1 year after Fairmont Terrace killings, 61st and Peoria on slow path to progress

Source: Tulsa World, Okla.迷你倉最平Dec. 29--Victor and Amiiko Hale walk into the Fairmont Terrace office and take their seats in folding chairs for the December residents meeting, squeezing past a small card table where two chocolate cakes and a platter of cookies are displayed.The Hales are among a small but vocal group of about a dozen residents who show up at the office each month to hash out problems and solutions at the sprawling 61st Street and Peoria Avenue apartment complex. Tracie Salerno, who runs HANDS Changing Legacies ministry with her husband, Mike Salerno, is always there, too, offering help but not handouts.Around the table, group members talk about how they can help their neighbors by offering to pick up food at the grocery store or by donating clothes that no longer fit. They're doing what they can to make Fairmont Terrace -- a complex that has come to symbolize a poverty- and crime-ridden area of Tulsa -- a better place.Nearly a year has passed since Jan. 7, when four women were shot execution style in the bedroom of an apartment there. The killings shocked the conscience of residents throughout the city, focusing renewed attention on an area plagued for decades by drugs and violent crime.Fairmont Terrace is among several large federally subsidized housing complexes in the area, concentrating poverty in a way experts say magnifies social ills.Back at the community meeting, residents finish planning a new Bible study, and resident Sharon Parks turns to the Hales as a huge basket of gifts is placed in front of them. Parks explains that the cakes, cookies and gifts are for them.The residents want to honor the couple for keeping Fairmont Terrace's new community garden weeded, watered and alive through the summer and fall. The garden provided free vegetables to residents and brought a needed sense of pride with it during a difficult year."You two have put so much effort into our gardening. Nobody else has helped you. We appreciate you, and we love what you do," says Parks, who has lived at Fairmont Terrace for more than six years.Amiiko Hale's eyes fill with tears as she and her husband look over the basket filled with food, toiletries, scented candles and a fleece blanket. She walks around the long table, hugging each person and thanking them.Last, she gives her husband a bearhug, laughing and crying at the same time.One year laterThe anniversary of the shootings will be a painful reminder for the victims' families. The 23-year-old twin sisters who were killed -- Rebeika Powell and Kayetie Powell Melchor -- were trying to get on their feet despite making poor choices along the way, relatives said. A friend they had taken in, Misty Nunley, and a neighbor who had dropped by, Julie Jackson, also paid with their lives.Two brothers, one of whom had been staying with a resident at the complex, have been charged with four counts of first-degree murder. James and Cedric Poore said they planned to rob the women and then returned with drugs, money and jewelry, witnesses have testified.The killings shocked and saddened Fairmont Terrace residents. But the crimes also transformed the complex and some of those who live there in ways both obvious and subtle during the past year.Security inside and outside the 336-unit complex has been overhauled. Guards patrol the property around the clock, checking the driver's licenses of all who want to enter. Fairmont Terrace managers keep a list of 4,000 people who are banned from the property for criminal behavior or failure to follow the rules.Outside Fairmont Terrace, Tulsa police have beefed up their presence, working with federal authorities last summer to sweep up people wanted for a variety of crimes in the area.Since the quadruple homicide, violent crime is down 26 percent in a one-mile radius surrounding 61st and Peoria, a Tulsa World analysis of crime data shows.Violent crime also declined citywide during the same 11 months, but the drop was less dramatic -- 7 percent.The drop in violent crime in the 61st and Peoria area can be largely attributed to a marked decrease in reported assaults, down nearly 40 percent since the killings, the World's analysis shows.The area remains one of the most violent areas in the city, however. Ten homicides have occurred in the area so far this year.The quadruple homicide sparked a public discussion about how to improve life for residents, including hundreds of children who attend neighborhood schools in the area.City officials formed task forces, held numerous meetings and discussed new requirements for out-of-state owners who took little interest in Fairmont Terrace and similar properties.A developer stepped forward with local investors and said the locally connected company planned to buy Fairmont Terrace from its California owners. The developer's plans included a high-tech security system, new lighting and landscaping.Perhaps more importantly, many residents said they felt like the rest of the city cared about their problems. They took an active role, meeting with city councilors to talk about improvements, including a community center to give neighborhood kids somewhere safe to go after school.More than 1,500 people turned out for a block party picnic at the nearby Johnson Park, where they hope to build the community center.Maybe something good could come out of this tragedy, some said.Progress takes timeBut Parks and some other area residents wonder now whether all the promises weren't just for the TV cameras, before voters went to the polls for city elections.The expected Fairmont Terrace sale hasn't happened and is on hold. The task forces apparently aren't meeting anymore, and no private funders have stepped up with money for a community center.A beloved manager at Fairmont Terrace was transferred, and the office is staffed with temporary workers, residents there say."I think the people around here just feel let down," Parks said. "It took a quadruple murder at the beginning to even open people's eyes, and now here we are almost a year later. Fairmont and the 61st Street area, you hear nothing else about it."The promises they made; it just never happened."Parks and other residents say they want to help themselves and their neighborhood but can't do it alone.She knows something about self-reliance, having raised five children at Fairmont Terrace. They're good kids, making good grades, and the oldest is now in college, she said proudly."Living in this situation has made them a lot stronger. ... They all have the dreams, and they certainly have the grades," Parks said.City Councilor Jeannie Cue said she hasn't given up on the area and hopes residents know that. The task force Cue helped organize with other community leaders has been dormant for a couple of months but plans to submit its recommendations to the City Council early next year, she said.Among the task force recommendations will be asking for Community Development Block Grant funds to go toward a community center. Several groups also have been trying to organize a charter school in the area, Cue said.It's all a long process, and much work is needed, she acknowledged."When you have problems like 61st and Peoria ... that have gotten away from us at the city, it's going to take a little bit of time to chop that ice. We've got to build self-worth and give them a reason," Cue said.A neighborhood picnic this summer and other activities were not a political show, she said. Residents met one another as well as police recruits, part of the process of building trust with law enforcement.Cue and HANDS Changing Legacies ministry -- a group devoted to improving life in the 61st and Peoria area -- organized a bus trip this summer to take children from Fairmont Terrace to the Tulsa Zoo, many for the first time.Cue is working to get the city to address several auto-pedestri迷你倉n accidents near a poorly lit stretch of Peoria south of 61st -- one of which killed a child. She wishes the many groups active at Fairmont Terrace and the area could work together in a more united way."I really have empathy for the people that live there. I've walked the streets up there. I walk up to people and get their opinion. ... I always think, 'Who can I call next to help me get this done?' "City Councilor G.T. Bynum lauded Cue's work in the area, saying she "wakes up in the morning thinking about what she can do for 61st and Peoria."Bynum also headed a task force formed after the killings, this one focused on public safety improvements. After many discussions with police, he and other task force members realized that the city's antiquated police records system was part of the problem, he said."We are basically operating in a public safety black hole in Tulsa," he said. TPD's system is unable to easily exchange information with other agencies, and officers have difficulty inputting information, Bynum said.The task force recommended a new records management system, and $6 million in funding was included in the city's recent capital funding package. The task force also learned about problems with the Crime Stoppers program that discouraged tips, Bynum said.Funds were included in the city budget for a contract between the city and the crime prevention program "to help market the program better," he said.Mayor Dewey Bartlett said the task forces and his ongoing discussions about absentee property owners are all part of a long-term solution and that residents should not expect speedy results."You have to look at it somewhat from a historical perspective. It has taken decades of either changes for the worse or kicking the can down the road by whomever to get us to this point," Bartlett said. "To think that you can just snap a few fingers to get us back to where it should be I think is very short-sighted."Bartlett said his administration continues to meet with a group of apartment property owners to discuss ways to improve security and other conditions. He said he also talks with Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Keith Ballard about what role the school district can play.The city hopes a large federal grant it received this year, used to improve policing in the area, will be renewed, Bartlett said. He plans to organize a "public safety summit" to talk about underlying issues, including drug abuse and unemployment that contribute to crime.Bartlett said he wants to be sure the city's response to the killings would not "once again become kicking the can down the road.""This is a very long process that's going to require a lot of commitment and a very expansive view of the area and what can be done and needs to be done," he said.'We're all neighbors'Mike Salerno knows that lifting up the residents of Fairmont Terrace and the area around the complex is often a difficult and slow process. Salerno grew up in the complex and now runs the HANDS ministry with his wife and other volunteers, helping residents there who want to help themselves."Somebody came in and helped me. ... Our No. 1 goal is to help the kids who live there and the adults realize this is just a stepping-stone. It's not an end point."HANDS has organized activities for Fairmont residents, including the zoo trip, games at Johnson Park, skating trips and a movie night where films are displayed on a wall outside. He hopes other church groups could "adopt" an apartment complex in the city where people need help."When this all happened, a lot of people got behind a bunch of different organizations that seemed like they were helping out people, not just at Fairmont but people in general. ... And yes, we've had a lot of people come alongside us and help us."Salerno said the community's support after the killings has changed the area and residents for the better."If you look back a year before the killings, if you were to plan out, 'Hey, we'd like to see this,' it would have never happened," he said. "The killings took that and escalated everything to happen now."Salerno agreed that it's important not to lose momentum in efforts by the city and private organizations that are trying to improve the area."I'd like to see a lot more positive publicity, because people can really get behind good change. ... We're all neighbors."Ziva Branstetter 918-581-8306ziva.branstetter@tulsaworld.comCurtis Killman 918-581-8471curtis.killman@tulsaworld.comFairmont Terrace one year later(Area within one-mile radius of 61st Street and Peoria Avenue)Three-year total crimes reported: 2,5272011: 861 crimes -- 2012: 874 crimes -- 2013: 792 crimesBREAKDOWN BY YEARCrime 2011 2012 2013 '12-'13 Change*Homicide 7 7 10 +42.9%Rape 12 7 11 +57.1%Robbery 63 54 51 -5.6%Assault 153 167 102 -38.9%Burglary 272 245 214 -12.7%Larceny 250 306 338 +10.4%Auto theft 104 88 66 -25%Violent 235 235 174 -26%Nonviolent 626 639 618 -3.3%*Percent change from 2012-13Breaking down the numbersViolent crime has decreased by 26 percent in the area around 61st Street and Peoria Avenue since the January killings of four women in the Fairmont Terrace apartments, according to a Tulsa World analysis.The decrease in violent crime can be attributed largely to a marked decrease in reported assaults, the analysis indicates.So far this year, 102 assaults were reported through November, an analysis of preliminary crime data indicates. That compares to 167 felonious assaults reported during the same 11-month period in 2012, for a 39 percent difference.Trends in other violent crime types are mixed.There have been 51 robberies this year, three fewer than reported from January 2012 through November 2012.There have been 11 rapes in the area this year, four more than reported in 2012.Ten homicides have been reported, compared to seven in 2012.The analysis included reported crimes within the one-mile radius of the intersection of 61st Street and Peoria Avenue.The decline in violent crime in the area mirrors a similar drop citywide.Violent crime has declined 7 percent citywide in 2013 compared to the same 11-month period in 2012.The area, which includes several multifamily apartment complexes, remains one of the largest areas of violent crime in the city of Tulsa.Only an area just east of downtown has a similar violent crime rate as that in the 61st Street and Peoria Avenue area.Citywide, serious crimes -- homicide, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft -- have declined slightly, 0.3 percent, this year compared to 2012.Property crimes in the 61st and Peoria area have declined by 3.3 percent, compared to a 1 percent increase citywide.In all, there have been 792 serious crimes reported this year in the 61st Street and Peoria Avenue area compared to 874 crimes during the same 11-month period.For moreLearn about the HANDS Changing Legacies ministry, a group that helps residents of Fairmont Terrace with a variety of needs.bit.ly/handsministryBrothers await trialTwo brothers accused of killing four women at the Fairmont Terrace apartment on Jan. 7 complex await their trials.Cedric Poore, 40, and James Poore, 33, are each charged with four counts of first-degree murder and two counts of robbery with a firearm. They were bound over for trial in September, after seven days of testimony in a preliminary hearing.A series of motions in the case have been filed since, including one request from Cedric Poore that the brothers have separate trials.The next scheduled hearing in the case is Jan. 7.Jan. 7 HOMICIDE VICTIMSThe four women who were fatally shot at the Fairmont Terrace Apartments on Jan. 7, 2013:Rebeika PowellKayetie Powell MelchorMisty NunleyJulie JacksonCopyright: ___ (c)2013 Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) Visit Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) at .tulsaworld.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesmini storage