devyn keith

Huntsville City Councilman Devyn Keith outlines his proposal to improve the police department. (Paul Gattis/pgattis@al.com)

Pitching a plan that included the city of Huntsville purchasing a home in a high-crime neighborhood where a police officer could live, Councilman Devyn Keith unveiled his vision for a unique approach on policing in the Rocket City.

At a community meeting Monday night at the Academy for Academics and Arts, about 70 people attended as well as Mayor Tommy Battle and Police Chief Mark McMurray as Keith detailed his SMART Policing Initiative.

Others in the audience included state Rep. Laura Hall, D-Huntsville, City Administrator John Hamilton and City Attorney Trey Riley.

"When the decision makers are present, you usually get things done," Keith said after the meeting.

Indeed, a step may well have been taken in that direction at the meeting when Councilman Will Culver said he was publicly announcing his support for Keith's plan

"Devyn, I know this is going to cost some money," Culver said during comments from the audience. "But whatever it is you're trying to do with this SMART program, incorporating it through the police department, that's workable, you certainly have my support. So that means we are only one other vote away (on the five-person council)."

Indeed, it will take money. Keith said he didn't have a specific dollar figure in mind but gave a general estimate of about $200,000 to put the program in motion.

The proposal comes on the heels of Keith last month being briefly detained by Huntsville police, who were searching for a burglary suspect in Keith's neighborhood of Terry Heights.

Keith, who was standing outside his home at the time talking with neighbors, said the incident underscored the lack of connection police had with the neighborhoods they are hired to protect when they would detain a city councilman who was simply standing outside his home and not even know it.

The SMART program, Keith said, will enhance those community connections and, subsequently, help reduce crime.

"Once you say to somebody, the police department needs to do better, you've got to back them up with how," Keith told the audience. "I absolutely know about the social narrative of the nation. I, myself, struggle with that at times as an African American male, realizing how police officers might look at me because of what the nation tells me in my own personal interactions. But as elected officials and administrators, we have to ask ourselves, how do we administer your tax dollars to do two things - connect with the community and decrease crime?

"This is one proposal I think can do it. It's different. It might be a little uncomfortable for some people in the suits. But I think it can have a positive impact and can be replicated in other places around the community."

Perhaps the most unusual aspect of the plan that Keith outlined at the meeting was the idea of the city buying a house in a high-crime area and putting a police officer there to live. Keith pointed to a similar plan that's been used in Racine, Wisconsin, that has resulted in the city buying three homes in different locations.

Citing information from Racine police, Keith said that in some cases, crime has been reduced in those neighborhoods by 70 percent.

In Racine, the plan had the following benefits, Keith said:

Building relationships with members of the community.

Improving the quality of life in the neighborhood.

Reducing crime.

Empowering citizens to take back their neighborhoods.

Keith repeatedly emphasized throughout his presentation that it's critical for police to essentially embed themselves in the communities they patrol. And that special events - such as block parties - are not going to attract those skeptical of the police.

Keith has put the idea into practice for himself, moving into a home in struggling Terry Heights to become intimately familiar with the issues and concerns of his constituents. The councilman plans to move to three other such neighborhoods during his four-year term, spending a year at each location.

Other aspects of the SMART policing plan include expanding the police force and working to make the demographics of the police department reflect the demographics of the city.

Access to real-time crime data across the city is also critical, Keith said. McMurray, the police chief, said that process is already underway and should be available to officers within a matter of weeks.

"It was very positive. It was upbeat," McMurray said following the meeting. "They brought some good solutions. I think Councilman Keith is not a man who complains about anything. He's a man who is bringing solutions to the table. Some of these are real good ideas.

"Like the mayor said, we're going to have to look at these things one at a time and find a way to finance some of these initiatives. They are very good ideas."

Money, of course, is always the key to a new program. But Keith said the SMART program will be far less expensive than other recent initiatives undertaken by the police department - such as purchasing body cameras and Tasers. The city has spent more than $1.7 million on those two projects alone.

"If you don't try anything new, how do you expect to get different results?" Keith said. "This will be the first of its kind in the state. And this can be the focal point of growth if it's done correctly and successful and be replicated across the city and maybe across the state."

Battle, in briefs remarks to close the meeting, credited Keith for bringing the proposal to the community.

"To Devyn, thank you for some great ideas, some things we can think on," the mayor said. "So many things, we may just pick out one and then move on to the next and the next. We'll do like you do when you eat an elephant - one bite at a time."