of people he arrested 20 years ago.
“That’s sad to see,” Baer said.
Meanwhile, the lucrative heroin trade has caused Riviera Beach dealers to get in on the action in Lake Worth, Baer said. “They’re moving in on the territory,” he said.
Although crime was down 2.7 percent in 2016, it doesn’t always feel that way.
Commissioner Christopher McVoy said the stats might look good, but the perception in the community is the opposite. “We have our hands full,” he said.
Some of the solutions PBSO hopes will help include, license plate readers, cameras installed in high-crime areas and the five deputies who were hired this past year.
Maxwell said he would like the city to hold regularly scheduled meetings that specifically deal with crime. “It was never my intention for this workshop to be a one and done,” Maxwell said. “We’re doing everything we can to reduce crime in our city.”