Captain Jack Jinks Updates Old North Knoxville at Neighborhood Meeting
January 30

February 2, 2003

As part of Old North Knoxville's (ONK) regularly scheduled monthly neighborhood meeting last Thursday, Captain Jack Jinks paid a visit, accompanied by two of the officers on ONK's beat.  He reported to the packed room that plans are underway to increase the patrols in ONK once the weather turns warmer around March, including a dedicated bicycle patrol.  This is due to the documented correlation of rising crime with rising outdoor temperatures, which has thankfully depressed crime in the area for the past couple of months.  However, he also pointed out that the closure of the Fifth Avenue Motel last November has likely been a contributing factor to the relative calm we have been experiencing recently: he cited that the number of calls to that area has decreased from 500/year to just 4/month.  In addition, the resources that used to be dedicated to the Fifth Avenue Motel can now be reallocated to ONK and surrounding neighborhoods. 

ONK residents noted that they had seen an increase in patrols in the area since the redistricting of ONK (with the assignment of new beat officers) last October 13.  When asked if the reported overcrowding of the City jail will have an impact on the police department's ability to arrest perpetrators in our neighborhood, Captain Jinks responded, "Yes."  He explained that officers have to call the jail to check on available space before they can take in suspected criminals.  But occasionally there will be "zero tolerance" sweeps of the area where this requirement will be bypassed.  He also mentioned that if a capias has been issued on a perpetrator, he/she must go to jail. (A capias warrant is a form of process to arrest a defendant who fails to make a court date after being given a criminal citation.) 

Captain Jinks wrapped up by encouraging residents of ONK to subscribe to the Yahoo group "37917" (or contact him directly by email) to voice any problems with crime in our area. This mailing list is a forum for residents of ONK and Fourth & Gill to report suspected criminal activity, and is monitored by the officers assigned to these neighborhoods.  To join, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/37917/, and follow the instructions of how to join.  Currently this list has 64 members and is rapidly growing.