Residents share issues with chief

Beverly Havron and her neighbors on Skaggs Court in Seymour are fed up.

They are tired of the noise, vandalism and disorderly conduct coming from one particular resident in their neighborhood.

Seymour resident Jodi Caviness says he has similar problems on his side of town, but on a larger scale. He spent the better part of last year trying to get the city to address noise and crime issues in the East Oak Street area.

Longtime Seymour residents Gordon and Gretna Johnson say they don't want to give up on the downtown, which they say struggles with the same issues, but they are losing hope.

They came together last week at a town hall meeting organized and led by Seymour Police Chief Bill Abbott.

They voiced their concerns with problems in the community, asked questions about what the city is doing to curb those problems and in some cases decided to take action on their own by forming a neighborhood watch group.

About 20 residents attended.

Havron had just one question for Abbott regarding some of the activity going on in her neighborhood.

"What do you need from us?" she asked, wanting to know how she can help the situation, which the neighbors agree is getting worse.

"This person has been hooking on to my electricity because their house doesn't have electricity or running water," Havron said.
"They also drive through my yard and cause loud disturbances at all hours of the night," she added.

Abbott said he has had discussions with Jackson County Prosecutor Rick Poynter about disorderly conduct incidents and what the police can do to crack down on the issue.

"There is a disorderly conduct statute that says we have to warn a person before we take action," Abbott said. "But there is also something called tumultuous conduct where that doesn't apply and we can cite or arrest them. What we need is someone to go to court to testify against them."

Aware of the Skaggs Court situation, Abbott said the best thing residents can do is call the police department.

"Call us and get a report every time something happens," he said. "That way we can make a history against them."

Abbott also suggested if possible residents should invest in a security camera to catch the perpetrator in the act.

Havron and her neighbors, including Stephen and Rene Fultz and Art Killey, agreed they were worried their problems could escalate by becoming more actively involved with the police.

"We fear our property will be vandalized even more," Havron said.

And that could happen, Abbott answered.

"You have a group. You have to band together and stand up for yourselves knowing that you may be subject to this person doing something to you later on," Abbott said. "It's not easy and that's why many people don't get involved."

Killey brought up the idea of starting a neighborhood watch as a way to help make their area safer and a better place to live.
"I think it would help deter some of the activity going on and it would get all the neighbors together," he said.

Abbott agreed neighborhood watches are a positive step and said he would get information together on how to go about organizing a watch.

"I need more people to want to do the same kinds of things," Abbott said. "But we've got to start somewhere."

Caviness is all too aware of what the Skaggs Court residents are facing.

The area he lives in, on the southeast side of town, keeps the police department busier than any other neighborhood in the city.
Nearly half of all calls officers responded to last year were in the East Oak Street area, Abbott said.

Although Caviness was successful in getting the city to pass a noise ordinance last year, he says it isn't working.

"We need to get more teeth in the ordinance," he said. "The city spent money on a useless meter to measure noise levels, but by the time they get there the noise has stopped, and when they leave, it starts right back up again."

Why all the problems on the south side of town?

Caviness blames it on the area having too many people living there and the lack of interest from residents, city officials and others in making it a better and safer place to live.

"It's just not right and somebody is going to have to take a stand," he said. "People shouldn't be intimidated to go out in their neighborhoods."

Gretna Johnson agreed, saying she's been fighting the problems in her downtown neighborhood for years.

The Johnsons have boarded up the windows on their home after they were broken out one time too many.

Although she doesn't think the problems will ever be completely solved, she said she appreciates the police department's ongoing efforts.

She wishes, however, there was more that could be done.

So does Abbott. That's why he plans to have similar meetings every month to "keep the public informed on what's going on in the community."

"I wanted to get the community involved," he said. He was encouraged by the turnout, but wants to see more people attend in the future.