Published: Saturday, July 28, 2007
Officials welcome opening of North Side police substation
Tipsters can report crime at (330) 744-8989.
YOUNGSTOWN — Safety and quality of life are the priorities of the Weed and Seed police substation on the North Side, the mayor said.
Mayor Jay Williams joined in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday morning at the substation at 976 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
He said he's excited to see the program come to fruition.
Eugenia Atkinson, executive director of the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority, said the substation will provide additional security to residents.
Weed and Seed is a two-prong approach in high-crime target areas. The strategy involves weeding out criminals and drug abusers and then seeding in services to restore neighborhoods.
The Weed and Seed substation was made possible with a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. Police patrols in the area began about 10 weeks ago.
Police Chief Jimmy Hughes said 39 arrests have been made in the past 10 weeks, 17 vehicles towed and 89 parking citations handed out.
He said as complaints come in, police respond.
Tipsters can call (330) 744-8989 to report criminal activity, the chief said.
Also on Friday, the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority took the opportunity to show off rental units at Arlington Heights, directly behind the police substation.
Arlington Heights was made possible with a $19.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Arlington Heights sits on property once occupied by Westlake Terrace Apartments. Barracks-style projects for low-income residents were demolished to make way for houses, apartments and town houses.
The mixed income, racially diverse neighborhood will have 105 dwellings when complete.
