Students adorned in Greek letters and University at Buffalo apparel gathered at the Heath Street Block Club meeting last Thursday at the Gloria J. Parks Community Center.
The agenda of the meeting, planned over six weeks in advance, intended to discuss a recent rash of crimes in the University Heights district and the lack of jail time given to criminals.
However, the turnout of over 100 community members, long-time University Heights residents, and UB students quickly turned the meeting's focus to the Oct. 22 assaults on Lisbon Avenue carried out upon students by local teenagers.
Brett Berman, president of Alpha Epsilon Pi, spoke on behalf of the students in attendance. Berman questioned the system of priority ranking to calls made to local 911 dispatches.
Captain David Stabler of Buffalo Police's E-District explained that priority one calls can involve a person with a gun, assault in progress resulting in physical injuries, burglaries in progress, and other related crimes. Priority two calls can include violent domestic reports or a burglary that just happened. Priority three calls can include larceny and criminal mischief.
However, these were just examples "off the top of [Stabler's] head."
At the meeting, Berman questioned the initial priority ranking from 211 Lisbon Ave. In response, Stabler incorrectly stated that the call originally came out as a "shots fired" call that was dispatched to Buffalo Police at 12:05 a.m. and that they responded within 30 seconds.
To clarify the confusion, Mike DeGeorge, Buffalo Police Department spokesperson, joined the panel to resolve the dispute between the officers. DeGeorge stated that the call moved from a priority three to a priority one call over the course of the night.
"I don't see where there is a problem with Buffalo Police response time," Stabler said.
As fraternity members became frustrated, Berman questioned the reported police response time of 30 minutes to the Lisbon Avenue home and asked Stabler if fights normally went on for half an hour.
The question and answer session, which was intended to bring the community together, temporarily intensified when Stabler responded to the questions raised by Berman.
"Listen Brett, I understand what your point is. I understand that you want to show that we weren't responsive enough to what happened at 211 Lisbon," Stabler said. "But I'm going to tell you what [was] going on at 211 Lisbon. You guys were having a house party. You should not have been having a house party."
Stabler accused the fraternity of victimizing itself and continued speaking over the applause from other community members.
"When you didn't let [the assailants] in because they didn't want to pay your cover charge, a fight ensued," Stabler said. "That's what happened over there. Don't paint yourselves as victims. You're creating a problem in that neighborhood and you [were] victimized because of what you were doing at the house."
Panel members alleged that these "illegal house parties" are hurting the community.
However, a resident of 215 Lisbon Ave. supported the fraternity, stating that its members always alert their neighbors of any parties they host. Additionally, the Lisbon resident stated the parties end by 1 a.m. out of respect for neighbors.
"There is never music being played, they clean up after themselves, they are very respectful," said the Lisbon Avenue resident, who did not mention her name. "I can't speak for any of the other neighbors."
A parent of one of the fraternity brothers who lived at 211 Lisbon Ave. voiced his respect for the Buffalo Police force but became irritated by allegations made against residents of the house where the fight broke out.
"In terms of the calls that were made to 911, what was said earlier about the original 11:50 p.m. call [that the fight was over] was an outright lie," said the parent, who also did not reveal his name. "It's clear that you don't have enough staff…When you blame the victims, when you claim these kids were at fault for having a party… if you call that street, you will find that those neighbors…have the utmost respect [for these boys]"
According to the parent, the fight turned into a 100-person brawl involving around 30 local teenagers and around 60 or 70 students. There were two additional parties on Lisbon Avenue that evening, and other students ran down the street to help.
"Even neighbors got involved to protect these kids," the parent said. "My son carried kids back to the house [over his shoulder], where if he didn't, [they] would probably be dead today. These kids risked life and limb selflessly, maybe foolishly, but they did. And when you blame the victim, it's akin to blaming a woman wearing a tight dress for getting raped."
Throughout the meeting, debates arose between longtime University Heights residents, who were frustrated with the amount of drinking and house parties in the area, and UB students, who felt disrespected at the meeting.
"We have students in our neighborhood being victimized because they're students," said a member of the Minnesota Avenue Block Club. "These are kids that are walking to school being attacked by kids who don't live in our neighborhood. You can dial 911 for help and then you can wait anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes. You might be laying there dead, you might be beaten up, you might be held up with a gun."
Questions arose regarding the response time of 911 calls to the Buffalo Police Department. Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, who was on the panel, recommended that community members that attend these meetings contact Commissioner Peter Vito of Central Police Services.
"We're not trying to pass the buck, but we need to fix and improve the system so that police can be dispatched more effectively and can respond to these calls more quickly," Brown said.
The panel included Captain Mike Garrity of NFTA Transit, Chief of NFTA George Dast, Officer Tom Losi of NFTA Transit, Buffalo City Councilwoman Bonnie Russell of the University District, Assistant District Attorney of Erie County Patrick Shanahan, Stabler, Chief of Detectives Dennis Richard, First Deputy Commissioner Byron C. Lockwood, and Brown.
Residents addressed the "revolving door" situation of criminals who have made repeated offenses in the area. Mayor Brown gave statistics to show that crime has actually decreased in the area.
"I know that there is a perception of a rash of crimes in the University Heights area, but when we look at robberies, [they] are less than they've been since 2006," Brown said. "Assaults are less than they've been since 2006. Burglaries, larcenies, unauthorized use of vehicles have all been less. There is a perception of crime, but the real numbers are actually less in University Heights [from past years.]"
Community members also raised issues regarding city curfew times, unemployment rates in the area, and overall police presence, among other issues.
Russell hopes an arrangement can be made between the Buffalo Police Department, NFTA Transit Officers, and University at Buffalo Police throughout the University Heights district.
"You see the number of people in here who are students," Russell said. "We want a committee set up [between UB and NFTA] with a few residents involved throughout the entire district to see if they can't just drive down Main Street, Winspear and Bailey but [also] take two minutes to go in and out of the side streets. A lot of this has to do with police presence."
UB police allegedly rejected an invitation by Russell to attend a preliminary meeting to discuss a coalition between the police forces to increase police presence in the area. Russell ended the meeting by passing out petitions to have a meeting with the three police forces to find a solution for the University Heights area.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
