When a young man was murdered on Barrett Avenue in August 2009, it changed things in the surrounding neighborhood in a positive way.
According to Sandra Stewart, the block captain for the Cowden Place Area Neighborhood Watch, the incident pushed neighbors in the area to band together and begin to take their streets back.
"We've had drug issues down here for some time, but things are much quieter now and it's not as visible as it once was," Ms. Stewart said. "When that man was murdered, and one of the neighborhood watch members had blood on her porch railing, people woke up and realized that they needed to be active to make the problems go away."
Ms. Stewart said getting the neighborhood together with local police officers, as they did Tuesday as part of the National Night Out Against Crime on Cowden Place, is beneficial for everyone.
Harry Snellings, the Jamestown Police Department's new police chief, was present with several other officers at the events throughout the city Tuesday.
"I'm very happy Chief Snellings came down here to meet everyone and discuss what is happening in our city," she said. "It's nice for everyone to meet him and discuss what's on their minds."
Snellings, who was joined by several officers as well as captains Barry Swanson and Robert Samuelson, said the Cowden Place Neighborhood Watch has been helpful in the past and an example of how vigilant people need to be.
"When I was a lieutenant on the afternoon shift, there were several times I met with this group and listened to stories about what was happening in their neighborhood when we weren't around," Snellings said. "They know their neighborhood better than we do and the only way for this all to work is to work together."
Ms. Stewart said in addition to tackling crime by taking a proactive approach, her group is dealing with housing issues in the neighborhood.
"When we see issues with houses not being upkept, we always go to the landlords first," she said. "And some of them are helpful, but there are a lot of deaf ears out there. Before our party for Night Out, many of the renters took time to cut the lawns and trim the bushes because the landlords wouldn't do it."
Ms. Stewart said her group will keep working to address whatever issues arise in their neighborhood, and that they will do it together.
"We have a coalition of people from every walk of life," she said. "We have members of every color, race, religion - you name it. And we all work together to make our neighborhood a better place."
The National Night Out was first introduced by the National Association of Town Watch in 1984. 2.5 million Americans participated in the first event but since 1984, participation has climbed to more than 35 million Americans in 2007. In Jamestown Tuesday, block parties were also held on Pearl Street and at the intersection of Barrett Avenue and Superior Street.
