"I'm going to put this out there: The City of Greensboro is forcing everyone to move out of Heritage House because the Homeowners' Association has failed to pay the water bill even though the property owners and renters paid the homeowners' association. Many of these people have actual deeds to their apartments. Why didn't the City just take over the responsibilities of the homeowners' association instead? Can you say land grab? Myself and others believe that's exactly what Mike Barber has going on. Just watch to see what well connected developer gets his or her hands on the property."
The media has been reporting and making a big deal of the 2,860 Police-911 calls to Heritage House but when you look at the Guilford County 911 records as provided to my by Sal Leon who got them through a public records request it tells a very different story.
325 of those calls were for medical emergencies not counting the 12 stabbing and shooting wounds reported.
427 calls are listed as Law Assistance Needed. What that means exactly I'm not sure but I doubt it constitutes an emergency.
11 were traffic stops meaning an officer used that address as the location to fill in the blank when writing a citation for speeding or some other traffic violation that didn't begin there but ended close by. You want to know how that works? I'll explain via first hand experience:
In the early morning of Sunday, November 4, 2012 while already on the phone with 911 operators complaining about a noise disturbance two doors east of my house I heard shots ring out. Reginald Demarcus Wrenn had been murdered on the street in front of my neighbor's house. Officers quickly arrived and reported their location as Textile and Willard. I live on the corner of Textile and Willard. Fox8 published photos of my family's property as being the site of the murder based on police reports. I verified the process then, I know how it works now. When officers respond to incidents on the street they use approximate locations on their reports. When they respond to a call at an actual address they use that actual address.
19 of those calls to Heritage House were for a community program. I'm guessing those are the same meetings held as in many Greensboro communities like Neighborhood Watch and such.
54 of those calls are listed as 911 Unknown. Does that mean they don't know who called or why they called? Both? Or something else altogether? Do officers respond to 911 Unknown calls? If yes then there must be a police report, right? If no then why not?
There were 390 alarm responses at Heritage House. I have no information as to how many of those might have been false alarms but newly passed city ordinances are going to make false alarms expensive enough to make people become more careful.
3 were Burglar alarms. I don't know why the differentiation.
51 calls were follow-ups, meaning officers went back out without being called via 911.
2 were for traffic assistance needed. See my explanation of Traffic stops above.
23 calls were for Check Welfare/Assist Family. Lots of elderly and sick people live in Heritage House.
There was only 1 call because someone was stuck on a elevator.
And Code Enforcement calls, the thing Ben Holder, Mike Barber and others have been making so much noise over-- 6 calls. And many more of those calls aren't what some folks want you to think they were.
That's 864 calls that were not criminally related and if you scan through the list you'll notice I didn't even take the time to count calls that involved the Greensboro Fire Department or other agencies other than police and Emergency Medical Services. Add those in and you'll see the misrepresentation on the part of Councilman Barber is even greater than what I've listed. Seriously, the man is a pathological liar.
Oh, don't get me wrong, you can click on the link and see for yourself that Heritage House is not the kind of place you want to live. There's more than enough crime there. But the 2,860 calls as has been tossed around by Mike Barber and media outlets is in-fact a fabrication designed with motive other than to serve the citizens of Greensboro.
Also, I want you to remember that many of the residents currently being forced to leave Heritage House have deeds to their apartments. They bought and paid for those properties and are now being forced out without their day in court. If the city of Greensboro can do that to a community housed in one building what's to stop the city from doing the same to entire communities of free standing homes? The answer-- nothing if the residents are too poor to fight back. This wasn't even voted on by City Council. Mike Barber and Mayor Nancy Vaughan have just crossed the line into totalitarian rule. They think they're king and queen of Greensboro.
While the opinion is mine, all of you should thank Sal Leon for making this info available to the public when Councilman Mike Barber wanted to use it to twist the story to suit his own personal narrative.
As always, because the local media has proven unsuccessful at giving you the whole story, please use whatever tools you have at your disposal to share this with as many people as possible. Greensboro will become a better city because of your efforts.
