On Germantown block, residents struggle with youth violence

AINE DOLEY knows that kids will be kids, but she draws the line at 60-person melees.

"It's not like we want kids to be quiet all the time or stay inside; we want a welcoming environment," said Doley, the block captain of Rockland Street near Germantown Avenue in Germantown.

"But we also don't want to have to live with property damage and other issues."

Doley says that a "feud" between two groups of kids who live in houses a few yards apart - one on Germantown Avenue, the other on Rockland Street - is to blame.

In the past, the spats haven't been too serious. But recently, in the last few months, things have gotten worse, she said.

Rocks thrown through windows, kids yelling at all hours of the night, graffiti tags on a nearby school.

And then, two weeks ago, the tensions hit a boiling point: A massive group of kids converged on Rockland Street to fight, she said.

Exact numbers aren't available, but one neighbor told Doley that he counted 60 kids.

Doley says she called police about the fight and was told that an officer would look into it.

According to police, when officers arrived, no crowd was found.

But that doesn't matter to Doley: She says she saw what she saw, and it's left her shaken.

"I'm frustrated; we're all frustrated," she said. "We're trying to prevent what we've seen from escalating into a shooting."

The main issue, Doley says, is how police enforce curfew laws.

Under the current ordinance, during the school year kids 13 and younger have to be off the streets by 8 p.m.; kids 14 and 15 get an extra hour; and kids 16 and 17 get an hour beyond that.

"Aren't the rules the same everywhere in the city?" Doley said. "They should apply to every neighborhood, in every situation."

Capt. Michael Craighead, the commanding officer of the 39th District, said he's fielding complaints from Doley and her neighbors and is working to bring about change.

But, he said, he can only do so much.

In the past, his officers have taken a zero tolerance approach to enforcing the curfew, he said, but defining violations can be difficult.

"If you're in a residential area and you see a group of kids sitting outside on a porch, you tell them to go inside.

"Then, the parents come out and tell you 'This is my home; I'm watching them.'

"Are you going to cite them for being on their stoop?"

Instead, Craighead said, his focus is on having constant foot patrols where the same officers meet with residents and approach problems that arise at the source, the parents themselves.

Since the complaints began, Craighead has increased patrols on the block, something Doley acknowledges noticing.

"We don't live in a police state," Craighead said. "We want to work with residents, to partner with them to reach a common end."

Meanwhile, Doley and her neighbors are working hard to address the block's problems internally.

She said she's tried discussing the youths' feud with the adults living in the two homes. But she's been less than successful.

"We don't want to have the police come, if we can help it" she said. "We should be able to address these problems as a group, because we're all connected here.

"What one person does affects all of us, and we want to feel safe in our own community."