06-24-02 Council Meeting Minutes

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REGULAR MEETING JUNE 24, 2002 Ms. Rita Kopala, 66559 Ivy Road, Lakeville, Indiana, stated that she is against the loitering ordinance. She noted that in 1998 she picketed the Century Center and was arrested for trespassing and put in jail. In September of 2000 she picketed the College Football Hall of Fame and was again arrested and put in jail. In 2001 the police picketed the same places and they were not even issued a ticket. Ms. Kopala noted that she was using her first amendment rights the same as the police were when they picketed for their raises. Now a law is being considered for arresting people for loitering. She stated that nothing stopped the powers that be from arresting her in the past so why would the City now need a loitering ordinance. She noted that she is 65 years old and was never arrested before in her life. She asked that the City be very careful what ordinances are allowed as she was intimidated by the very people who are supposed to protect her. Ms. Cheryl Ashe, 3830 Langley Drive, South Bend, Indiana, advised that she understands problems people have in dealing with drugs but believes the Council must look at what this ordinance says. She is concerned about what individuals have said tonight which is that they know who belongs in their neighborhood. How do they know who belongs in their neighborhood? Additionally, she is concerned about the neighborhood associations making decisions about this ordinance. Her concern is that this ordinance will be used basically to target young men because the neighborhood doesn't like the way they wear their hair or their clothes and will be used to correct behavior that is not illegal. She questions how someone will be able to tell the difference between gang members standing on a corner for a legitimate reason. While people may dislike gang members, they also have a legitimate right to stand on the corner. One of the biggest problems she has is the concept that one neighborhood may vote that they want a law enforced in their neighborhood and another neighborhood may vote that they do not want the law enforced in their neighborhood. She stated that if the law is good, then the law should be good enough for the entire City. Additionally, Ms. Ashe noted that she is concerned about how it was decided that the neighborhood associations will make this decision. Having belonged to a neighborhood association she knows that they can be very inclusive or very exclusive as it all depends upon the members. Ms. Ashe stated that she believes that this ordinance needs to be a referendum where everyone who is legally of age can vote because this ordinance will affect everyone. She asked the Council to do some serious consideration of this ordinance and asked that they tell the public how the police will be trained. She further stated that this ordinance may not be the panacea that the Council thinks it is. Mr. Jim Cierzniak, 1156 East Victoria Street, South Bend, Indiana, stated that he is against drug trafficking and gang loitering and asked the Council to beef up the laws and not go through the charade of pretending that it all comes from the neighborhoods. Mr. Cierzniak questioned having the neighborhood groups making these decisions and stated that he believes that leaving this particular aspect to neighborhood associations makes the Council derelict in their duties as they can't pass that obligation and responsibility along to someone else. He also questioned the idea that the police will need hours and hours of training. As stated, the police need to know that a group of people talking while standing on the street corner doesn't necessarily mean they are loitering. Mr. Cierzniak noted that if the City needs tougher laws then they should be for the entire City. However, suddenly the City will have laws chosen by neighborhoods. He noted that the Council was elected and citizens know who they are and they conduct public meetings for input. He further noted that he would rather go with what the Council says as far as toughening up the law and laws should be enforced uniformly throughout the City. He asked that the Council turn down the ordinance when the time comes. There was no one else present wishing to speak to the Council concerning this matter. In rebuttal, Councilmember Pfeifer stated that she would like to address and clarify the issue of training for the police. She noted that police officers have been involved and support this ordinance and have asked for training. They are not going to be trained to decide whether groups of people are gang members or not but to know various aspects including the locations of the designated areas. Councilmember King noted that another reason for the training is that there are constitutional issues In