Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon was robbed at gunpoint over the weekend. An assailant, armed with "a sawed-off shotgun" came up to her and her husband on Saturday and demanded her purse.
"This man did not appear to be some kind of drug-user," Barrett-Simon said on Monday. "He sounded sober and was dressed as clean as you or me."
Barrett-Simon said she suspected the assailant had planned the robbery, saying she had discovered cigarette butts littering a spot in the street in front of her house. The robber was smoking at the time of the incident. Barrett-Simon said she also believed the robbery was not impulsive, because she and her husband were not visible from the street.
"I've had visitors at my house, and it took some of them forever to realize that my house is just behind a rise in the driveway," Barrett-Simon said.
The council discussed the incident on Monday, using it as an example of how prevalent crime is and how unprepared the city is to deal with it.
"I don't think we've ever had a crime plan," Barrett-Simon complained to the council and mayor. "We can't say we have a plan that has worked ... in other places, and we're ready to put it forth here, and this is how much it's going to cost," Barrett-Simon said.
Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes said that the chief had brought a plan to the council last month.
"The chief gave us a plan. We have a plan," Stokes insisted, referring to a plan calling for more officers and a police wage increase. The plan does not outline how to fund its principal elements, however, and the mayor's office has not submitted any ideas for the council to approve.
"I don't think a lot of police officers know that it's not our job to devise these ideas. All the council does is approve them," said Ward 6 Councilman Marshand Crisler.
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