STATEMENT OF REAGAN LOCKSDALE My name is Reagan Locksdale. I am the owner of Worldwide Pizza Palace (WPP) which is located at 2594 Napa Valley Drive. I am also president of the Whiteacre Bluffs Chamber of Commerce. I have lived in Whiteacre Bluffs for the past twenty-five years with my spouse and our three children. Our oldest son, Ron, attends the University. The two younger children, Nancy and Erin, are a freshman and junior, respectively, at Whiteacre Bluffs South High School. I have been active with the School Board and local politics for many years and am, therefore, familiar with both the history and reality of the "gang control" statute Roan Lewis and his/her minions pushed onto the citizens in Whiteacre Bluffs.
As a member of the Chamber of Commerce, I take great pride in Whiteacre Bluffs and how the city has evolved. I am especially proud of the way in which Whiteacre Bluffs has responded to the economic and social challenges of the 1970s and  1980s to become a vibrant, diverse, and comfortable community in which to raise a family. When I arrived in Whiteacre Bluffs to attend the University, it was a typical university town. It was very homogeneous, very middle-class, and very Midwest. There was little in the way of social, cultural, ethnic, or economic diversity. People who lived in the community had done so for long periods of time, some (especially those who were raised on local farms) for generations. While it was a good community in which to live, it was far from perfect. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the city went through a period of economic turmoil typical to the rest of the rust belt. Although Whiteacre Bluffs had not had a strong manufacturing base, the one or two factories that were located in or near the community had fallen on hard times. Whiteacre Bluffs was not immune from the recession taking place in the rest of the state. There was, at that time, a relatively high level of unemployment, at least among the teenagers. Kids were hanging around on the street, smoking, and in some cases drinking beer and other forms of alcohol. Some of the kids dropped out of high school or just didn't attend half the time. I remember problems we had even then with juvenile delinquency. But we never thought the proper approach to the problem was to prohibit the kids from associating with each other or to arrest them for being rowdy.
Whiteacre Bluffs has experienced a renaissance. It has grown significantly, with much of the growth resulting from the remarkable expansion Gateway City has experienced and some of it resulting from the re-location of several major industries. In my view, this growth has strengthened Whiteacre Bluffs by increasing its social, cultural, and ethnic diversity; by providing a sound industrial and technological economic base; by increasing the service sector in a manner that has reduced unemployment to record low levels; and by attracting talented and creative business men and women to live and to work here.
Companies such as Gentecho are committed to Whiteacre Bluffs. Corporate leaders work closely with the City Council, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Board of Education to give of their time, talents, and resources to support programming that enhances the lives of everyone in this community.
Whiteacre Bluffs does have a problem with juvenile delinquency--it always has to some extent. And, statistics do show that the incidence of crime has increased during the past few years. What Roan Lewis and Sgt. Johnson will not tell you, however, is the major role they each played in bringing about that increase. Contrary to Lewis' and Johnson's shared delusion, Whiteacre Bluffs is not "New Jack" City. While we have seen an increase in the absolute number of reported crimes in the last few years, there has actually been a decrease in the amount of violent crime per capita. The juvenile crime rate has not followed the national trends Lewis and Johnson relied upon in their efforts to push through the anti-gang loitering ordinance. In fact, the juvenile per capita crime rate dropped during the mid-1990s due, in large part, to the success of several programs instituted by the Whiteacre School Board. Whiteacre Bluffs Public Schools established a program in the middle schools and high schools known as the "Light in the Window Program" or LWP. LWP provided after-school programming citywide until 10:00 p.m. Parents who worked long hours or odd shifts could enroll their children in the program for a nominal fee. Assistance with homework was available; guidance counselors, mental health officials, and job training personnel were on staff. Alcohol and drug abuse counseling seminars were available as needed. Students from the University and parents also volunteered. The LWP was a wonderful community resource, as well as an opportunity for service. Indeed, it was one of the features many of the Chamber's members identified as a material factor in their decision to relocate to Whiteacre Bluffs from Gateway City and elsewhere.
Yes--the program was a success. So much so, in fact, that our "enlightened" civic leaders such as Roan Lewis and his/her cronies on the City Council and School Board decided that statistically there was no need for such a widespread effort. Some parents who did not need to take advantage of the services provided pressured Lewis and the School Board to shift money from those programs (which, after all, "mainly served a bunch of newcomers") to more traditional areas such as athletics and technology in the classrooms. While these programs are valuable to education, they are no substitute for the nurturing, positive environment that the LWP program provided. The anti-loitering gang statute we eventually got in its place is surely not preferable alternative.
Lewis argued before Council that there was really no need to house these services in the public school setting. S/he argued that students who needed drug or alcohol rehabilitation counseling could get it from county and state agencies. Lewis at one point said that if the kids couldn't police themselves by the time they were in eighth and ninth grade, the police department would be more than happy to do it for them. You have to realize that Roan Lewis and Sgt. Kelsey Johnson were the prime movers and shakers behind this anti-gang loitering statute fiasco. Johnson couldn't hack it in New York; I think s/he had "cultural sensitivity" issues which continually got him/her into trouble with the department S/he was attached to in New York. I believe S/he convinced Lewis that the crime rate in Whiteacre Bluffs is far more serious than justified by the facts. Lewis, in turn, convinced the City Council; hence, the enactment of the ordinance. I was a vocal opponent of the ordinance, especially with regard to Lewis' and Johnson's role in its passage. Unfortunately, the kids who hang out at WPP have become victims of our disagreement.
Ever since the ordinance went into effect, Lewis and Johnson have been aching to use it. I'd tried to warn some of the kids who come by for pizza on Fridays, but it's hard to keep them from hanging out and having a good time. From April to around October there is usually a gathering of kids aged 13 to 19 or so who come to WPP in the early evening. I have a video game parlor, pool tables, and music that can be piped outside. Kids come in, kick it with their friends, play videos, and just have a good time until around 10:00 or 10:30. Usually around 9:30, earlier as the days begin to get shorter, the kids come in, eat their pizza and then go home. I have never had any problems with these kids. Yeah, they can be pretty rowdy. Some of them do smoke, but I don't allow the smoking by those who are under eighteen or any underage consumption of alcohol on the premises. The kids can be kind of loud outside, and they often spill over into the street. They are skateboarding and doing other things typical teenagers like to do. It is safer for them here than in many other places, and I have teenagers myself I don't hassle them and they don't hassle me. More importantly, for the most part they don't hassle anyone else either. I am sure the patrons at Panache who eat outside on Lewis' patio do get annoyed at the teenagers--adults often get annoyed at kids for just being themselves. I have never observed any of the kids hanging out in front of my place intimidating people as they walked by; shouting at them, or hassling them in any way. Some people, especially older people, have seen too much television and think that any group of kids they see standing around together are members of some violent gang. Sure, people have crossed over to the other side of the street if they didn't want to walk through the crowd, but the kids never hurt anybody.
It's like this so-called problem with the Double Deuce gang. About twenty or thirty kids have adopted “gang colors" and some kind of gold insignia, but that is about as far as it goes for most of them. There may be two or three who have some involvement with drugs or who have had delinquency problems. The rest of them are not involved in any real criminal or violent type of activity. Don't get me wrong; the use of illegal drugs is not a good thing. But the mere fact that a group of kids hang out together and that some of them may be engaged in inappropriate behavior doesn't turn those kids into violent, blood thirsty animals who shouldn't be allowed to associate with each other.
The impact of the ordinance is especially unfortunate as it relates to those kids who are also my customers. As I mentioned earlier, Lewis and Johnson have just been waiting for an opportunity to use the statute as a way to get back at me for the Chamber's opposition. That's exactly what happened on September 25, 1998. There were about ten or eleven kids who had arrived between 8:30 and 9:00. They were the usual crowd--Jamie and Ronell Grayan, Lee Sullivan, Bobby Jones, Rene Fontaine and others. K.J. Tyler had also arrived at WPP around 8:30. She sometimes would come in and talk with me. K.J. was one of the success stories from the earlier days of LWP. She had been heading for some serious problems a few years back and had been referred to the LWP for drug rehab. I came to know her through Blake Fischer. Blake and I have been friends for a long time. Blake had come to me a couple of years ago when Lewis and the School Board withdrew the funding for LWP. The Chamber was instrumental in contacting some of the local businesses and obtaining their support for his/her efforts at providing alternative activities to youth on the streets. Blake had introduced me to K.J. because she would sometimes come around and try to talk with some of the other kids about getting involved in some activity other than hanging out. While I have no problem with kids just hanging around, I do think they should be involved in more constructive activities. My kids are. Blake had asked me to keep an eye on K.J.-- her heart is in the right place but her mouth can sometimes get her into trouble. She finished talking to me and went outside around 9:15.
When K.J. went out, I did take a couple of minutes to see what was going on. The kids were listening to music that was being played from inside--that rap music kids seem to like so much. I have no idea what was playing; I can't follow the lyrics. None of the kids seemed to be out in the street; they were on the grassy area between my place and the Panache. A few were sitting on top of the tables on my patio, a couple were standing and talking to each other. K.J. went out and at first seemed just to be observing what was going on. Ronell was outside talking loudly, as he usually does. I am not really sure what he was talking about; I couldn't hear him that well from inside. I turned around at that point and returned to waiting on some new customers who had just come in. Besides, I knew that around 9:30 or so the whole group would come in and order their pizzas and I was trying to make sure that everyone else had been taken care of. At around 9:30 I looked out again. By that time K.J. was talking to Jamie Grayan and Lee Sullivan. She was kind of pointing at Ronell, shaking her head and gesturing toward him. Ronell was talking with someone - I don't know who it was. It looked like it could have been one of the college kids; they also come around a fair amount on Friday nights, although they tend to arrive a little later in the evening. Things still appeared to be going okay.
About ten minutes later I looked out, only to see Sgt. Johnson approaching from across the street where his/her cruiser was parked. I had told some of the kids to be on the look out for him/her now that this anti-loitering statute was in place and I knew s/he was going to be out to enforce it. I was particularly interested to see what Ronell and Bobby would do--they are the two kids who I think probably are involved in some kind of gang activity--at least Blake seemed to think they were. They wore the colors, and were the ones most into the gang scene. They are also the two I believe to be involved in drugs, although I have never known them to bring any onto my property. They appreciate the fact I let them hang out, and they don't take advantage of me. In any event, several of the kids did leave at soon as they saw Sgt. Johnson, including the one college student whom Ronell was talking to. At first, Jamie, Lee, Ronell and K.J. and one or two others didn't leave. I came out to see what was going on. I told Sgt. Johnson that S/he needed to stop harassing my customers: They weren't bothering anyone and S/he shouldn't bother them. Johnson is such an arrogant person, s/he basically ignored what I said about them being customers, told me to get the h___ out of his/her way because S/he had a job to do in order to protect the community. Sgt. Johnson approached the group, told them that they were loitering in violation of Municipal Code 9-5-014 and ordered them to disperse. Although several of the kids stuck around, K.J. drew Sgt. Johnson’s attention. K.J. attempted to explain to him/her that she was a customer at WPP, that she was simply talking with her friends about participating in Fischer's program, that she was not engaged in any unlawful activity, and that she wasn't about to go anywhere. Of course, K.J. isn't the calmest person in the world and her voice was getting louder with every word. I can't say that I blame her. She has been harassed off and on by Lewis and Johnson and others because of her vocal opposition to the cuts in the LWP program. Lewis and Johnson tend to hold a grudge against anyone who crosses them. Johnson placed K.J. and Ronell under arrest and took them away.