A new crime prevention initiative in DC's Trinidad neighborhood is underway.

As Jessica Forres reports....the community was troubled by violence this past summer....



The "Safe City" initiative is Police Chief Cathy Lanier's latest strategy to tackle crime in the Northeast neighborhood... where police set up check points after a string of shootings during the summer.

Lanier explained the program to a hundred police officers inside the gym at the Joseph Cole Recreation Center...

WHAT WE ARE HOPING IS THE FIRST PHASE OF MANY PHASES OF SUSTAINABLE SAFE COMMUNITIES IN WASHINGTON, DC RIGHT HERE IN WARD FIVE.

Thirty "real-time" cameras will be mounted on street corners and two hundred cell phones…programmed to call 9-1-1…will be distributed to residents.
What makes the initiative unique, Lanier says, is that the cameras are being paid for by the retailer Target, and the cell phones by Sprint/Nextel...

AS YOU KNOW WITH EVERYBODY'S BUDGETS BEING WHAT THEY ARE, CCTV IS A GOOD INVESTMENT BUT A BIG ONE AND THE SUPPORT WE GOT FROM TARGET AND THE POLICE FOUNDATION HERE IS REALLY MAKING IT POSSIBLE TO EXPAND WHAT WE HAVE.

"Safe City" will be part of several new policing strategies implemented by Chief Lanier...

RIGHT NOW ACROSS THE CITY WE HAVE 5 PERCENT REDUCTION IN VIOLENT CRIME, GUN CRIMES ACROSS THE BOARD ARE DOWN DOUBLE DIGITS.

But the police department's website says homicides are up 1 percent.

Jessica Forres WAMU 885 News

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D.C. is getting nearly 30 privately funded crime fighting cameras for street corners in the Trinidad neighborhood, an area that was troubled by violence this summer.

Jessica Forres reports...

The new cameras are part of a program called Safe City and some are planned to be installed this May. Mayor Adrain Fenty...

THE CAMERAS WILL BE LINKED TO A STATE OF THE ART RADIO NETWORK AT MPD THAT WILL ALLOW OFFICERS TO MONITOR MULTIPLE CAMERAS IN REAL TIME.

The strategy also includes two hundred cell phones…programmed to call 9-1-1…which will be distributed to neighborhood block captains and residents who need them ... Police Chief Cathy Lanier…

WHAT WE ARE HOPING IS THE FIRST PHASE OF MANY PHASES OF SUSTAINABLE SAFE COMMUNITIES IN WASHINGTON, DC RIGHT HERE IN WARD FIVE.

Other cities involved in Safe City include Baltimore, Denver, Boston and Compton, Calif.
The cameras are being paid for by the retailer Target, and the cell phones by Sprint/Nextel.

Jessica Forres WAMU 885 News