Alert Neighbor Program rolls out in 15 neighborhoods
The Halyard Park neighborhood, a tight-knit enclave just north of downtown, has not had a homicide in the 40 years Lennie Mosley has lived there. And she wants to keep it that way.
So, when her neighborhood association heard about a program that would provide funding for Ring doorbell cameras and enhanced porch and street lighting, they applied. Now the Halyard Park Neighborhood Association is among 15 Milwaukee community groups selected to participate in the Alert Neighbor Program.
“We don’t want to see anything bad happen here,” said Mosley, president of the group. “We must keep ourselves safe, and with this neighborhood alert program, I think it is going to really help and make the neighborhood more secure.”
The yearlong pilot provides funding for security cameras, street and alley lighting, crime watch signage and other crime prevention improvements. The program’s aim is to promote collaboration between residents, police and city officials to address crime and safety issues.
Alds. Milele Coggs and Russell Stamper II recently rolled out the program with a news conference in the Halyard Park neighborhood.
Coggs and Stamper have districts that share a border — and similar crime issues, such as car-to-car drug sales and car break-ins. Often, the issues lead to calls to City Hall and their offices.
“The Alert Neighbor Program is looking at those simple environmental things that can be done block by block, neighborhood to neighborhood to help to make them safer,” Coggs said.
“We are talking about things like lights. We are talking about things like cameras,” she said. “We are talking about things like signage to demonstrate to all those who are trying to come into these neighborhoods to commit crimes — ‘Not on my block, not on my watch.’ ”
Stamper said he wants residents to embrace their inner “nosy neighbor,” and call police when they see suspicious activity.
“Nosy neighbor is not a negative connotation,” Stamper said, adding that his grandmother epitomized the term.
“She knew every car,” he said. “She knew every address, and if you were not supposed to be on that block she would ask: ‘Who are you here to see?’ That’s how it should be.”
Launching the pilot program took several years.
“Sometimes in politics, things take long, but it is here,” Stamper said.
In 2016, the city allocated $150,000 to pilot the program. In all, 50 groups applied for the money, which went to 15 groups in grants of $10,000 per neighborhood.
The Ezekiel Homes neighborhood, for instance, is using the money it received through the grant for Ring cameras.
Kenneth McGhee, a 13year resident, said the cameras are a good way to address what he calls “general Milwaukee” crime.
“Drugs, prostitution, burglaries,” said McGhee, who doesn’t consider himself a nosy neighbor but an alert and concerned one.
“And I will tell. That is the only way to combat it. That is the only way to address it,” he said. “If you see something, people have to be willing to open their mouths and report on the things that are negative in the community.”
Stamper said the program is aimed at helping build a rapport with police and encouraging neighbors to work together.
“Everybody should be active in their neighborhood,” he said. “Everybody deserves a clean, healthy and, most important, safe neighborhood.”
Police Capt. Kristin Riestra agreed.
“Extra eyes whether they are electronic or … real that is what we rely on; that is what we depend on,” she said. “We can’t do this alone. By just reinvigorating the old neighborhood block watch program, this Alert Neighbor Program is the new wave of that.”
While Halyard Park is relatively safe, it is not completely devoid of crime.
Evelyn Ray-Cowan, who has lived in the community for 25 years, said drug dealers in cars sometimes take advantage of how nice the area is, feeling comfortable no one will bother them.
“If people are aware of the fact that cameras are out here watching your moves, then it is less likely we will have homes broken into,” said RayCowan. “We also have taverns in the area, and occasionally we have cars that are broken into. Hopefully, that would deter some of that.”
The daughter of the founder of the Halyard Park subdivision gave the program a stamp of approval.
“I think it is going to be a good asset to our community,” said Cassandra Brooks, daughter of Beechie O. Brooks who founded the subdivision. Her dad, she says would have approved of the initiative.
“I think he would have been very proud to see the improvements that are going on around here,” Brooks said. “I think he would be happy.”