Shop welcomes policing North Garth area gets a bad rap

When strangers started poking around the bushes in front of Pioneer Window Works on Grand Avenue, owner Larry Schuster knew it was time for the thick swatch of greenery to go.

"I think there were some drug exchanges going on in there," he said. "I was planning on pulling them out anyway. It was just kind of a bonus."

Columbia City Manager Bill Watkins earlier this month promised to have police focus efforts on North Garth Avenue and some connecting streets to curb prostitution, drug-related activity and other crimes.

On Friday, he said he had already met with some neighbors and officers.

"I just felt like it had gotten to the point where we needed to step up our activities," he said.

For more than 22 years, Schuster has run his window-covering business from the faded building on the corner of Grand and Forest avenues. The former Columbia City Council member said the neighborhood has improved.

"The area gets a bad rap," Schuster said. "There are a lot of good people who live in the area."

According to an Aug. 18 release from Watkins, more than 443 arrests have been made in the area since August 2005. In addition, police since Jan. 1 have made 74 drug calls and served 14 search warrants for narcotics.

Run-ins with the police had been an ongoing problem for people in one house on the 1100 block of North Garth. In 2004 and 2005, authorities arrested tenants of the home on charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and controlled substances as well as domestic abuse.

Then Realtor Marla Eckhoff bought the home.

"I guess something innate in me likes challenges," she said. "The more you ignore a problem the worse it becomes."

Eckhoff now rents out the six-bedroom home to several individuals. There have been no incidents involving police since she took over.

"I think there are a lot of false paradigms associated with the central city," Eckhoff said. "That area, like any area, is never going to be completely perfect."

Although both Eckhoff and Schuster said the area is better than many people think, they're happy for more police involvement.

Schuster said he thinks a little could go a long way.

"They need to ramp it up, but the ramping that they need to do is a lot of walk-throughs and talking to people," he said. "They just need to re-establish a lot of personal relationships one-on-one rather than just busting down doors and everything."

Schuster said police searched one of the rental properties he owns last weekend and came up empty-handed, a common occurrence in the area. "I don't want to second-guess them too much," Schuster said. "You can't overlook it. You have to have guys doing that job."

Columbia Police Chief Randy Boehm sympathized with Schuster and said police only search when they have significant probable cause.

"That still doesn't mean that the moment you serve the search warrant you're going to find narcotics," he said. "It's a very fluid situation and, quite frankly, it can change within a few minutes."

Mary Ratliff, president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the organization supports the fight to end drug trafficking in the area but is worried about the possibility of racial profiling.

"We want to assure, as they step up efforts to curb any drug activities, that they are sure not to violate the rights of the innocent just because they live in the area," she said.

"It continues to be focused on police targeting African-Americans in the area," she said.

Boehm said targeting Garth was not related to racial profiling and such behavior would not be tolerated.

"We are constantly looking at that issue to make sure the officers are being as aggressive as they possibly can be when it comes to illegal activity but at the same time being as professional as we can be," he said. "The bottom line is: We go where the calls for service are."