Article published Nov 26, 2004
Recipe for trouble?
Police, business owners work to make downtown safe
At 2 a.m. every Saturday and Sunday, downtown Wilmington is transformed
into a melting pot of bar patrons spilling out onto the streets, curiosity
seekers and a small group of individuals intent on victimizing them.
It can be a recipe for trouble, one that police address anew each weekend.
Most people enjoy their night on the town and go home unscathed. For crime
victims, however, unpleasant memories can linger for a lifetime.
The mother of one man stabbed last month said her perceptions about downtown
safety have been radically altered.
Claudia Campese is thankful her 22-year-old son Joseph is on the mend
after being stabbed seven times in the back early Oct. 23 in the 200 block
of Nutt Street, near the city parking deck. Mr. Campese had just walked
out of the rear exit of the Firebelly Lounge with his brother and some
friends when they were confronted by strangers, resulting in the stab
wounds suffered by Mr. Campese and a friend. Both required hospitalization.
Mrs. Campese said she and her husband had left the bar five minutes earlier
after attending a goodbye party for Joseph’s brother, who was leaving
for Navy service.
“It happened very quickly,” she said. “Apparently, some
people came out of nowhere and started something. They didn’t rob
them. They stabbed my son in the back seven times. He had no defense.”
The violent assault remains under investigation. Mrs. Campese said her
family moved to Castle Hayne seven years ago from the Atlanta area, partly
out of concern about crime.
According to the Wilmington Police Department, there were 23 aggravated
assaults reported in the downtown area through Oct. 31, along with 49
simple assaults, 49 burglaries and 253 larcenies.
One murder, four rapes and 19 robberies also were reported.
“I never was afraid before, and it’s given me a new view on
the city. It’s opened my eyes,” Mrs. Campese said of the assault
on her son. “It’s too bad that it’s not safer downtown.
I don’t know what can be done.”
Wilmington police continue efforts to stay on top of crime in the downtown
business district, Chief Ralph Evangelous said.
“We’ve got a downtown unit that works there,” he said.
“We can bring a lot of our resources, especially during closing
time.”
Chief Evangelous on Tuesday announced a new departmental initiative called
“MUD”– Maximum Uniform Deployment – that will
concentrate additional officers from outside the Patrol Division in high
crime areas. Downtown neighborhoods where business district visitors park
their cars will be among those targeted.
Bar patrons aren’t responsible for the major problems downtown,
the chief said. Police instead believe the trouble lies with people who
come to Wilmington to commit robberies, larcenies and assaults. Chief
Evangelous said he intends to crack down on them.
“Every time you’ve got alcohol, you’ve got fights,”
he said. “Fights aren’t my big concern. My big concern is
the aggravated assaults that occur. It’s the robberies that occur.
It’s not the people in the bars. It’s the people who are preying
on them.
“We are going to change our strategies to address that,” he
said, while not elaborating on specifics.
Chief Evangelous does not intend to ignore the clubs, however, where violations
like underage drinking occur frequently.
Though he considers bars to be a lesser part of the problem, he said a
proposal will be made soon to the state Alcohol Beverage Control Commission
to allow city police officers access to clubs. Currently, police are only
allowed in private clubs if there is an emergency.
“If we have the ability to go in there, they can get cited,”
Chief Evangelous said. “The issues of false IDs and underage drinking
are not being addressed. There’s a need out there to have some accountability.”
One of the most popular downtown night spots is Club Fusion, at 28 S.
Front St. Owner Dean Smith said club security keeps disturbances inside
at a minimum.
“They’re very educated,” Mr. Smith said. “They
can stop a problem by watching body movement and they’re over there
before anything happens.”
The few times he has had to call police about activity outside the club,
Mr. Smith said officers responded promptly.
“I have no complaints,” he said. “I think they do an
excellent job.”
Mr. Smith said a dress code for customers is enforced at Club Fusion,
and security personnel at the door screen everyone with a metal-detecting
“wand.”
“Some clubs have problems, but they let their problems in the door,”
he said.
Mr. Smith said he has some reservations about police entering clubs at
will.
“We’re not doing anything illegal,” he said. “I
have no problem with them coming in there as long as they’re not
coming in there to harass customers. When a uniform walks through a club,
it’s a real big attention-getter. It freaks people out, even if
they are not doing anything.”
Club Fusion has a diverse clientele and offers theme nights catering to
different groups. With crowds of 500 turning out for some events, Mr.
Smith said there often is a mix of people in the club that mirrors the
crowds wandering through downtown: whites, blacks, Hispanics, tourists,
locals, college students and Marines.
For the most part, everyone gets along in the club. “We’ve
had our differences,” Mr. Smith said.
Wilmington police Community Affairs Officer Linda Rawley said some fights
begin downtown after racial insults are exchanged. Many of the newer downtown
clubs serve a diverse crowd, she added.
“A lot of the fights that are spinning off have to do with the cultural
differences,” Officer Rawley said. “There have been a lot
of bars catering to the African-American clientele. It used to be kind
of separated. What you are getting is a clashing of cultures.”
Officer Rawley said people going downtown need to be tolerant of each
other.
“If they are going downtown to party at night, they need to go with
the right mindset,” she said. “The comments you make, the
things you say, those are the sort of things that set people off.”
Former Wilmington police Chief John Cease said he spent more than six
years devising ways to address downtown problems.
Lighting alleyways and other dark areas helped, along with cutting back
trees and vegetation growth on some side streets, Mr. Cease said. The
former chief remains a proponent of installing surveillance cameras in
areas where crowds congregate. He was not able to secure funding for the
proposal.
“If it’s on tape, you can look at it for yourself,”
Mr. Cease said.
If the business district continues to attract people intent on partying,
police will face challenges there, Mr. Cease said.
“Until you change the complexion and the business makeup of downtown,
you are going to have crowds of people coming from all over who go downtown
for several reasons – the bars, the booze, the drugs and the excitement,”
Mr. Cease said. “After 9 p.m., the nice restaurants and other establishments
turn into watering holes.”
Mr. Smith, of Club Fusion, said he has met with Chief Evangelous. “We
work with them so we don’t have to call them,” he said.
“Half the people that go downtown to cause trouble don’t go
to the bars,” Mr. Smith said. “I don’t think it’s
the businesses downtown, I just think it’s more people.”
Creating an entertainment district may be the best way to maximize resources
in the downtown area, said Mr. Smith, a Raleigh native who studied downtown
clubs in other cities before opening Club Fusion about one year ago.
“It’s just going to get bigger,” he said. “They
have to realize Wilmington is not going to change. Wilmington is merging
into a downtown district.”
Ũ
Ken Little: 343-2389
ken.little@starnewsonline.com
Article published Apr 6, 2004
Young drinkers cited by ALE during festival
The queen and her court weren't the only ones making the rounds at the
57th annual N.C. Azalea Festival.
To the chagrin of nearly 300 people, agents with the N.C. Alcohol Law
Enforcement Division used the high-profile event to reinforce their intentions
to enforce the state's drug, alcohol and – perhaps a little surprisingly
– trademark laws.
Flooding the event with 23 agents, about 20 percent of all the state's
ALE force, wasn't meant to ruin anyone's celebration, officials said.
"We just want to remind people that they can have a good time and
still follow the law," said Ted Carlton, supervisor for the local
ALE division. "And it shows a presence and, we think, makes a difference
when we work one area like this."
In short, officials saw the Azalea Festival as a chance to make the biggest
splash in a short space of time at an event that could be considered the
unofficial kickoff of the region's busy tourism season.
The annual festival attracts an estimated 300,000 visitors and pumps roughly
$5 million into the local economy.
But it also represents a prime opportunity for individuals – and
establishments – to flout the state's liquor laws.
Mr. Carlton said a growing front in the ALE's ongoing campaign against
underage drinking involves house parties.
"They don't think they'll run into the ALE, or the police for that
matter, at a house," he said.
Of the agency's 346 charges filed during the three-day sting – which
included a few operations in Pender, Brunswick and Onslow counties –
178 involved underage drinking and 32 were for possession of fake identification
documents.
"Fake IDs are things that increase every year," Mr. Carlton
said, noting that the IDs also get more sophisticated as computer equipment
gets cheaper and increasingly high tech.
Sixteen downtown establishments were also cited for serving underage customers,
Mr. Carlton said, adding that the list of bars and restaurants caught
would be available later this week.
Perhaps surprising to some, the ALE also cited several vendors for selling
counterfeit merchandise.
Mr. Carlton said agents issued 11 citations for selling fake CDs, DVDs,
team clothing and other unauthorized trademark items.
"We are looking out for it now more than ever because it's somewhat
questionable about where the money goes," he said, adding that there
is concern it could go to fund terrorist organizations.
Although largely unproven when it comes to merchandise, the federal government
has often said that the illegal domestic drug trade supports terror groups
in Asia and South America.
Among those caught was a roadside vendor in Onslow County selling Louis
Vuitton purses.
"You don't buy an $800 purse and pay $75 for it," Mr. Carlton
said with a chuckle. "It's just common sense."
Gareth McGrath: 343-2384
gareth.mcgrath@starnewsonline.com
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