The Selma Times-Journal

Kimberley Bossie has a problem in her neighborhood: Robbery.

Speaking before the city council, Bossie said, “I am extremely concerned about break-ins and robberies in my neighborhood.

It’s always been a quiet street, but early in 2005, it started going downhill.

“In the last six months, my property has been broken into nine times.

Every person on my street has had something stolen.

Every person.”

Bossie reported a black male cutting the gas line for the Macedonia Apostolic Church on Jan. 1 and that no police were dispatched; also, that the church’s van battery was stolen.

At another point, she said, two males came to the church and tried to break into it three times in one day.

“We made three calls.

Nobody showed up,” she said.

911 records show two calls made on Jan. 1 from Bossie’s street and two police dispatches issued.

(Follow up calls to ensure police are on their way are not logged as separate calls.)

“I love my neighborhood and we have never had this kind of experience,” Bossie said.

“On Jan. 6, I left my house at 6:10 to go to church.

When I got home, two hours later, my back door was kicked in,” she said. “I still have the shoe print on the door.

All we ever get is a police officer who takes a report and does not follow up.”

A relative at Bossie’s home on Saturday confirmed that one break-in had occurred at her property in the past year.

“We have a neighborhood watch.

We are watching.

There are never any patrol cars: Never. We are watching,” Bossie said.

Selma Police Chief Jimmy Martin said he would put that area on extra patrol with police officers.

“You can sign a citizen complaint on response time,” Martin said. “I know we have a problem with 14, 15, 16-year olds with breaking and entering.”

Councilmember Cecil Williamson asked the chief if he would find out when the calls got to the police department and why they didn’t respond to Bossie and her neighbor’s calls.

“We can go back, review tapes and make a determination and that will be done,” Martin stated.

“I would ask her to work through me to determine what went on.”

Mayor James Perkins Jr. also committed personal attention to Bossie’s neighborhood to help them stop the problem.

“I will personally work with you to get this corrected,” he assured her.

“If the police do not arrive in a reasonable amount of time, call a councilperson so we can follow up and find out why there was no response,” Councilman Johnnie Leashore said.

Council president George Evans agreed:

“If you have a problem where you don’t get dispatched, call us and we’ll follow up on why not.”

E-911 Coordinator Richard Bean asked that people call his office to make a complaint in such instances.

“My office has a recording – leave me a date, a time, the caller’s name, and how we can get back to them.

We can look into any complaint.”

Two of Bossie’s neighbors said they had no problems with break-ins.

“We’re always home,” said one, “but if that’s going on here, it’s the first I’ve heard about it.”

Another neighbor who resides in Birmingham said that his property had had no trouble in the year he had owned it.