Some Birmingham Teens Feel Uneasy Downtown After Recent Events

This story is part of a series on downtown Birmingham  that explores issues raised by recent incidents, as well as the city's response to them.

John Polakowski is no stranger to Birmingham. He grew up in the area and the  sophomore works downtown at .

After a recent string of crimes in the city, though, Polakowski feels increasingly uneasy walking around his hometown.

“It’s bad,” Polakowski said. “I don’t even feel safe going to a park at night.”

In the past month, there was an arrest of a teen carrying a loaded rifle in downtown, a cab driver beaten up, a woman arrested for shooting a gun in the air after a fight and at least three other more minor incidents. Birmingham residents have expressed concern, including teens that frequent the town and its businesses.

"It is a pretty central spot for a lot of different cities," junior Erin Brown said. "We do have two movie theaters and a lot of restaurants and little shops that attract lots of people."

Adding to the city's appeal for both teens and their parents is its reputation as an area relatively free of crime. 

"Birmingham's known as a really safe place," Groves junior Emily Elconin said. "We're all confined in a safe community."    

That, Elconin said, makes the recent crimes even more concerning.

"I'm already skeptical when I come to Birmingham," Elconin said. "Things have changed over the years." 

While Birmingham Bloomfield Community Coalition Executive Director Carol Mastroianni said that teens in should be careful when frequenting Birmingham, she stressed that should be attentive under any circumstances, not just after highly publicized crimes.

“Regardless, teens should be alert when going downtown, and probably when going out anywhere,” Mastroianni said. “It’s important to be aware of one’s surroundings.”

Police presence unchanged

Chief Don Studt said that while there have been some  gun-related issues recently, there hasn’t been a significant rise in the number of people downtown, and thus there hasn't been a police move toward more "crowd control."

“We have extra people walking in the downtown area throughout the summer,” Studt said. “[We] have done that for at least 10 years.”

Studt added that the Birmingham force does have additional officers on duty during special events.

Polakowski thinks that an increased police presence might help to quell some problems.

“We should have more cops going around,” Polakowski said. “I normally see one or two cops.”

Elconin, too, would like to see more officers around town. 

“We need more undercover cops," Elconin said. "There are a lot of clumps of teens that just walk around Birmingham, usually up to something that’s not good,” Elconin said.

Mixed reaction to teens

Teenagers make up a significant portion of Birmingham patrons, and though some residents have expressed concerns over their presence, some local companies welcome the business.

“We like kids around here,” owner John Kotsogiannis said. “A big part of our business is kids.”

Kotsogiannis, who estimated that teens make up about 20 percent to 30 percent of his restaurant’s customers, said that he rarely has problems with underage diners.

“If there’s a little problem once and a while, we take care of it,” Kotsogiannis said. He added that he isn’t concerned about recent crimes, saying that they haven’t deterred teenagers from coming to Greek Islands.

“The places that have problems are the bars after 2 o’clock in the morning,” Kotsogiannis said.” Usually kids are not out at that time.”

Birmingham police enforce state curfew law, which mandates that kids under the age of 16 should be off the streets by midnight.

"If we see a violation we can either issue a warning or bring the person in and call their parents," Studt said. "We haven't had much trouble with that."

Studt said that while he hasn’t noticed any significant change in the number of teens who frequent Birmingham he does acknowledge that the city attracts a large number of teens.

While Studt said that local residents have mixed feelings toward teens, the police department doesn't see them as a detriment. 

"Businesses are there to serve customers, so if [teens] are there for movies or food, that's a good thing," Studt said. "Crowds are not a problem for us; behavior is." 

Studt added that he doesn’t know how the increased crimes will affect teens' likeliness to hang out downtown.

“We’ll just have to wait and see,” Studt said. “I can’t predict what will happen.”

Polakowski, for one, hopes that Birmingham will continue to be known a safe place, saying that he wants troublemakers to stay far away.

“I don’t want Birmingham to become that place that’s covered by cops 24/7,” Polakowski said. “Maybe [criminals] can move on to somewhere else, because we don’t want them here.”

About the Series

Residents, business owners and visitors to Birmingham have an interest in feeling safe in the city. This Patch series explores the voices of those who live, work and run the city of Birmingham. We hope it fosters a dialogue that illustrates issues and explores possible solutions.

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Dialogue isn't one-sided. Please add your thoughts below or contact editor Laura Houser at laura.houser@patch.com, or call 248-534-9780, if you would like to contribute to this series.