VCU Police partners with Richmond Police to help keep Carver safe

Joint patrol drives down crime rates, strengthens partnerships between community and departments

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Virginia Commonwealth University and its police department enjoy a special relationship with the Carver neighborhood. Located just north of the Monroe Park campus, the historic neighborhood is home to several VCU facilities and a large student population. The neighborhood is also within VCU Police jurisdiction.

In May, VCU Police and Richmond Police teamed up for a joint patrol in the Carver and Newtowne West neighborhoods, bound by Belvidere and Boulevard to the east and west and Broad Street and Interstate Highway 95 to the north and south. Because these neighborhoods experienced an uptick in crime in the first quarter of 2013, the two agencies deployed a two-man team tasked with ensuring safety, deterring crime and building relationships.

Since VCU Police and Richmond Police have concurrent jurisdiction in much of the area, VCU Police Chief John Venuti immediately jumped on board for the month of targeted policing.

“VCU Police has a great working relationship with the Carver community,” said Venuti. “VCU does a lot of patrols and enforcement in Carver on a regular basis so this was kind of a no-brainer. It was an opportunity to team up with Richmond, and I see it as a great effort to make a really good working relationship even better.”

VCU Police Officer Randall Fish was partnered with Richmond Officer Darryl Lee and other Richmond officers for a month of joint patrols scheduled during the hours they would most likely deter crime. The pair patrolled for “nuisance” crimes such as public drunkenness and vandalism, provided a visible uniformed police presence, visited businesses and residents and worked to identify individuals responsible for violent crime or drug distribution.

“We tried to let people know we were paying attention to everyone inside Carver and Newtowne, especially people that we don’t recognize from the community,” said Fish. “We did a decent amount of merchant visits where we’d walk in and talk to the local shop owners just to let people see that we’re paying attention to those guys.”

During the 28 days of the initiative, Fish and his partner made 74 visits to neighborhood merchants who appreciated the extra attention.

“We truly appreciate them stopping by,” said Zee Cheema, owner and operator of the Citgo gas station and convenience store at the corner of Allen Avenue and Broad Street. “A lot of times we don’t even have to call them. They stop by to check on us and we really appreciate that. They’re trying their best to improve this area.”

After the month-long initiative concluded on May 27, VCU Police and Richmond Police agreed to extend the program for an additional 28 days following an evaluation that showed the program to be highly effective.

Property crimes such as robbery, motor vehicle theft or shoplifting were reduced by 38 percent and reported incidents of violent crime dropped from three in April to one during May, though that incident remains under investigation to determine whether the report was founded. There were no reported commercial robberies, breaking and entering incidents or aggravated assaults during the initiative.

Officers also seized drugs, including marijuana and cocaine.

“Our most common arrest was a drug arrest, by far,” said Fish.

Richmond Police gather crime statistics in 28-day reporting periods and say the numbers show that the Carver neighborhood had its best reporting period of the year during the initiative.

Because of their large areas of concurrent jurisdiction, Richmond Police and VCU Police constantly work together to prevent and solve crimes and promote a safe and healthy living, working and learning environment on and around campus. Venuti sees these joint patrols as an opportunity for officers to fight crime and build relationships with the communities they serve, as well as their counterparts in the city.

“I think it’s good for the line level Richmond officers to see things from the VCU perspective, and I think it’s good for my officers to see things from the RPD perspective,” he said.

VCU Police say they will continue to look for opportunities to strengthen their relationships with the surrounding communities and Richmond Police, possibly including more joint patrol initiatives in the future.