Chattanooga Housing Authority board member Wilbert Roberts wants more visibility and quicker response time from Chattanooga police officers assisting the city's public housing sites.
"We know the police have a lot of other things to do. But just be prompt. Answer the call," Roberts said.
Three public housing sites -- College Hill Courts, East Lake Courts and Emma Wheeler Homes -- accounted for over 20 percent of the city's homicides in 2014. Six of the 27 homicide victims in 2014 were recorded on public housing property.
Chattanooga police Chief Fred Fletcher said he and CHA police Chief Felix Vess have a good relationship and that the city's law enforcement resources are available to the housing authority.
The CHA has its own police force, but city officers often patrol public housing sites, too.
Fletcher said Tuesday that public housing sites don't have a lot of serious crime, but there have been some high-profile incidents. He also said that most crime at public housing sites is not committed by residents, but by visitors.
Roberts started raising concerns about safety at public housing sites this year after Zoey Duncan, a then 1-year-old infant, was critically wounded and 20-year-old Talitha Bowman was fatally shot in College Hill Courts in January. Seventeen-year-old Cortez Sims, identified as a gang member with a long history of gang activity, was arrested in connection with the shootings.
Chattanooga Police Chief Fred FletcherFletcher commended CHA police officer James Avery Tuesday for investigating the shooting.
But Roberts said he is still concerned about the 2,500-plus families who live in public housing.
The housing authority employs six full-time police officers and hires 20 to 30 part-time officers. CHA Executive Director Betsy McCright said the city officers often share their cellphone numbers so they may be reached when needed.
Fletcher said city police officers routinely patrol public housing sites even when they have not been called.
"We patrol everything within city limits," he said.
He said many of his senior officers patrolled public housing sites regularly before CHA hired its own officers and that they are concerned about safety of residents there.
CHA hired its own police force in 2002, about a year after the Chattanooga Police Department canceled a $350,000 annual contract with the housing authority that placed two, full-time city police officers in five of the housing agency's larger public housing sites. The contract also allowed for one, full-time roving detective. The city police cancelled the CHA contract after several of its police officers retired and police officials said more police were needed for the entire city.
When CHA Commissioner Jim Sattler asked Fletcher on Tuesday for advice to improve crime fighting in public housing, Fletcher suggested that CHA get more security cameras.
In 2014, CHA announced plans to close College Hill and East Lake Courts due to maintenance issues.
Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6431.