Police hoping to develop watch programs in wards
Fields recommends residents invest in cameras for homes
Forrest City Police Chief Deon Lee asked for help from members of the Forrest City City Council last night to develop a neighborhood watch program for the city.
Lee said that due to the rise in crime during the pandemic, the department is wanting to form partnerships with neighborhood watch groups in each of the city’s four wards. He asked council members to provide the department with names of people in their wards who they think may be interested in participating in the program.
"I have reached out to the National Neighborhood Watch Program," Lee told the council. "If we get it up and running, there is a lot of training they'll take and I'll have to take. If you have someone interested in running a program like that, please talk to them and send them my way.”
Lee told the council that over half the crimes solved by the city’s police department is due to people picking up their phones and calling the department.
Councilman Chris Oswalt asked Lee if the department had any record of previous watch groups in the city, to which Lee replied he wasn't aware of any records but knew of certain individuals and wards who had previously had watch leaders.
Councilman Ronald Williams suggested people going on vacation should not post it on
Facebook or any other social media platforms that they won’t be home.
Lee agreed, saying those are the types of suggestions he wants neighborhood watch programs to discuss.
Councilman Jason Evansingston asked if the messaging systems for the department ever got repaired, to which Lee said that due to technological needs, it has not been repaired, but is being worked on. "It's one of those things that we have to fix B for A to work," he said.
Evansingston said he believes that system should take priority to keep the city's morale high. "We have to be able to get in contact with you guys," he said.
Evansingston said he supports the neighborhood watch program, but asked Lee to focus on getting the messaging system corrected. "With the pandemic going on, you already know, the city's morale is at an all-time low," he said.
Councilman Danny Capps asked for the police department to involve the code enforcement division to address concerns on residences with untidy yards.
Capps asked if the department could also establish a text line or email for residents to use to report concerns.
"Dispatch doesn't have time for long stories when they have officer calls," said Capps. "I would like to have a number to text to tell what is happening or an email address."
Lee said the department is already working on establishing a system with code enforcement and would love to have a text or email system for reporting purposes.
"We do get a lot of tips over Facebook, too," explained Lee. "So, people can reach out to us in that area, too."
Capps also asked if residents could request SkyCop surveillance systems be placed in their areas, to which Lee replied that currently the department is working on setting up a system similar to one in Camden for residents this spring.
Councilwoman Louise Fields also recommended homeowners purchase their own home cameras which could also help the department, provided the homeowners could afford them.
In other business, Forrest City Water Department Manager Gregory Edwards addressed concerns on the sewer bore repair that was discussed during a council meeting last month.
Gregory explained that when the sewer lines were originally installed for the area they were done in clay and concrete.
"Sewer gasses will dissolve concrete," said Gregory. "Sewer lines, back then, were made of clay and concrete. When it was made, no one knew it would cause this."
Gregory explained that several places in the pipe had been repaired and redone over several years up to the portion that goes under Highway 1 North, which recently collapsed.
Gregory told the council that the portion of pipe under the highway was a 10-inch cast-iron that had shrunk in diameter. "Think of barnacles on a ship," he explained.
He also said the pipe issue needs to be repaired quickly due to the nature of regulations surrounding sewer and sewer lines.
"The $300 for concrete also included labor," Gregory said in response to another question the council asked at the previous meeting he was unable to attend. "But, now it has all been replaced and should last us another 50 years.” Capps asked if the department had done smoke testing on the manhole covers for the line to which Gregory answered they had.
"They were all good except one, which was replaced," Gregory said.
The council also paid bills from general funds in the amount of $17,675.97; street for $21,652.39; solid waste for $31,111.90 and $58,934.27 for water.
Evansingston abstained from each vote to pay bills.
Forrest City Mayor Cedric Williams also thanked the city's employees for their work and perseverance during the uptick in Covid cases for continuing city services to the best of their abilities.
Williams also provided the council with information on the state's initiative to order athome Covid tests.
Rev. Williams asked if the mayor had any update to numbers for the county or city who were vaccinated to which the mayor reported the last number he saw was around 54% for the county of those who had received a first dose of a vaccine.
"You get four tests per residential address right now," explained Williams. "We are also receiving kits to distribute. We get about 180 in each location and try to get those given out at each location."
He also reported that the work at Stuart Springs Park had been completed, except for the parking lot and encouraged the council and residents to visit the park for fun and exercise.
Capps also expressed concern about the Interstate 40 cloverleaf lighting being out again.
(Continued from Page 1) Williams explained the city is waiting on the Arkansas Department of Transportation to inspect the light poles at the cloverleaf for repair plans.
Oswalt questioned when the process of redrawing ward lines would begin.
"There are four members who have to file Monday before the primary and we are getting down to crunch time," said Oswalt.
Williams said he had asked the same question and had been told the city would come after the county and school district redrew their lines.
"I've heard that too, but one entity didn't need to wait on the other," said Oswalt. "I understand it would be nice if the city, county and state lines ran concurrently so we did have as many precincts."
Oswalt asked Williams to contact the Municipal League to begin the process due to the deadline getting closer, to which Williams agreed.
Evasingston also asked if city departments are still cross training employees to help fill voids created by those who have to be home due to Covid.
Williams said the departments are doing cross training in each department but not among other departments.