With the help of a $1 million grant, a Chattanooga faith leader hopes to bring the community together with the relaunch of a community-based patrol program.
With a newly awarded $1 million budget, funded by the federal American Rescue Plan, Nation of Islam leader Kevin Muhammad on Thursday in Bushtown will relaunch the Community Haven patrol which, according to him, has helped reduce crime in Alton Park.
"The primary purpose of the community patrol is to set a model of how we actually can patrol our own communities, and make them decent and safe places to live," Muhammad said during a Wednesday interview with the Chattanooga Times Free Press at the new Community Haven headquarters at 815 N. Hickory St.
"Community Haven is embarking on essential work in our effort to reduce violence and build safer, more connected neighborhoods," Joda Thongnopnua, chief of staff to Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly, said in a text to the Times Free Press. "Their model empowers neighbors, invests in young people and fosters safer streets. Kevin and his team are great examples of what One Chattanooga (the mayor's vision for a unified city) can look like in our communities."
Muhammad said that at its core, Community Haven believes that changing the environment is an effective way to reduce crime.
"You can take one shooter off the street, you can take 10 shooters off the street, and 10 more will come up, because the environment has not changed," Muhammad said.
In 2016, Muhammad organized a completely self-funded crime prevention patrol program after he saw Alton Park riddled with crime. The program was halted, like many other things, by the pandemic.
Now, with the support of the city of Chattanooga, Muhammad will reimplement the model that goes door to door and gets to know all residents in the target area with more equipment, and more volunteers.
The organization has acquired patrol cars that have radio scanners and location-monitoring devices that will help keep track of volunteers while on patrol, according to Muhammad. The vehicles also come equipped with dash-cams and radios that can be used to call back to dispatch if anything happens in the neighborhood, Muhammad said. The Community Haven's offices will also house the dispatch center, where operators will be able to assist volunteers out on the patrol.
Located on five acres of land, the Community Haven will also host block parties come spring, as well as activities for young people and their families. It will also be the site of a day care facility, as well as a place where young Black people can be educated about their culture.
"We believe that if we begin to empower the community by strengthening the family unit," Muhammad said, "when you strengthen the family unit and you grow up that family unit, which is the basis of any civilization, then you're going to see a reduction in crime."
A recent poll by the Times Free Press showed most people in Hamilton County believe crime is on the rise. According to the Chattanooga Police Department, however, that was not the case across the board. Violent crimes declined from 2021 to 2022 by an average of 6%.
With an increase in robberies and shoplifting in the city in 2022 reported by Chattanooga police, Muhammad said that thopse types of crime show the importance of teaching financial literacy.
"Burglary and theft, that's economics. A lot of our people in the streets who are committing these crimes and selling drugs, it's an economic situation," Muhammad said. "So if we can correct that economic situation, you drive down crime."
“We get you in a financial literacy class... teach you how to budget your money and teach you how now to become a homeowner,” Muhammad said. “Now the mindset of a homeowner, it changes now -- 'This is mine, I've got to take care of it.' That’s part of how you reduce crime.”
IF YOU GO
What: Launch of Community Haven Patrol
When: Thursday, 6 p.m.
Where: 815 N Hickory Street, Chattanooga 37404
Contact: thecommunityhaven@gmail.com or call 423-645-3712
Contact La Shawn Pagán at lpagan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476.
Staff photo La Shawn Pagán / On Wednesday, Nation of Islam leader Kevin Muhammad shows the zones where the Community Haven Patrol is slated to canvass.