ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A North Carolina city is expanding its police presence in public housing communities.
Terry King has lived in Aston Park Towers and Gardens for almost a decade. He says he feels safer when police are monitoring the building.
“When they have police presence is when they caught people that don’t live here,” King said.
The Housing Authority of the City of Asheville and the Asheville Police Department are teaming up, assigning officers to patrol public housing communities so residents like King feel safe.
When Ella Santos came into her role as president and CEO of the authority, she surveyed the residents. One of the takeaways was that the residents wanted to feel safer and more secure. They wanted more police presence.
“I had a young girl come up to me at one of our sites and said, hey, I know I’m just a kid. I’m only 11 years old, but I would really like for you to make our area safer. She would go to the bus stop in the morning in the fall, where the sun doesn’t rise until later in the day. So this was something that was very concerning for her,” Santos said.
In April, HACA announced a one-year pilot program. The goal is to help residents feel safer. And it seems to be working.
Santos says she has seen trust grow between police and residents. She says more residents feel comfortable sharing anonymous tips with the police, which has helped increase safety.
“I have personally witnessed that APD is very dedicated to building trust with the residents, and they have dedicated time to walk the properties, engage with the residents and really focus on community policing,” she said.
The authority and APD entered a memorandum of understanding that calls for regular meetings every 90 days to track progress.
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Jordan Grantz
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