After CT violent crime investigation, Asheville Police chief looks beyond downtown

ASHEVILLE - After a Citizen Times investigation highlighting the most dangerous parts of the city, recently appointed Asheville Police Department Chief Mike Lamb has named new areas of focus, including safety in the poorest neighborhoods and youth gun violence.

Lamb ? appointed this month after the exit of former Chief David Zack ? spoke to the Citizen Times following publication of its Feb. 19 investigation comparing violent crime and gunshot counts in downtown to other neighborhoods. The investigation found that despite a heavy focus on downtown by business owners, local and national media and advocacy groups, the places struggling with the most violence are Asheville's poorest neighborhoods, places with high concentrations of children. Some City Council members reacted saying resources similar to those aimed at helping downtown needed to go to those neighborhoods.

In the Feb. 22 interview, Lamb said he was encouraging people "not necessarily to buy into a certain narrative or hype" about downtown being dangerous. And he confirmed that APD data, like numbers gathered by the Citizen Times, showed violent crime was the worst in the city's 11 public housing communities, which are subsidized apartment complexes under the Asheville Housing Authority. Violent crimes were measured per housing unit and by square footage of the neighborhoods and downtown. Even when not adjusted for size, gunshot numbers were higher in the small housing authority communities, such as Pisgah View in West Asheville and Hillcrest northwest of downtown.

"I met with housing this last week. We’re starting to really look at how we can partner together in order to create a more safe environment within public housing," Lamb said.

No concrete plans came from the Feb. 20 sit-down with Housing Authority President Monique Pierre, Lamb said, but he believes changes will come, and that he wants to make meetings with authority staff and residents a regular occurrence.

"It's just us starting to have those conversations, starting to hear from housing residents, so they have an ability to share their concerns. Each neighborhood has unique needs and concerns, and it's important for us to be able to hear those concerns and then police in a way that they feel like they need," he said.

Lamb, though, would not commit to assigning officers to the communities in the way downtown now has patrols, with police and Buncombe County sheriff's deputies allowed to work overtime shifts in the city center, if they choose. The patrols started after pressure exerted by downtown restaurant, business owners and others, saying the city center had a safety problem.

Lamb said he would "look possibly" at implementing extra duty shifts in housing authority communities. "That is something we are having conversations with housing about ? about how can we best address violent crime," he said.

Some residents interviewed in the article said they would like to see more law enforcement presence.

A 26-year APD veteran, Lamb has said he supports restarting dedicated public housing units that were discontinued in 2022 along with a downtown unit, but he said there is not enough staff. APD is continuing to struggle with filling vacancies, a national problem among law enforcement agencies. Despite not having officers assigned primarily to housing authority communities, the chief said APD shifts resources according to what data shows and that "patrol officers probably already spend more time in public housing than anywhere else within the city."

Pierre, the housing authority president and CEO, called the meeting with Lamb "very promising" and said housing authority staff was excited about the opportunity to work with the police chief "because he has a long history and understanding of public housing."

"When it comes to having communities that are safe, that residents perceive as safe and secure, where we can have a better quality of life, that means all hands on deck," she said. "No one can afford to sit back and act as if what's happening in our communities is not impacting the community as a whole or the city as a whole. And that's because it's kind of like the dandelions in someone else's yard. Eventually they will be in your yard."

Pierre said housing authority residents have been "hyper-segregated" from the rest of the city by design and geography.

While the Asheville population as a whole is 10% Black, 53% of housing authority residents are Black.

"Where there is isolation and a lack of resources, you will tend to have the opportunity for more violence and more criminal activity," Pierre said.

In their annual report presented Jan. 19 to the City Council, the housing authority board listed violent crime as a first priority.

City officials, the board said should "listen to actual Asheville Housing residents’ requests and recommendations for immediate solutions to deteriorating public safety in their communities, respond to those requests and, in the long term, increase local law enforcement funding and staffing to support proactive community policing."

The board pointed to the "Camden model," where the police chief of that New Jersey city revamped the force, calling on a cadre of newly hired officers to shift "from a warrior mentality to that of a guardian and community builder.” Emphasis was placed on de-escalation training, engaging in community programs with residents and walking beats.

Along with public housing, Lamb said officers have seen are hearing from community members about an uptick in gun violence among young people. Police, he said, are working with the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance and groups that provide services for youth and can serve as "violence interrupters." Those include the nonprofits My Daddy Taught Me That, YTL and the SPARC Foundation

"We're looking for how we can share information, share data and find different ways that we can intervene in gun violence before it happens," he said.

More: Asheville leaders react to high neighborhood violence data: 'Not treating with urgency'

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Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government and other news. He's written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess at [email protected], 828-713-1095 or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: After CT crime story, Asheville Police chief looks beyond downtown