Stats show drop in crime, but First Avenue businesses remain uneasy

Business owners who want law and order restored to First Avenue East are skeptical about the effectiveness of a police substation that opened in October.

Key crimes like robbery, assault and theft dropped by huge margins in the area from 2008 to 2009, according to Cedar Rapids Police Department statistics, but two armed robberies in the past two months, reports of shots fired and persistent complaints about harassment reinforce the perceived public safety problem that merchants say stunts the district's growth.

“That's when the weather is cold. Usually cold and snow are our greatest allies,” said Scott Crosby, owner of EncompassIowa and president of the First Avenue Uptown College District. “When the weather gets nice, it's probably just going to increase.”

The city opened the substation at 1501 First Ave. SE - which officials refer to as the Community Connections Resource Center - on Oct. 1. The 5,800-square-foot storefront houses staff from several city departments, including police and fire, leased housing, code enforcement and the Fire Marshal's Office.

The building includes a reading area for children, a computer lab and a meeting room for community groups.

People are starting to drop in more often, said Russ Swain, a retired police officer who volunteers at the front desk and sometimes spends time reading to children in the front window.

Crosby and other business owners are glad the city opened the substation. They just wish it would bring more police to the area, perhaps an officer who exclusively patrols First Avenue between 10th and 20th Streets and the alleys on either side.

“We want a dedicated patrol just in our district,” Crosby said.

Jackie Cleppe, manager of the American College of Hairstyling, 1531 First Ave. SE, said the stretch of blocks has calmed since the flood, when loitering and vandalism seemed to peak, but she doesn't understand why the police would set up an office in the neighborhood and close it at the end of the business day.

“That's usually when the crime starts,” she said.

Police say keeping the center open after dark makes little sense because walk-in traffic stops at night. They also say it would cost too much to focus a few police officers on the 10-block area.

“They're not going to be standing out there like London bobbies, 24 hours a day,” said Lt. Chuck Mincks, police commander for the city's central district. “We don't have the staff for that.”

Mincks sees the station as a long-term effort, addressing the systemic problems and improving quality of life in the Wellington Heights and Mound View neighborhoods on either side of First Avenue East. He was serving chicken and noodles at the Mission of Hope, 1537 First Ave. SE, last week, one of many examples of his visibility in the neighborhood.

More cops are patrolling the stretch than ever before, he said, and adding more might take officers away from important jobs in other parts of Cedar Rapids.

“If people want increased services, they have to understand there's increased cost for it,” Mincks said. “They have to trust Chief (Greg) Graham and our department to figure out where our resources are needed.”