March 9, 2006

Article 17

Chief Greenberg’s Visit

In the spirit of “better late than never,� here are the comments on Chief Greenberg’s visit on Feb 27th. The number one accomplishment was citizen participation. Congressman Jack Kingston took the time to organize this function to help SOS members meet and introduce themselves to our local politicians. Mayor Otis Johnson arranged for the civic center and Chief Greenberg agreed to an interactive program on “Take Back Our Streets� about how to stop violent crime in Savannah.

Congressmen Jack Kingston and John Barrow, Mayor Johnson, City Council members, County Commissioners, Chief Lovett, SOS and Chairman Pete Liakakis took part in a question and answer session prior to the Public Forum. This meeting was very helpful in suggestions for crime reduction that have worked in other cities and may work in Savannah.

Crime is bad for business. Savannah is dependent, to a large extent, on its tourism. Crime is bad for tourism. Violent crime is a part of our health care problem. Violent crime restricts your freedom to go where you please, when you please. Violent crime affects you, your family, your friends, your neighbors, and only you can do something about it. The first thing Chief Greenberg emphasized was that, to be successful, all of us must do our part. The police cannot do the job alone. You will get the amount of policing you demand. Over and over, Chief Greenberg stressed the importance of community responsibility. If you do not demand better, you will not get better. The prime community leader in Charleston is Jim Greco. (If anyone knows him please let us know so that we can contact him.)

SOS has heard, many times, of people changing their plans and not including Savannah on their vacation agendas. We have also heard stories in which people have decided against buying in Savannah and have moved to Charleston instead. For over 10 years we have accepted a level of violent crime that is simply unacceptable. I am not pointing fingers at anyone except us as citizens. We, ourselves, can’t expect politicians to solve our problem when we have indicated by our lack of outrage that it is not a priority. Well, YES, it is a priority and if we don’t want to surrender our streets to violent thugs then we need to get involved. Join Save our Savannah as a start.

The first lesson we can learn from Chief Greenberg is to demand better policing. Another example he used in Charleston was having an officer present for parole hearings. The idea is to keep violent offenders off the street and in jail. They can’t harm the public if they are in jail. Charleston was very successful with this tactic and it only required the efforts of one police officer. Unfortunately, here in Georgia, that turns out to be impossible because the parole board passes the files for parole around by mail. We are still checking on this, so if anyone has any information please let us know. Chief Lovett advised that he could not send an officer to parole hearings since the hearings don’t take place. That may be, but certainly concerned citizens could change the way parole hearings are conducted. SOS will take this on as a project. If you would like to work on this project please email us (martinsullivan@saveoursavannah.com) and let us know.

Chief Greenberg also stressed customer service. Protect and Serve, policemen and women are there to protect the public and to help them when they are in need. No more 45-minute response times, all crime is important, little old ladies do need help, joy riding in someone else’s car is a felony, all officers all the time are polite and respectful.

Crime in the housing projects is not allowed. The City is responsible for public housing and the residents have a right to expect public housing to be the safest place to live in Savannah. We need to clean up our public housing projects and make them safer for all of the residents. SOS would like to take this on as another project. We need to follow up on Chief Greenberg’s plan and rid the housing projects of drugs and violent crime. Make them a good place to live for everyone.

In a nutshell, Chief Greenberg indicated that to be successful you need the support of the community, physical and educational requirements for the police department, a chief whose primary goal is public safety and who is not afraid of conflict, one who is ready to fundamentally change the police department. SOS agrees completely.

Two incidents happened during the meeting of which you should be aware:

  • 1. A woman got up to ask a question. She advised that there was prostitution activity and a meth lab in the apartment below her. She had reported this to the police over and over and yet nothing had been done. “What can I do?â€? she implored. Mayor Johnson jumped up to the mike and requested that she write down her address and hand it to him. “I will take care of it,â€? he asserted. Three cheers for the mayor. He saw a problem, he acted to solve it, and I am sure that the problem is now resolved.
  • 2. A second incident occurred near the end of the meeting when a gentleman came up to the mike and advised that there had been another homicide and that he had to leave. It was an ugly reminder that, as we debate, people continue to die in Savannah. Savannah is not a safe place to live.

    • Overall it was a great meeting, with over 500 people in attendance. It was certainly a learning experience for all who attended. It provided an opportunity for citizens to interact with their elected and appointed representatives. SOS is proud that we helped to sponsor such an open forum. We look forward to supporting many more to come. Our next public project will be support for a picnic for the police department and the officers’ families. We must always keep it in our minds that these men and women are putting their lives on the line everyday to provide the best public safety possible.

    Remember, all you have to do is send an email to martinsullivan@saveoursavannah.com to join SOS. We need all the members we can get. Please ask a friend to join.

    Thanks for your attendance at the meeting, and we look forward to hearing your comments via email or the website.

    Martin