Little Rock City Hall requested the Police Department install a surveillance camera pointed at a downtown church where meals are served to the homeless, officials said Monday.
The camera, coupled with patrol officers engaging with homeless people at the church Friday evening, has prompted complaints of "harassment" and "intimidation" from the volunteers who serve dinner four nights a week at the church, From His Throne Ministries, 1101 W. Markham St.
The increased police activity and surveillance, confirmed by the Police Department, comes amid a city-backed plan to persuade volunteers who serve meals there to relocate 4 miles across town in southeast Little Rock for a 90-day trial run scheduled to begin Sept. 11.
The plan was part of a deal proposed by a citizen committee to shelve a contentious, proposed city ordinance that would have restricted meals for the homeless in the city's 63 public parks.
"The timing is extremely unfortunate considering the volunteer work the committee is doing," committee Chairman Jordan Johnson said.
City spokesman Lamor Williams said in an emailed statement the camera was installed at the request of City Manager Bruce Moore as an effort to verify citizen complaints.
"This has been done other times when there have been numerous complaints of illegal activity in an area," Williams said. "It's an overt camera that's very noticeable and utilized to deter illegal activity."
The city installed the camera Thursday morning, said Lt. Steve McClanahan, Little Rock police spokesman.
Police responded to From His Throne three times on Friday, including twice in a seven-minute span, but made no arrests and issued no citations, McClanahan said. No more than two officers responded to each call, he said.
Increased police activity in the city block stems from citizen complaints that include vandalism, defecation and urination in public, public nudity, fighting and loitering, McClanahan said.
It's part of a "directed patrol" that, ordered by a department captain in response to complaints, started July 27 and will last through Aug. 18, he said. Directed patrols require officers to make contact with people in a specific area and document their findings, he said.
"Complaints have to be addressed," McClanahan said. "I know there are going to be people on both sides of the spectrum. We can't handpick which complaints we don't take a look at."
Police have responded to the 1100 block of West Markham 243 times this year, or more than once a day, McClanahan said. That area includes From His Throne Ministries and the Salvation Army Central Arkansas Area Command, which operates a nightly shelter for the homeless.
Michelle Hastings, owner of Trivia Marketing, across the street from the church, said she reports suspected criminal activity roughly three times a week. She said suspicious activity -- including violence, prostitution, drug sales and public indecency -- peak in the mid-afternoon before From His Throne opens for dinner.
"When you run a business, you want it to be safe," Hastings said. "You want your people to be safe. You want your clients to be safe. We do our best. We help people out to their cars. We call the police when something is happening. We are very vigilant, but it is a daily task and it gets to be overbearing."
Mayor Mark Stodola did not respond to a message left on his cellphone.
A committee of homeless advocates, business leaders and city officials is working to convince the volunteer groups who serve at the church to relocate their dinners nearly four miles away to city-owned property at the homeless resource center Jericho Way on Springer Boulevard.
The volunteers who serve at From His Throne Ministries are part of a roughly 20-group collective known as the Broadway Bridge Project.
They traditionally served meals under the bridge before being displaced by the replacement project, on which work is nearing completion. The space under the bridge is technically part of the Julius Breckling Riverfront Park, according to City Attorney Tom Carpenter.
David Deere, who serves on the committee and is c̶o̶-̶c̶h̶a̶i̶r̶m̶a̶n̶ a member* of the Arkansas Homeless Coalition, said Friday that committee members have scheduled a meeting for Aug. 24 with members of the Broadway Bridge Project in the hopes of recruiting more to try the new location.
Between four to six groups have agreed to the 90-day trial at Jericho Way, homeless advocates said. Little Rock will rent a tent to put at the site, erect temporary lighting and expand the existing van service to shuttle the homeless from downtown to Jericho Way and back after the meals.
Melody Malat and her husband Joe Malat, who pastors the church, purchased the building almost two years ago. They started hosting meals for the homeless four nights a week after the meals were displaced because of the bridge replacement project.
"We're not doing anything wrong, so in that aspect, we don't have a problem with it," Melody Malat said of the camera. "But what other church has a camera pointed at its front door?"
Holly Dickson, legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, said if the camera is aimed directly inside the church it could present privacy or religious freedom issues.
"You don't want people dissuaded from attending a church service or food service because they're concerned about the extra scrutiny," Dickson said.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for footage captured by the camera, but it was not fulfilled Monday.
From His Throne Ministries, which is registered with the Arkansas Secretary of State as a nonprofit corporation, is housed in what used to be an auto glass shop.
Melody Malat said it opened specifically to help the homeless and that she and Joe go beyond providing a place for supper -- they also take homeless people into their home, drive them to work and help them set aside their addictions, she said.
"We figured over here, out of sight, out of mind," Melody said, pointing out the proximity to the Salvation Army shelter.
Andrew "Screech" Lowery, 29, lives with the Malats now. He recently bought a Fender guitar with his first paycheck. Lowery lived for four years in a small cove near the La Harpe Boulevard Bridge, he said, before the Malats offered him help. He's addicted to crystal meth but has been sober for four months, he said.
"Without them and their love, I wouldn't be where I am today," Lowery said.
Jerry Schaefer, 55, who is no longer homeless but who eats meals at From His Throne, said he walks around the block daily to pick up litter. He said he tries to be a good neighbor.
"You would think they would see you're trying to help out," Schaefer said.
Metro on 08/15/2017
*CORRECTION: David Deere is a member of the Arkansas Homeless Coalition. His affiliation with the group was incorrectly reported in a previous version of this story.