Alleys: Not Just for Cats Anymore

Two years ago, a homeless man seeking refuge from a gunman, ran through my friend Kris's backyard and was shot on her back-doorstep. It seems that there has been an increase in alley crime as the streets themselves appear to become safer. Recently, I have seen an increase in alley crimes, from illegal dumping, prostitution, and open-air drug sales and, in some alleys, gunpoint robberies have increased.

The mayor has made it a priority to provide safe streets to the citizens of the District of Columbia, and in the short months that Mayor Adrian Fenty has been in office I have noticed an increase in police presence on our city streets.

As patrols pick up on our city streets, the alleys offer an inviting opportunity for criminals. As police patrol the chartered streets, criminals look for cover and places to continue their illegal activities. Alleys are the remote areas of our cities that guarantee a flow of people as they access their cars and trash bins. Additionally, they offer law breakers space to store abandoned property and, in one case two weeks ago, they offer a location to dispose of and burn a stolen auto that thiefs have grown tired of, once the gas has been depleted.

Solutions are needed to address blind areas of coverage. Police, as they move forward to advance the work of making city streets safer, may inadvertently shift the crime to other more "personal areas." This is an issue of visibility.

Residents feel a sense of fury and frustration because the best advice given to us all thus far, is to stay out of the alleys. That means stop throwing out our trash and parking our cars. And please forget about that backdoor to your house. Pretend it does not exist.

The city may need to consider extending the eyes of authority by allowing a system where neighbors adjacent to an alley can opt in to a program allowing their alleyway to be monitored electronically. Even if the camera worked or just transmitted HBO, a criminal would think twice before frequenting these areas if they think they are under surveillance.

We need to address this issue immediately. Crime has not been eliminated it has just moved to our back doors.