Since May, six full-time Chattanooga Housing Authority police officers have had the job of keeping safe nearly 3,000 residents at 17 housing development sites.

“I can guarantee you there’s not a person who works inside our organization in the public safety department who works less than 50 hours a week, and several of them don’t get overtime for it,” said Lt. Erik Reeves, one of six certified police officers on the housing authority police force.

All six CHA police have POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training) certification, which means they are able to carry a gun and enforce the law, Lt. Reeves said.

Funding cuts led to the housing agency losing all 15 of its part-time police officers earlier this year. CHA’s part-time police officers, all of whom were off-duty city officers, stopped working when the money to pay them ran out.

Lt. Reeves said the officers were not fired, they quit because there weren’t going to get paid.

Six of the former CHA part-time police officers were contacted, but none would comment about the matter, said Sgt. Jerri Weary, public information officer for the Chattanooga Police Department.

Costly patrols

The $150,000 for the CHA officers’ pay was supposed to extend from October 2007 to September 2008, but it ran out in May, said CHA Police Chief Felix Vess.

Police officials used more money than expected at the end of 2007 and at the beginning of this year when a rash of violence prompted CHA police to increase patrols, Chief Vess said.

“With the gang crime and people wanting to fight and shoot each other, we had to spend money for that,” Chief Vess said. “(It makes) our residents feel threatened, so we have to do what we can to make them feel safe.”

The Chattanooga Housing Authority police reported 82 crimes involving drugs and narcotics in 2007. There also were several shootings and break-ins, residents said.

In March 2008, former East Lake Courts resident 18-year-old Tyrone Stewart was fatally shot in the chest while attending a pajama party on Dodds Avenue.

On June 26, the city’s ninth homicide of 2008 occurred in the East Lake Courts housing development when LaTony Johnson was stabbed in the chest during a fight. Chattanooga police are looking for Courrie Long, 28, as a suspect in the killing.

“We’re trying to do more with less,” Chief Vess said. “I expect a lot out of my officers.”

Lt. Reeves said he was among the officers searching for Mr. Long after 3 a.m. on June 26 and was back at work at 9 a.m. to start his next shift. He did not get paid overtime for his work, he said.

“We don’t do what we do only for the money,” Lt. Reeves said. “We love what we do and we want to improve the quality of life for the neighborhood.”

CHA police have started patrolling with two officers in one car to increase their own safety since there are not as many officers on the streets. They also have changed and extended their hours to fill in gaps left by the loss of part-time officers, Lt. Reeves said.

Crime down

Despite the decline in budget, crime has gone down in the housing developments since 2002, Chief Vess said.

“College Hill Courts was seeing a murder a year from 2002 to 2006,” he said. “Since 2006, we’ve had violent assaults but no murder. The crime rate has gone down and we’ve had less money.”

Chief Vess said he hopes Chattanooga police officers and residents can work together to compensate for the lack of manpower.

“If the community continues to come together, the community as a whole will stop some things from happening,” Chief Vess said.

While Chattanooga police respond to crimes that take at the housing developments, Sgt. Weary said she could not comment about city police concerns over assisting the housing authority police without receiving overtime pay.

Several public housing residents said they are concerned about the decrease in officers on patrol and will help the police.

Mercedes Jones, 43, of East Lake Courts, said the safety of her two children, ages 4 and 7, prompted her to get more involved.

“My kids cannot play in the yard because you never know when gunshots are going to break out,” she said. “I’m not messed up with calling (the police) because bullets don’t have eyes and they can come through my door.”

Sam E. Talley, a resident of East Lake Courts for more than 10 years, said he also would help.

“It’s just too much violence, especially in this area right here,” he said.

Lt. Reeves said he rides his bicycle or walks almost every day through one of the four major housing developments, including East Lake Courts, Harriet Tubman, Emma Wheeler Homes and College Hill Courts. The goal is to develop relationships with residents for the safety of the community, he said.

Officers also patrol in cars, but using the bicycles save gas and helps form relationships with residents, he said.

Officers patrol other scattered housing sites and elderly high-rise buildings but not as often as the larger developments, Chief Vess said.

About 2,500 people live in a four-block radius within a family site such as College Hill Courts, compared to about 50 people within the same distance at scattered sites, Chief Vess said.

Drug dealers and gang members do not make up the majority public housing population, he said. About 65 percent to 70 percent of crime in public housing sites is caused by people who don’t live there, officials said.

The majority of people in public housing are law-abiding citizens striving for a better life, Lt. Reeves said.

“There are kids who go to school and do well. Some parents go to work every day,” he said. “They are people who just need one more leg up before they can get out and go for themselves.”

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