HORN LAKE, Miss. (AP) - Mike Stage is frustrated.
Frustrated that he feels the need to keep a loaded gun on his coffee table. Frustrated that police don’t have unlimited resources. Frustrated that rental property has changed the character of the neighborhood he loves.
“When I moved here, this was a great neighborhood,” Stage says of the area around his home in an older part of Horn Lake, only a stone’s throw from City Hall.
Now, though, it’s a place he considers leaving behind amid growing gang activity and an increased number of criminal incidents. A recent shooting a few houses from his property was the last straw, enough to bring an agitated Stage to a Board of Aldermen meeting to plead for something to be done.
It’s a situation common in cities, officials say, as they experience growth - as has all of DeSoto County - and as older areas give way, in many cases, to more rental property and a less stable residential makeup.
Horn Lake officials, in particular, say they are aware of problems and are doing all they can to address the root causes. Just within the past month or so, aldermen committed $3,000 over a three-year period to help fund a pilot program through DeSoto Youth Solutions, a program designed to help at-risk youths stay out of trouble and get their lives back on track.
Officials say they’ve tried other measures as well, from shifting police officers around to enacting a curfew to keep young people off the streets at late hours.
Stage, who grew up in the Oakhaven area of southeast Memphis and has lived in Horn Lake for 24 years, says more needs to be done.
“For one thing,” Stage said during a recent walking tour of his neighborhood, “I’d like to see more police presence. But I also think a big part of it is that landlords need to be held accountable. We just rent these houses to whoever has the money. Can’t there be some background checks and seizure of property if they’re a public nuisance?”
Horn Lake Police Chief Darryl Whaley said he’s glad to see residents passionate about protecting their neighborhoods, but police don’t have the resources to be everywhere at all times. He said that during the recent shooting incident that sparked Stage’s ire, police had suspects in custody that same evening.
Another way police can help is through resource officers in the schools.
Leatha Clark, the resource officer at Horn Lake High School, said she considers it her purpose to help make a difference in students’ lives through her presence in the school to keep an eye on things.
“I want them to know they can come to me as a mentor or adviser with any problem they may be facing,” Clark said.
The DeSoto Youth Solutions pilot program the city is helping fund could also help provide a piece of the solution. The pilot, Saving Our Sons, is designed to bring the type of intervention programs that founder Anthony Hicks offers at his Southaven offices directly into neighborhoods where troubled youths live and go to school.
According to a breakdown of the gang members referred to Hicks’ organization by DeSoto County Juvenile Court over an 18-month period, Horn Lake had the largest percentage at 40. Another 31 percent came from Southaven, while 20 percent came from Olive Branch and 9 percent from other locations in the county.
Alderman Tim Smith said aldermen are doing all they can to help.
“We’re limited in the number of people we have,” Smith said after Stage addressed aldermen earlier this month. “And we’ve worked on this rental property thing for years, but our hands are tied in what we can do.”
Mayor Allen Latimer says he thinks a big part of the solution has to be as much citizen involvement as possible.
“If we had 500 people here (at Board of Aldermen meetings) saying they were going to step up, it would make a difference,” Latimer said. “But we’re certainly aware of the problems you’re pointing out.”
Latimer said another big piece of the puzzle is getting the city’s Neighborhood Watch program re-energized.
Stage, meanwhile, just knows that something needs to change.
“I want to stay here to watch my grandchildren grow up,” said Stage, whose son lives next door. “I’ve always been proud to tell people I moved to Horn Lake and am a homeowner here.”
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Information from: The Commercial Appeal, https://www.commercialappeal.com
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