The Town responded to the murder on Greenhill Road last summer by expanding the Island Sheriff's patrol by 50% and our coordinator, Sheriff's Deputy Sergeant Shawn James, has focused efforts on the "Down the Island" community. Sadly, we had a second murder this fall and just last week, two were injured in a shooting.
The Town's goal has been to deter criminal activity. The continued gun violence in the community shows that has not been fully effective. Still, there has been improvement. There has been strong cooperation by the community resulting in prompt arrests. The more recent murderer was soon arrested and the two shooters from last week were taken into custody after two days.
Mayor Tecklenburg has offered the help of the Charleston City Police. While most of the Down the Island community is in the Town, as usual, there are a few residents who had annexed to the City. Also, as usual, there are a number of new City developments on Dills Bluff and Fort Johnson bordering on the Down the Island community.
The Chief Deputy of the Sheriff's Office and the City Policy Chief are planning a coordinated effort with the Town's Island Sheriff's Patrol. I hope that we will develop a memorandum of agreement between the Town and the City so that we can deepen law enforcement cooperation on James Island.
The James Island Neighborhood Council is also working on the problem; Henrietta Martin represents the community on the neighborhood council. There are street captains throughout the community. They are working with the Town to target abandoned buildings and overgrown vacant lots. Not only are these unsightly, cleaning up the area is a matter of public safety.
The Town just completed a sidewalk project on Seaside Lane and is already obtaining easements to improve drainage. I strongly support a program of community improvement along with a commitment to continued law enforcement.
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