01/15/03  They killed one of our best

This letter regards the murder Eagle Scout Joseph Frederick.  

Mr. Frederick was shot several times at the intersection of Scyene and Jim Miller, his car stolen and found burning at Lawnview Park, his killer still walking the streets of Dallas.

As President of PLAN, Parkdale/Lawnview Association of Neighbors, I offer my condolences to the family of Mr. Frederick, and state my shock and appall at this tragic loss of life.  However I am not surprised that the crime rate in our area seems to be on the rise, yet again.  

PLAN has a neighborhood Volunteers in Patrol (VIP) program in place, and we have worked very hard over the years to establish a good relationship with Dallas Police Department Southeast Division.  Unfortunately, we have had difficulty in the past several months getting adequate and satisfactory communication from DPD Southeast.

PLAN no longer has an Intra Community Policing (ICP) Officer, many of our VIP volunteers have been laughed at by DPD SE dispatch officers and told that we "live in a bad neighborhood".  We have been invited to train our new VIP recruits ourselves, rather than send them through the required DPD training class.  VIP is an official DPD volunteer entity.  

As President of PLAN, I cannot condone or recommend that citizens who have not been trained properly by DPD make targets of themselves by hanging a bright, blinking light and a big sign on his/her car and patrol the neighborhood. 

If we felt more comfortable in the communication with DPD and the subsequent recruiting and training of new volunteers, perhaps we would have a stronger presence in the community and criminals would move on to other places instead of making this wonderfully beautiful area of Dallas the "bad part of town" again.

I am calling for a response from DPD Southeast's Chief in this matter- this neighborhood has an active VIP who gets laughed at by the police and such behavior by those sworn to protect and serve is deplorable!  I have gone all the way to my City Council Representative, Leo Chaney, for help on this matter.  

This is proof that we need more patrols and more active police cooperation in the Parkdale/Urbandale area.  It shouldn't take a senseless killing to get it.

Casie Pierce
President, Parkdale/Lawnview Association of Neighbors