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©2005 American Profile Hometown Content Service

The Hopewell News YOUR HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER IN HOPEWELL, PRINCE GEORGE AND ENON SINCE 1925

www.hopewellnews.com

Neighbors Helping neighbors cut crime

75 CENTS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 2009 — WEEKEND EDITION

OBAMA INAUGURATED

u By ELLIOTT ROBINSON

Statistics can be deceiving, said Hopewell Police Chief Steven Martin during his monthly citywide neighborhood watch meeting. Overall, the city saw a 2 percent drop in crime in 2008 but a change in how breaking and entering is recorded drove those numbers significantly higher. In what may have come to a surprise to some in the city, Martin said that most of the instances of breaking and entering occurred in broad daylight between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when most people are working and not at home. As not all people on a par-

ticular street are guaranteed to be at work during those hours, having neighbors looking out for each other's houses is particularly important, said Capt. Gabriel Costanzo. "If you see someone walking down the street with a TV in the middle of the day, call us," Costanzo said. Recently, some arrests in the city had been made thanks to the watchful eye of some residents who alerted police. One burglary suspect was apprehended when a neighbor noticed a strange man unscrewing a light bulb at a house. "Encourage [neighbors] to call us up," he said during a slideshow of significant

Fort Lee celebrates Martin Luther King u By BERKLEY PRITCHETT

‘I did not expect this to happen in my lifetime’

STAFF PHOTO

The Rev. Curtis Harris Sr. stands across from his church wearing Barack Obama clothing. He traveled to Washington, D.C. Tuesday to witness Obama’s inauguration.

Civil rights leader, councilor witnessed the event firsthand u By ELLIOTT ROBINSON

Forty-four years ago, the Rev. Curtis Harris Sr. helped make history as he marched along U.S. Route 80 with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. between Selma and Montgomery, Ala. On Tuesday, he sat on the frigid National Mall, witnessing history as Barack Obama was sworn in as the nation's first minority president. "It was a historic experience and I was thrilled, despite the cold weather — I was wrapped up well — I was able to observe the swearing in of the president and the vice president," Harris, ward 2 councilor and national vice

chairman of the board of the Southern Christian Leadership Council, said. Harris set out to Washington, D.C., Monday afternoon after participating in a breakfast in honor of King in Chesterfield County. As he looked back at his experience with King and his battles for equality in the Tri-Cities, the inauguration held a special significance to him. "I was excited about this matter, and I did not expect this to happen in my lifetime but it happened, and I'm thrilled." Throughout his lifetime as a civil rights leader, Harris endured the violent attacks on peaceful protests

in the 1960s, threats on his life and an unsuccessful bombing of his home in Hopewell. Harris, 84, was born in Surry County and has lived in the city for 80 years. He has been a member of City Council since 1986 and has the longest tenure of any other councilor. Like many of the millions of people in attendance for the inauguration, Harris initially planned to return to Hopewell that evening but Sen. Jim Webb had other plans for him. "I was prepared to come back yesterday," Harris said Wednesday, "but during the day, Sen. Webb asked me through his aide to represent

him at a prayer meeting where the president and vice president were present. It's the National Prayer Service at the National Cathedral on Wisconsin Avenue in Northwestern D.C." After the service, Harris headed for Hopewell. Although he will remember Obama's inauguration as a triumph in civil rights, his memories from before Selma and Montgomery and beyond tell him there is much more work the country needs to do to come together across racial lines. "It's not over," he said. "We have an African-American president for the first time but many minds have to be changed and we need to have

The four-year-old program hopes to expand its manpower to better serve the city and give some relief to police officers. "This is an investment and we free up the police force to do what they need to do," said Vanessa Justice, former mayor of Hopewell. The Police Volunteer program began in 2005 as an idea of Rex Marks, the former chief of police. Dot Carter, who was instrumen-

tal in setting up the program, took it upon herself to go door-to-door in several neighborhoods to garner the initial batch of volunteers. "We didn't have anything like that round here," Carter said. Before heading out into the field, volunteers undergo training, said Officer Kevin Johnson, who is the supervising officer for the volunteers. "We're not training peo-

ple to be police," he said. "We just want them to do things as safely as possible." Duties include providing up to four cars for funeral escorts for all of the funeral homes in the city. If that duty was left solely to Hopewell Police, only one car would be available for the escort, Johnson said. "They can do an escort way better than we can," he said. The Police Volunteers also

Two people who attended the University of Alabama shared the same stage in Memorial Chapel at Fort Lee to celebrate Martin Luther King's Birthday. Former garrison commander Col. Gwen Bingham and Deputy to the Commander Larry Toler recalled their experiences at a university that became a battleground in the fight for civil rights. In 1963, former governor of Alabama George Wallace tried to prevent two black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, from registering at the school by standing in the doorway of the school. He stepped aside when he was confronted by the National Guard troops that had been mobilized by President John Kennedy so Hood and Malone could register. "I remember George

Wallace in 1963, and I remember him standing in the doorway," Toler said. "I graduated from the University of Alabama, and for her to sit there and for me to sit here on the same day — that says a lot about where we are and what we've done." Bingham attended the school in the '70s, about a decade after Wallace tried to block the door, but racism at the university had not completely subsided. Bingham recalled during her freshmen year she took a sociology class but struggled in it. Several friends suggested that she consult the teacher about how she could improve her grade. "The professor looked at me in my eye, and I remember it like it was yesterday," Bingham said. "And he told me it's a known fact that people like you don't do well in this discipline."

Volunteer police seek out members

u By ELLIOTT ROBINSON

Anyone in Hopewell most likely has seen the Police Volunteers. They are out at funeral escorts, help direct traffic, patrol the city and set up the city's command center. "We support the mission of the police department," said Susan Temple, secretary of the Police Volunteers. They also need more volunteers.

PHOTO BY ELLIOTT ROBINSON

Capt. Gabriel Costanzo, left, and Chief Steven Martin discuss police incidents in Hopewell during the citywide Neighborhood Watch meeting Thursday evening.

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