Pine Bluff residents, many with first-hand accounts of illegal activity, showed up for the second installment of the United Citizens of Pine Bluff Town Hall meetings to address crime in the city.
Though Tuesday's meeting was presented for those living in the First Ward, residents from all over the city attended the standing-room-only event, including from the Shady Grove area, a neighborhood the Pine Bluff Police Department has identified as a "hot spot."
A homeowner in Shady Grove who wanted her identity protected said the issues in her neighborhood are drugs and shootings.
"I'm seeing people drive-by shooting," said the homeowner, who told the audience that there were two shootings in eight days. "I'm seeing where I'm not able to let my grandkids go to the backyard and play, let alone the front yard."
The homeowner said people are moving into the area from neighboring streets, bringing their drugs and crime along with them.
Heads could be seen nodding in agreement.
"I'm tired of falling asleep, rolling over, because the guns are going off right into my back room and there are many people who live in my neighborhood," she said.
A male resident who lives right off East Harding said he has experienced the same criminal activity in his area.
"One day, my brother-in-law and I were outside about 6 p.m. and we counted 27 shots continuously," he said. "It wasn't a pistol. It wasn't a rifle. It was an assault rifle."
Many of the residents said that when they called the Police Department, the response was not adequate because the police either showed up too late or didn't investigate the crime scene thoroughly.
"If an officer did drive by, he didn't slow down," said another male resident, who asked for his identity to be protected. "He would cruise right on by."
Similar stories were shared throughout the meeting, which was held at the Reynold's Building on Third Avenue.
Dominique Graydon, community relations officer with the Police Department, explained the many facets of the agency to give the residents a better understanding of its operations.
According to Graydon, if fully staffed, the department would have 145 officers on the payroll. Unfortunately, she said, the department is down 40 officers.
Graydon said that upper management -- the chief, assistant chief and three deputy chiefs -- runs the department and doesn't go on calls. She also said that sergeants and lieutenants oversee their divisions and aren't the ones who do the footwork.
"By the time you get to patrol, you got about 30 people, three shifts, day, swing and graveyard," said Graydon. "Out of those 10 people on the shift, three people have scheduled off days, two people called in sick, and one person is out on FMLA. You got four people on the street for the entire city."
She also reminded the attendees that calling 911 is not calling the police but rather a third-party dispatching service operator. She said that as part of the delay, officers get calls about repeat offenders that take time to respond to.
"We look at the Police Department like the Police Department isn't doing anything, we verbally say it, we act as though they aren't doing anything," said Graydon, who added that young people pick up on the adults' disrespect toward the police. "We're a work in progress just like the whole community is, too. We got our issues, and I know the community got it, too."
Some residents said they did not feel that being understaffed was an excuse for the department not doing its job. Other concerns were about poor lighting in the neighborhoods, slum lords and abandoned homes.
Council Member Joni Alexander, who represents the First Ward, responded to some of the concerns, explaining the full circle and the ripple effect happening in the city and saying the state of the city didn't start with the leadership currently in place.
Alexander explained how the city's population decline began in the 1980s and said the leadership then should have put plans in place for sustainability. She said families were not moving to Pine Bluff and that neighborhoods were declining, as were the schools.
"It all goes around full circle because crime is a symptom. Crime is not the start," said Alexander, who added that she is dealing with the same issues in her neighborhood. "The government has failed us at every level, schools, and infrastructure, but it comes full circle because we are the people who elected these people into these positions," she said.
According to Alexander, Pine Bluff's renter-to-owner ratio is about half and half.
"That's not good," said Alexander. "A lot of our rental properties are owned by slum lords. They are not taking care of the property, they don't upgrade it, they're not doing background checks on the people living in the houses, and they are wreaking havoc on our neighborhoods."
She also explained the roles of code enforcement and inspection and zoning but pointed out that those departments were understaffed as well. She also said that because of state law, the city could only tear down one house, on one block, once a year.
"Right now, we have so much blight and so many overgrown lots that we're overwhelmed," she said. "We don't have the resources. We have six code enforcement officers for the entire city."
Alexander said the Police Department is not a preventative and that instead of finger-pointing, it is time to unite.
"Pine Bluff has everything it needs to survive. We got an airport, we got water, we got highways, we got a four-year university, a community college -- we are what black communities wish they had because not only do we have a black city, we have black representation at every level in this community," said Alexander. "I don't know what the answer is, but I know the start is going to have to be us coming together."