???As part of the effort of the University Heights Collaborative (UHC), a group established to improve the quality of life in the University Heights, community members assembled in the Gloria J. Parks Community Center on Tuesday to discuss recent crime in the area.
???"The collaborative was founded about four years ago by a resident of the area," said David Ellerbrock, president of the UHC. "It was taken up again a little more intensely about a year ago, in light of the recent surge of violence in the area, such as the student beatings that have taken place."
???Also attending the meeting was Dan Ryan, director of off-campus student affairs and director of Career Services at UB. He addressed the group to explain and expand on the university's effort to minimize crime and violence in the Heights.
???According to Ryan, the university can take steps to penalize perpetrators if they happen to be a student, even if that student lives off campus.
???"There are things that students can be punished for. If a student has a party where they charge money at the door, they can face suspension," Ryan said. "The length of suspension depends on the severity of the incident."
??? While many community members spoke about their frustration with parties and large groups of students causing trouble in the streets, others focused on the violent crimes and the police response time.
???"I do believe that the community members hold the police accountable for the violence," said Capt. David Stabler of the Buffalo Police Department. "They should hold us accountable. It's our job to deal with and people don't want vigilantes.
???Many attendees, those from the UHC as well as the police officers, agreed that there has been a recent improvement in the crime rate around the Heights. According to Stabler, there has been a decrease in the number of emergency calls in relation to violence."
???Community members of the community can become a part of the UHC by uniting their street in a block club, Ellerbrock said Each block club is entitled to neighborhood watch training by a NFTA police officer. There are currently three active block clubs in the Heights.
???Community members at the meeting also brought up housing issues. Members of the crowd stressed that the board should focus on how they could potentially buy out the absentee landlords who lower the value of houses in the Heights.
???"As a legal entity we would open ourselves up to the possibility of getting grants," Ellerbrock said. "We could use the money to deal with the housing issues."
???Stabler is also the head of a new action called the University Detail, an attempt to minimize the amount of crimes that involve students both as victims and perpetrators. As one facet of this plan has called for, an additional police car has been patrolling the Heights on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
???"We want to put pressure on the university and its students," Stabler said. "We want them to realize that they live in a community where a lot of people have invested their lives. There are people who work 40 to 50 hours a week and deserve to live in a safe area."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
