As the Northwest’s Population Grows, Will Crime?

By Attiyya Atkins

District 4 is changing at a rapid pace. As buildings go up, Commissioner Beverly Perkins is concerned that crime rates will rise as well. At a meeting held on May 24 at E. Pat Larkins Center, Perkins brought in developers who will be changing the face of District 4 and representatives of the Broward Sheriff’s Office to discuss how to deal with current and future crime waves.

With 11 new developments coming to District 4, BSO Captain Darryl Stallings expects up to 20,000 new residents. With that population increase, it is likely that crime will increase as well.

“My plea to you guys is if you hear something,” Stallings said. “Tell us. We will put investigation efforts to solve these cases. It’s not just Pompano, we’re seeing this all over.”

Perkins suggested that Pompano needs the help of another agency to control its crime.

“We have a lot of seniors in the area and that’s my concern as well,” Perkins said. “My mom likes to keep her garage door up. I tell my mom to keep it down because we don’t live in that kind of neighborhood anymore. That bothers me.”

Perkins said that BSO has brought in its community outreach team, bike team, and other teams to Pompano to no avail. “We’ve brought in all these resources and the killing hasn’t stopped… maybe [BSO] is overwhelmed or we need to bring someone in to help us.”

Stallings said, “It’s not a BSO problem it’s our problem… the crimes will continue in the northwest because the people are not talking.”

He mentioned a shooting in Liberty Park where four people were injured, one died, and no one revealed any information about the shooter to the police.

Residents seemed to agree with Stallings. They have seen police officers at basketball courts and football fields talking to people and building relationships, but it comes down to how safe residents want to feel in their community. A resident at the meeting said, “We in the community need to see it and say it. We can’t put it all on the police, at the end of the day we have to get involved and help them.”