Residents worry about losing Lynn CLT policing

LYNN – Janeece Bonilla enjoyed a picnic on June 30 with Curwin Circle friends until Officer Titou Kim approached the group and announced he will no longer be patrolling the West Lynn public housing complex.Kim and six other community liaison team (CLT) officers, along with Sgt. Glenn Dunnigan, were pulled off their walking and bicycle patrols this month and assigned to Police Department patrol routes as part of a plan to cover a $1 million spending cut.Bonilla – a two-year Curwin resident – doesn?t want to lose CLTs in her neighborhood.?It?s crazy – they can?t make up the funding for something that important?” asked Bonilla.Since 2011, CLT officers have become a familiar sight to city residents. Wearing a bright yellow jacket and riding a bicycle, Kim?s daily routine has included talking to residents about problems in the Holyoke Street neighborhood and resolving concerns about loud noise and nuisance-prone kids.?I try to talk on a one-on-one basis to resolve issues,” he said.Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy, in a recent speech, said CLT officers are “vital” to reducing local crime, but she said state-set spending requirements for public schools factored prominently into her decision to make budget cuts that Police Chief Kevin Coppinger said approached 5 percent for the Police Department.He made the cuts by reducing department expenses and shelving plans to hire eight new officers. Still, the size of the cut left him with little choice other than to end the community patrols.?If I left CLTs out there, I would have to reassign detectives to patrol: I still need them to investigate a whole range of crimes,” Coppinger said.With Kim and fellow community officers returning to city patrol routes, Coppinger said he will be able to hold the line on police overtime costs that, he said, will accelerate without CLT officers taking on regular patrol shifts.?We have to have the versatility to put more patrols on the street,” he said.But Coppinger fears that eliminating CLTs will mean a reversal in the department?s success in reducing the crime rate city-wide by 10 percent this year. He said the community officers play a significantly different law enforcement role than patrol officers who respond to call after call during their shift, or detectives who follow up on incidents and reports.?The beauty of the CLTs is they have time to work on problems with neighbors,” he said.Clara Rodriguez has lived in Curwin Circle for eight years, and she credits CLT officers with responding quickly to neighbors? complaints about people from outside Curwin coming into the neighborhood and causing trouble.?We feel more protected – gangs don?t come around,” she said.Four-year Curwin resident Dariana Valdez said Kim?s presence on Curwin?s winding streets means neighborhood residents don?t have to worry when their children play on the big lawns located between Curwin?s two-story rowhouses.?Now, everybody is going to have to keep an eye on things,” Valdez said.Dunnigan was among the first officers assigned to community patrols when CLTs were introduced 20 years ago. He said officers work closely with city inspectors and Housing Authority and Neighborhood Development officials to solve neighborhood problems before they expand and crimes are committed.Former Curwin manager David Raymond said he met regularly with Kim to discuss “areas to watch” in the nearly 700-resident neighborhood, including potential gang and illegal drug activity. In his new job overseeing authority housing located across the city, Brown said he has seen other CLT officers in action.?It?s going to make a difference without them on the bikes,” he said.District Court Probation Officer Kim Garbarino said CLT officers assist with probation checks, and Officer Peter Alexander said CLT patrols helped him develop mediation skills required to resolve neighborhood disputes.?We?re approachable and we are visible – people feel comfortable telling us what is going on,” he said.Valdez worries about what Cur