KALAMAZOO, Mich. — "Nuisance parties" are still affecting many neighborhoods in Kalamazoo, and city leaders are giving residents the chance to weigh in on solutions.
There are about five different neighborhoods within the city of Kalamazoo that have been affected by these mobile nuisance parties for many years, and people who live in those neighborhoods said they're getting worse.
That's why officials are holding a town hall in hopes to see what ideas those dealing with it have come up with.
"It is frustrating for the officers. It is frustrating for the community, and we really need to work together to address this," said Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Assistant Chief David Boysen.
"Mobile nuisance parties" have been affecting neighborhoods in the city of Kalamazoo for many years, but in the day and age of social media, they've become larger according to the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety (KDPS).
While they have come up wit ha plan, they want to hear what strategies and ideas those experiencing it have to say.
"We really want community pressure on these people who engage in this. We want them to know they can’t do this here and that we don’t want this in our community. All of these people who are involved have loved ones, family members who are impacted by this. We want them to be involved in helping us to solve this problem," said Asst. Chief Boysen.
Northside neighborhood resident Stephanie Williams said those moving parties, also known as the x-train have affected her family and neighbors for eight or nine years, seeing an upwards of one or two hundred vehicles starting late night to the early hours of the morning.
"For senior citizens and even for children who are having to get up and move around in our community are dealing with a lot of litter, trash, broken bottles, drug paraphernalia and not to mention all of the loud noise and destruction of property this has caused," said Stephanie Williams, a Northside neighborhood resident.
While "mobile nuisance parties" continue to affect many neighborhoods in Kalamazoo, the @KalPublicSafety is holding a town hall in hopes those affected will share their strategies and ideas on how to put a stop to them.
— Lauren Kummer (@LaurenKummerTV) February 22, 2021
It will be held from 6-7:30 p.m. on Zoom. @FOX17 pic.twitter.com/FtDpKI2GqQ
KDPS said the main neighborhoods within Kalamazoo that are affected are Douglas, Stewart, Northside, downtown and Arcadia.
Williams said she believes a big part of solving this problem is community policing where officers build relationships with key members of the neighborhoods to put an end to the problem.
"We have seen so many individuals who have been hurt, critically hurt from being thrown from vehicles, have fallen out and so much destruction of property. At this point, we cannot slack on this. There has to be some real enforcement and it has to be consistent and across the board," said Williams.
KDPS is seeing that too and said that is why they're hoping to get others involved.
"We know one thing. We have tried to solve this alone in the past, and it does not work. We have to have the community working with us together to address this," said Asst. Chief Boysen.
The town hall will be held on Monday night through Zoom from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Residents can participate in the event electronically on Zoom at https://zoom.us/j/96854042122 or by phone at (269) 552-6425 and entering meeting ID: 968 5404 2122.
KDPS and the city of Kalamazoo is hoping to hold another town hall on March 22 to talk about what they heard and to introduce the plan they have for the rest of 2021 and beyond.
