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North Charleston Police Chief Jon Zumalt is not the kind of guy to back down from a fight. So when the South Carolina police chief saw the headlines about high rates of crime in his city, he marched directly over to the governor’s office to get some funding to deal with the crime increase. But Governor Mark Sanford seemed preoccupied and not at all concerned with the headlines that had vexed Chief Zumalt. “N. Charleston Crime 7th in U.S.,” read one headline from a 2007 article that Zumalt brought to Sanford’s office. It’s unclear if Sanford was focused on his upcoming camping and hiking trip on the Appalachian Trail.What was clear was the fact that the chief’s pleas to free up some funding to fight crime fell on deaf ears.
Sanford told the top cop flatly that the state didn’t have the money. Zumalt left the governor’s office determined to find some other way to make the city safer. And he did. Crime in the city dropped for the second straight year in 2009, with reductions in every category fueling double-digit decreases in violent crime and property offenses, according to police records.
Violent crime, which landed North Charleston in the ranks of the nation’s most dangerous cities just a few years ago, dropped a whopping 26 percent last year. Gun-involved crimes dropped 37 percent, police said. Zumalt is quick to redirect any praise he might get for the reductions to the rank and file – a refreshing change of pace. “This is huge,” Zumalt told reporters with the Post and Courier newspaper.
“What these officers have done here is remarkable.” There’s no big mystery as to how the agency was able to have such an impact on crime rates. Over the past two years, North Charleston police have added manpower, improved technology and embraced a wide array of innovative strategies that have been modeled on programs that met with success elsewhere.
Among other things, they restructured the department’s patrol division to improve response times, beefed up crime analysis and expanded community policing. Zumalt has also embedded officers in troubled neighborhoods and worked to build stronger relations with the residents they serve. Even the mayor is impressed. “The department has done an excellent job of finding hot spots and saturating troubled areas with police presence,” Mayor Keith Summey told the Post and Courier.
“That has really helped make better neighborhoods in those communities.” Like a lot of aggressive enforcement efforts, the one in North Charleston has its share of critics. North Charleston resident Dot Scott, who is president of the Charleston chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said she regularly receives complaints about police using racial profiling and hassling black residents. She has also heard complaints about police tossing people in jail for nuisance violations such as failing to have a light on their bicycle and disorderly conduct, she said.
But Zumalt backs his officers and makes no apologies for increasing traffic stops or adopting a “zero tolerance” approach to problems in troubled neighborhoods. It’s a strategy that proved effective in driving down crime in New York City, Los Angeles and other cities, he said. He also pointed out that officers issued warnings for about 40 percent of the violations found.
In addition, Zumalt is keeping his friends close and his enemies closer- a tried and tested tactic for law enforcement leaders trying to defuse conflicts. Elder James Johnson is a civil rights activist who used to lead marches and rallies protesting North Charleston police tactics.
But these days he’s an integral part of the police-community partnership. Johnson said most black residents don’t want crime in their community and that they likely will be more understanding if police do a better job explaining what they are trying to accomplish.
“If you respect the people, the people will respect you and talk to you,” he said. “But Chief Zumalt has turned that department around 180 degrees from where it used to be. A lot has changed.” Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites        
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