Residents say new cop beat positive step

 While the prospect of wider Duke police patrols has left many students apprehensive about the future of off-campus parties, Durham residents living off East Campus say they hope the Duke University Police Department can help students become more responsible neighbors.

 Under a new law that passed through the N.C. Senate and House of Representatives in mid-July, the Durham Police Department will be able to grant extended jurisdiction around East Campus to DUPD. A more precise agreement is still in the works, but Duke officers could start patrolling as soon as January, said DUPD Chief Clarence Birkhead.

 "Obviously, if someone lives off campus, they're independent from the University as far as living goes," said Berry McMurray, who lives on Urban Avenue off East Campus. "But the University should still be concerned with how they're living. With Duke's patrols being expanded, it could be a good way to keep the University in touch more with its students."

 After a weekend of students' pre-class revelry, many neighbors are fed up--not only with students' seeming disregard for noise, parking and trash ordinances, but also with the general unresponsiveness of Durham police. Now, those living closest to the offending houses say that something must be done, and they don't care if it is Durham or Duke that does it.

 "Apparently this weekend was just horrible," said Ellen Dagenhart, one of Duke's neighbors. "Anything that would go to stop some of this mess would help. If we can get more policemen--whether from Duke or Durham--on the street, I'm all about that."

 Dagenhart said she has always found Durham police to be extremely responsive to her calls, and she has no apprehensions about Duke police being similarly available. She noted, however, that she does not live in an area with many undergraduate students.

 Wendy Goldstein, on the other hand, said she has had a slightly different experience with Durham police, and she hopes Duke police will not follow their lead. Goldstein's house on Berkeley Street is closer to East Campus than Dagenhart's on Dollar Avenue.

 "If Duke police are effective, then [extended jurisdiction] is a good idea," Goldstein said. "But there are a lot of homes the Durham police know about but do nothing about. If Duke police aren't going to change that, then it's not worth the trouble of them taking on more patrols."

 When the bill to allow extended jurisdiction first became law in July, both University and city officials said they hoped regular Duke patrols off East Campus would increase security in the area and free up Durham officers to areas with a higher incidence of crime. Few neighbors, however, seemed to be overly concerned with the effects of Duke police on serious crime, focusing instead on their connection with Duke students living off campus.

 "Duke police will be given as much authority as Durham police, and in all fairness they should use that to police a lot of party homes around the area," Goldstein said. "They can't just ignore it because it is Duke students causing the disturbance. You can't just pick and choose your crimes."

 Almost as an afterthought, Goldstein noted that the possibility of reducing the incidence of major crimes through more patrols would be a welcome perk to the new agreement between the city and the University.

 "Violent crime and sexual assault decline the quality of life, but then again, so do students who are out of control," she said.

 Few residents seemed to view DUPD's extended jurisdiction in a light other than that of policing off-campus student houses, perhaps because this semester's inaugural off-campus parties were described by most as worse than usual.

 Still, some mentioned other concerns, such as a need for more communication to residents about the new agreement, under which Duke officers will be granted authority over residents not affiliated with the University.

 "It may take a while for the word to get out that Duke police can actually make arrests and for people to take them seriously," Goldstein said. "Before, they just drove around the outside of campus, and unless they saw something totally illegal, I don't know how much they did. Frankly, who knows how many people even know that Duke police are going to have authority."

 David Smith, president of the Trinity Park Neighborhood Association, said he viewed the agreement as a "long-term, positive" contribution from the University, but acknowledged that, "like everything else, it will just take a little time to get it implemented and working."

 Many neighbors said they need to hear more about the details of the agreement between the University and DPD before deciding if it will be a welcome change. Overall, however, people seem to be optimistic about the work Duke police can do off campus.

 "As a neighborhood, I think we're pleased about the proposal," Smith said. "Now there are just a lot of questions people have about how it's actually going to work. Will it reduce the role and presence of Durham police in the neighborhood? How do we call upon the Duke police when we need them?"

 John Schelp, president of the Old West Durham Neighborhood Association, echoed Smith's sentiments, adding that it would be helpful to discuss bike and pedestrian patrols on Ninth Street as a positive component of the plan.