Fayetteville Community Watch Coordinators Want Police Substation In Neighborhood

For the past five years, Moses Best has been the community watch coordinator for the Broadell Homes district, but his concern for public safety reaches far beyond his own neck of the woods.

"Nobody stepped up to the plate, so I decided to step up and do my share," he says. "Everybody owes something to society."

Best wants Fayetteville police to set up a substation near his neighborhood. He says drugs, prostitution and crime are taking over, but he also believes it is not too late to turn things around.

"It's not a lost cause. These kids are growing up here. They live here," he says.

Community watch coordinators say a police substation on Murchison Road would boost more police presence in their neighborhood, but police say that may or may not be the answer.

"Just because a building is put into an area, even a police building, that doesn't necessarily mean it will be crime-free," says Phil Cannady, Fayetteville interim police chief.

Cannady also says a substation, which would operate like a mini-police station, costs a lot of money.

Mounted patrol officers and a mobile police unit are already in place to keep the pressure on high-crime areas, but Moses believes a substation is the only way to keep the streets safe for good.

For the past three nights, Fayetteville police have increased their presence in several neighborhoods. Neighbors say they are already seeing a difference.