City Administration: West Village still a problemAfter a month off, the City Administration Committee got back to work Wednesday night receiving a disappointing update on a new policing tactic and advancing a new holiday one step closer to existence.
The committee heard an update on the Officer Next Door Program, which was established early last year to encourage community policing in the West Village Apartments, an affordable housing complex that has struggled with crime. Two rent-free apartments were offered to members of the Ithaca Police Department as part of the program. According to much of the discussion at the meeting, though, the experiment appears to have not produced a positive effect, at least to this point.
Alderperson Cynthia Brock read a comment from a resident in West Village who seemed thoroughly disappointed by the Officer Next Door program, and the complex's overall operation.
"The bottom line is West Village management and Omni failed in their obligation to provide us with a safe place to live," the comment said.
By Matt Butler