10 nabbed in police operation

ALBANY, Ga. — After performing a crime statistic analysis, Albany Police Department officers swept into a neighborhood Tuesday to confront crime in its habitat.

“We went through an about eight- to 10-block grid around the area of Highland (Avenue) and McKinley Street,” said Police Capt. Ryan Ward. “This area was chosen because it is plagued with prostitution, aggravated assaults and copper thefts from vacant buildings. We made 10 arrests and gave 25 citations. All before 9 p.m.”

As an example of what goes on in the neighborhood, Ward noted it was where a city worker was pulled out of his vehicle, hit in the head and robbed at about 10 a.m. Sept. 14.

Prior to that robbery, around 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 13, a man was stabbed in the hand during an altercation at a bar on the 700 block of Highland. Police knew the area for those crimes and many others recorded and included in department statistics.

The area crackdown was the first of many to come, Ward said. Using crime statistic analysis to target a geographic area, a likely time and day of the week, police plan to become visible to residents as they arrest suspected criminals.

The operation, called “Zero Tolerance” for crime, included officers with the city’s Gang Unit, probation and parole officers, among others.

Along with a possession of marijuana arrest and illegal driving violations, the operation swept up parole and probation violators with outstanding warrants.

“One of the probation officers spotted a woman who hadn’t shown up for months,” Ward said. “She was very involved in prostitution. She was arrested.”

Residents swept up in the crackdown were asked for identification, said Deputy Chief Nathaniel Clark, who noted that they didn’t seem to mind.

“When it came to cleaning the neighborhood of crime, people welcomed the effort,” Clark said. “They knew the police weren’t there to harass them or impinge on their rights.

“One woman who lived in the neighborhood for 40 years had to show her ID. She thanked us and asked what took us so long. It is all about giving the community a safe place to live.”

The “Zero Tolerance” program will continue until January at the very least, Ward said. He was looking forward to going to whatever neighborhood the statistical crime analysis takes him and his officers to next.

“They (criminals) don’t know where we are going; they don’t know when we will be there,” Ward said. “Think about this: We took 10 bad guys off the street Tuesday. If we go out three times a week, we can get 30 a week off the streets.”