Culmore residents air concerns about crime
When Capt. Patrick Brusch, commander of the Mason Police District, asked Culmore residents about their concerns, he got an earful.
Several people complained about the criminal element hanging out and drinking by the 7-Eleven at 3337 Glen Carlyn Drive. Others said gangs are recruiting young boys, shoplifting is getting out of control, and when they reported crimes, nothing happened.
Speaking at a bilingual, standing-room-only meeting of the Mason Police District’s Community Advisory Committee at the Woodrow Wilson Library in Culmore Dec. 5, Brucsh said he is taking steps to respond to the crime problem in the area.
This was the first of a series of meetings Brusch is planning in neighborhoods throughout the district.
He told the Culmore residents he wants to hear their concerns about crime and safety, what the police can do to be more responsive, and how the police can build trust among residents fearful to report crimes.
There were only 5,000 calls for service in Culmore in 2003, which represents only 12 percent of the calls for service within the Mason Police District, he said.
Yet, 20 percent of the robberies in the district happened in Culmore, and there have been five shootings in Culmore in the past 12 months. Mason officers made 150 arrests this year just in Culmore.
“Drug use, particularly fentanyl, is a big concern here,” he said, noting there were more than 500 overdoses. Seventeen juveniles overdosed on fentanyl, two of whom died this year. [There was another fatal overdose on Dec. 3, affecting a Justice High School student in Seven Corners.]
“We’re encouraging officers to get out of their cars, walk around, and walk into buildings,” Brusch said. “We want to make it crystal clear they’re here for your safety and to help you.”
Related story: Culmore youths feel unsafe
Alex Lee, the owner of the Culmore Supermarket, the C-More Drugstore, and Taco SSam in the Culmore Shopping Center, said people are stealing merchandise from his stores and selling it in the community. Even when people are arrested, they come right back. “The court system doesn’t support us,” he said.
The police can work with management to ban trespassing, Brusch offered. The police are working with the manager at the 7-Eleven and other businesses to get them to ban anyone who had been arrested. They can also ticket people for selling or soliciting without a license.
Lee said he knows of three shootings by the 7-Eleven. In one case, there were eight witnesses when a man was shot in the stomach, but nothing happened. “You literally give criminals a get-of-jail card,” he said. There was an arrest in that case, Crime Prevention Officer Stacy Sossano countered.
One resident said people are afraid to call the police because their children saw a crime and they are afraid of retaliation.
Someone else at the meeting said he was personally threatened twice and saw a stabbing outside the 7-Eleven. When he called the police, he was subjected to a half hour of questioning. Immigrants are afraid to testify, he said.
Sossano reassured residents that if they call the police they don’t have to give their names. During her eight years on the gang unit, she said, she never saw an incident where a gang member came back to threaten a witness.
Another Culmore resident said she’s never seen crime as bad as it is now. She said, “young men who go to jail come out worse and recruit younger boys.” She brought her children to the meeting so they could hear about the crime situation first-hand.
Sossano said the management at the Olde Salem Village Apartments agreed to put up security cameras, paint over graffiti, and install new locks.
Cost is an issue, though. Sossano said seven cameras will cost almost $70,000. People in the audience liked the idea of security cameras, but one resident said they’re not effective because apartment managers don’t repair them and don’t retain the recordings.
That won’t be a problem, Sossano said, because the police will be able to view the recordings online in real-time.
Two apartment complexes in Culmore agreed to hire security guards, she added. Those guards need to be carefully vetted, as one audience member noted, security guards in the past did drugs with tenants and stole money.
Other people complained about speeding, people drinking next to their cars, and people using traffic cones to reserve parking spaces on the street. “If you remove the cones, they scratch your car or puncture your tires,” a resident said.
Brusch promised to hold more meetings like this. “We need to do better but we need to hear from you,” he said. “We’re learning about your concerns, problems, and frustrations and coming up with collective solutions – not just arresting people – to ensure the community is safe and thriving.”
19 responses to “Culmore residents air concerns about crime”
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“Cost is an issue, though. Sossano said seven cameras will cost almost $70,000.”
Or you could buy 7 ring spotlight cams for $129 each without a volume discount.
Your point is well taken, but I don’t think those installations are equivalent. I would like to see an analysis of the $70,000 figure.
I am sure the $70,000 includes construction and lighting, for one thing. Lots of questions.
If the goal is “equivalent installation,” I agree. But I believe the goals are to deter and identify. The owners can install Ring cameras and add PD as a user. This undercuts the “cost” argument entirely.
Eso ase mucho tiempo esta a si yo vive en el 2014 en culmore era feo pero eso no tiene que ser a si levantarse con residentes y ablar bise llegar asta el condado nose aser algo para que pare esto aquí en Annandale igual yo les apoyo en todo mi nombre es betty
Stop letting idle people hang around the Seven Eleven near Culmore. I am afraid to go in there or even drive by it.
I’ve said it before: tear it all down.
This is the way
Tear it all down is right! Start over! Hey I bet Andres Jimenez will fix everything!
Haha that one made me smile.
But the bigger question is, if the entire complex were to be razed down, what would exactly be built in its place? Apartments that are more upscale? Mixed-Use? Single-Family houses? A shopping-mall? It would be interesting to see if the infrastructure funding we got here in Virginia will come to any significant use in this area.
And replace it with what?
I understand the want for the poors to live elsewhere, and it might be better if the county would do a better job of deconcentrating the low and assisted income housing from Baileys, but what do you think they are gonna put up in it’s place? Single family homes? Townhomes? Not a Chance. It’ll be Highrises. So you’ll end up with greater density, more cars (as if that’s possible in Baileys), and in general greater development pressure and lower barriers to urbanize the entire area.
If you are upset with unaffordability and the cost of living now, you definitely don’t want to be around when gentrification comes to the Mason district,
I never meant to imply that I want the complexes torn down, I just made a hypothetical statement what would go there if it were to even happen. In terms of the bad traffic, metro should consider extending to Bailey’s as it wouldn’t be nearly as expensive as the silver line project and in terms of gentrification, I do agree that affordable housing should be dispersed to places like Tysons’ and Fair Oaks but we also need to enforce zoning laws which is something Penny Gross had failed to do and I only hope Andres Jimenez can do a better job on. I understand helping the less fortunate but it’s still frustrating how Fairfax County doesn’t seem to understand 21st century infrastructure like it’s neighboring jurisdictions.
I am 39 years old now and had friends from school that lived over there. My parents refused to let me go over there and even now I wouldn’t want to. Back then MS-13 took total control over that area, lots of murders, shootings, cars getting broken into. I see it’s still the same. Theres a swat team there as I type this. GET RID OF THAT WHOLE PLACE!
These slum lords should have more than enough to cover $70,000 for cameras. They rent out old, dilapidated apartments for $1,500+ per month, do minimal upkeep, and they know that their immigrant renters are not going to complain all that much. Are they still charging tenants a separate fee to have window AC units due to the lack of central air?
My heart aches for anyone who lives in these slums and makes the best of it. I feel terribly every time I drive past. Police need to emphasize that you absolutely do not need to give them any identifying information when reporting a crime or other issue, and maybe more reports will come in.
Are you publicly encouraging illegal behavior?
Can you read? I am encouraging police to inform people of their right to report a crime or incident without identifying themself.
You all know that not everyone who lives there are criminals. I work in a school nearby and there are many hardworking families and lovely children who live in the Culmore community. Yes, there are bad elements there, MS 13 etc. But to knock it down solves nothing. As one person above said, Mason Supervisor will increase density and build many high-rises. Increase police presence there and everywhere in Mason District. Not one of us is immune to crime anywhere.
Oh, you want the police now?! What a difference a day makes. lol.
Police substation in Culmore … Code enforcement for slum lords… More citizenship and ESL classes going at night for working parents. Birth control and condom distribution for all the amigos. And start giving gang members tougher sentences or deportations. Police can scan vehicles plates for warrants and traffic tickets. Enforce loitering laws, curfew laws, and noise violations.