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Crews from the Charlotte Department of Transportation lowered street-blocking slabs of concrete in Howie Acres on Thursday, the beginning of a controversial experiment to fight crime in a community that neighbors say has become a “drive-through” for drug deals.
Howie Acres, a small neighborhood of about a half-dozen streets where The Plaza meets Sugar Creek Road, has had disproportionately high crime for years.
Police say the crime stems from open-air drug markets that capitalize on the community's location between two major thoroughfares in northeast Charlotte. It's easy for buyers to turn into Howie Acres from The Plaza, do a quick tradeoff with dealers, then melt into traffic on busy Sugar Creek Road.
After decades of fighting crime with traditional methods, police are betting the barriers will reduce crime in Howie Acres by cutting off easy escape routes.
“Our goal is to make it a little more difficult to the buyers and to make it a little more difficult to the sellers,” said Capt. Johnny Jennings, who oversees the police division that includes Howie Acres.
The barricades were placed in 4200 block of Dinglewood Avenue and in the 1000 block of Trembeth Drive.
Residents opposed to the barriers say they don't want their freedom of movement impeded and were angered last month because they say police didn't ask permission to block the streets. The problem was exacerbated when the barriers were placed earlier than expected.
CDOT has said the premature installation was a mistake and police have apologized for it.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police made further concessions, saying they will re-evaluate the barriers in three months to see if they're really reducing crime.
Still, even neighbors who favor the barriers are skeptical that much can be done in a neighborhood where the sounds of gunshots and drug-related violence are common.
“(The drug dealers) thought they owned the streets and they didn't hide it,” said one neighborhood resident who's lived in Howie Acres for decades, but didn't give her name because of fear of retribution.
The woman said she was “praying the barriers work. … This is a rough neighborhood and (the drug dealers) are fighting tooth and nail to keep it like it was, because they're not making any money now.”
Cleve R. Wootson Jr.: 704-358-5046
