Citizens For A Better Norwood

Friday, April 06, 2007

Tom Brown to City Council: South Norwood needs greater police presence

Says drag racing, speeding, juvenile vandalism on the rise

The letter below, authored by South Norwood resident Tom Brown on behalf of his neighbors, appears on the 4/10/07 council agenda and will be read aloud (with breathtaking speed) by the clerk of council at Tuesday night's meeting. Mr. Brown outlines some very serious neighborhood safety problems that need attention, problems so serious that we hope publishing his letter may be beneficial to his cause. Obviously, South Norwood isn’t the only neighborhood with speeders, vandals, and worse. The West Norwood Neighborhood Association started a Citizens on Patrol program to address similar problems. Maybe it’s time to extend COPS into South Norwood, if it hasn’t already. We certainly hope city council will be responsive and act to help stem the growing problems set forth in Mr. Brown's letter:


Dear President of Council and City Council Members,

I am writing this letter on behalf of my fellow neighbors of South Norwood who live south of Smith Road and north of Williams and Cameron Avenues about a problem that started in February and continues to grow worse every weekend night. This situation continues even during the weekday evenings. After repeated calls to the Norwood Police during the past months, I have decided to inform City Council of the issue.

Our neighborhood streets, especially Lafayette, Ashland, Adams, Jefferson and Floral are becoming a training ground for future NASCAR drivers.

My fellow neighbors and I have witnessed cars drag racing, cars running stop signs at excessive speed, cars “burning rubber,” cars with no mufflers and cars speeding in excess of 50 mph. It appears to be the same cars over and over. Additionally, there are been numerous near misses with other cars.

Unfortunately, we are not aware of these races until we hear or see the car/cars speeding past our homes and children.

The racing is occurring in South Norwood because the low number of police patrols in South Norwood’s neighborhood. It seems the only patrolled area in South Norwood is the MedPace parking lot. It seems the racers feel confident they can get away before the cops could arrive.

Another issue that has been growing in South Norwood has been petty vandalism. Groups of juveniles have been congregating in the neighborhood resulting in eggs thrown at homes and cars, knocking over of garbage cans, and littering, along with disturbing the peace after dark.

Even after repeated calls to the Police, these situations are increasing in South Norwood.

We need Council’s help in curbing this growing and dangerous speeding problem now plaguing our streets in South Norwood. We also are requesting an increased Police presence at night to curb these and other growing problems in South Norwood.

Sincerely,

Tom Brown
Ashland Avenue
Norwood, OH 45212