Copyright 2006 Chattanooga Publishing Company
By RANDALL HIGGINS
Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee)
CLEVELAND, Tenn. — As emergency responders answer a call for help in the dark, those little, reflective numbers on a mailbox or door post can be the difference between life and death.
Members of the Citizens Police Academy Alumni in Cleveland said that’s why they set aside some Saturday hours once a month to check a selected neighborhood and make sure the homes are easily identifiable. This weekend, they walked the neighborhood streets of Davis Heights in North Cleveland.
“One of the most frustrating things for a police officer is trying to find somebody, especially in the dark and there’s no house numbers available,” said Master Officer George Campbell of the Cleveland Police Department.
Officer Campbell escorted the group Saturday, his patrol car and blue lights attracting attention and reassuring neighbors who came out to see what was going on. The patrol car also keeps the members safe as they walk along the streets.
The Citizens Police Academy, starting its 13th year, gives civilians a glimpse of life as a Cleveland police officer. They attend a weekly class, learn how officers do their work and take a ride with an officer.
The alumni group was formed about three years ago, said City Councilman George Poe, an alumnus and a veteran firefighter. They looked for ways to serve officers on the street and decided to work on enhancing house and mailbox numbers, among other projects.
Working neighborhood by neighborhood, they have moved from south to north Cleveland over the years.
“I think this will be an ongoing thing,” Mr. Poe said Saturday.
The numbers fade over time and many are forgotten. Some people who move into a neighborhood bring along the mailbox from their old place and don’t change the numbers.
“It’s not just police, fire and rescue, or ambulances that need this,” Mr. Poe said. “One man told me even the pizza man can find him better now.”
And that can mean not having to eat cold pizza.
Then there’s postal delivery.
Postman Paul Eisele was driving his U.S. Postal Service truck down Eveningside Drive as the alumni stopped to fix numbers on a mailbox.
“Oh, this helps a lot,” Mr. Eisele said as he paused to chat. “It helps a lot of people besides myself.”
The volunteers replaced faded numbers on streetside mailboxes. Where there were none on the house, they knocked on doors and told homeowners why the numbers are important. They explained that the service is free.
Their alumni jackets and shirts, plus Officer Campbell’s patrol car, let owners know the group is legitimate.
They aren’t often refused, members said, but it happens.
Maytag is their corporate sponsor this year, buying the numbers they use. When they started, the Fraternal Order of Police and Mr. Poe provided financial help.
“We watch for other things as well,” said Jerry Orman, the alumni president. “Sometimes we have found environmentally sensitive stuff that was not supposed to be there. Sometimes there’s a street sign down. We report those and the city follows up.”
“We tell people it’s good to have numbers on the back of the house, too,” said Doug Wilcox, an alumnus and reserve police officer. “If you are in the back yard and you are calling for help or in a foot chase, you don’t know where you are.”
As the alumni finished up Saturday morning, they agreed the homeowners they met were more aware than many about the importance of a well-marked address. At many homes, there had been no need for new numbers.
But citywide, it is a problem that will need continued effort, said Charles Davis, alumni vice president.
“We’ve made a dent the past two years,” he said. “But we are nowhere near through.”