Drunk, disorderly calls jump in Whittier neighborhood

Early statistics for the Bishop Dudley Hospitality would appear to show the neighborhood has seen a hefty disruption since the emergency shelter and day center opened its door three months ago.

Information supplied by the Sioux Falls Police Department show the number of calls for disorderly subjects almost tripled from the previous year while calls for intoxicated subjects increased more than 2¹/₂ times from 2014.

Officials aren't ready to panic, however.

"It may be just too soon to be able to conclusively say there's more problems because the Bishop Dudley House opened up," said Officer Sam Clemens, SFPD spokesman.

Only "a very small percentage" of the homeless who stay overnight at the shelter have required police intervention, BDHH executive director Chad Campbell said Friday. While individuals have been asked to leave, and a sign bearing the names of those who are permanently barred has been posted on the front door, much good is being done, he said.

"We have a growing population who are homeless and struggling with poverty, and they need a place they can go to," he said. "We're here to help those individuals who want to help themselves and take that next step. There are hurdles and struggles and opportunities with anything new."

A 45-minutes meeting at 6 p.m. Monday at the Bishop Dudley Hospitality House will give neighbors and others a chance to hear an update and ask questions of Campbell and others. It is part of the good communication promised when it was announced that homeless services were being consolidated into one building and moved out of downtown.

The move away from a day center at 300 N. Main Ave. has not eliminated problems there, police information shows. In the first three months of this year compared to 2014, disorderly subjects calls were cut in half, from 86 to 42, while intoxicated subject calls actually increased by one, from 32 to 33.

The three-block radius around the Bishop Dudley Hospitality House showed much smaller increases in other police calls when comparing the first three months of 2014 and this year. Assaults rose from 11 to 13 with "man down" calls going from 7 to 12. Calls for an unconscious person actually dropped from 13 to 12.

Calls because of disorderly and intoxicated subjects showed the biggest increase. Disorderly subjects rose from 63 to 183 with intoxication calls rising from 40 to 102.

That's what neighbors feared, said Scott Thorson, who has owned the Welcome Mat Laundromat on East 10th Street for 17 years.

"There's been a lot of change, shall we say," Thorson said. "We used to know a lot of the street people by name but not anymore. It's just a whole different variety of people."

Neighborhood residents have learned not to report people have passed out when they call 911 for assistance, Thorson said. That means an ambulance will be sent out. It's better to ask for the police, he said.

"As a citizen and taxpayer, I don't want to pay for an ambulance call when someone is passed out," Thorson said.

At the same time, he has not seen a decrease in business at the laundromat.

"Our clientele is very tolerant. It's part of the neighborhood, and they lives there, too, they know what's going on. The Whittier neighborhood has dealt with this issue fror a long time," Thorson said.

Clemens talked with a police officer who patrols the area and drew a comparison to the problems experienced last summer when people, some of them homeless, began congregating in Van Eps Park near the downtown. Calls to the park skyrocketed, and the City Council eventually banned drinking there and at Tower Park on North Main Avenue.

"It's still pretty early, and we're not able to draw a whole lot of conclusions, but the gut feeling at this point in time is that other people who have homes or live somewhere else are coming into the area and causing problems, not necessarily the homeless," Clemens said.

Police officers plan to increase foot, bicycle and motorcycle patrols in the area to curb disruption, Clemens said.

"There will be a lot of officers spending a lot of time in that area, talking to both homeowners and business owners," he said.

The Bishop Dudley Hospitality House offers two programs, one in the day time and one for evenings, Campbell said. Since it opened, it has served cumulatively 8,191 people in the daytime, providing 1,306 shower, 657 loads of laundry and serving 4,228 lunches.

The totals include 5,554 men, 2,263 women and 274 children.

At night, the homeless shelter has averaged 62 men and 14 women with the seven family units almost always full.

"We have served 30 families thus far since we've opened, from a single mom with one child to a two-parent household with six children," Campbell said. "We've served 357 different men and 116 different women for a total of 477. To me, that's a very shocking number. Almost 500 people in our community identify themselves as homeless needing a place to stay."

Thursday night, the Bishop Dudley Hospitality House sheltered 69 men and 18 women.

The center is not designed to serve as a detox center, and intoxicated residents have generated some calls to the police, Campbell said. As of Wednesday, Sioux Merchant Patrols has increased its rounds in the area, and guests are told to be respectful of the Whittier neighborhood, he said.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Neighborhood meeting at the Bishop Dudley Hospitality House

WHEN: 6 p.m. Monday

WHERE: 101 N. Indiana Ave.

PURPOSE: Executive director Chad Campbell will speak about the first months of operation. Representatives of the city, law enforcement and board members also will answer questions. Meeting should end at 6:45 p.m.

STATISTICS