NLR neighborhood in decline for years

Army .

Wise often worked long hours at the community center where he headed a church in a neighborhood that has been in decline the past few years, organization and former city officials said.

Wise was known to be at the Salvation Army building at 1505 W. 18th St. in North Little Rock for programs most every day and, oftentimes, into the evenings when special programs ran late, said Maj. Harvey Johnson, the organization’s commander for central Arkansas.

“It’s not an 8:30 to 4:30 kind of job,” Johnson said. “It wouldn’t be uncommon that he would be there four or five nights a week.”

Wise, 40, was killed about4 p.m. Christmas Eve in front of his children outside the center in an attempted robbery, police said. As of Saturday evening, no arrests had been made.

Former North Little Rock Alderman Tony Vestal said he’s noticed the Baring Cross neighborhood decline in the past few years. Vestal served on the City Council for more than a decade, representing parts of the neighborhood for much of that time.

“I feel very uneasy when I go in and out of the neighborhood,” Vestal said.

About a decade ago, businesses lined Pike Avenue, he said.

But, when Baptist Health Medical Center moved in 1999 from Pershing Circle, where it had been for 37 years, acrosstown to its current location off Interstate 40, nearby jobs went too, Vestal said.

Since then, more and more neighborhood businesses have closed, and in “the last four or five years it seems like that area’s been really depressed,” he said.

Still, Vestal said, he was surprised to hear about Wise’s death.

Wise had just returned to the center after taking two bell ringers home Thursday when two armed men approached him and his three children - ages 4, 6 and 8 - in the building’s parking lot, police said.

The two black men, wearing black, demanded money, then one of them shot Wise, police said. They fled on foot toward the nearby Windemere Hills housing projects, police said.

Wise’s wife, Cindy Wise, also a major in the Salvation Army, called police from the community center. She was the only person inside during the shooting, police said.

The crime comes almost two decades after Vestal was first elected to represent parts of the neighborhood. Then “there was quite a bit of drug and gang-related activity until we started doing the community-oriented policing,” Vestal said.

The North Little Rock Police Department began community-oriented policing in the 1990s under the direction of then-Chief Bill Nolan.

Community-oriented policing emphasizes officers being approachable and receptive to residents in an attempt to deter crime through building trust.

After that “it was pretty stable for a while,” Vestal said. “But in the last two or three years, it’s started to deteriorate again.”

Jack Finnegan, a co-chairman of the Baring Cross neighborhood association, said the area has a fair amount of crime, but homicides have been rare. Break-ins and drugrelated crimes are more common.

Finnegan, who has lived or owned property in Baring Cross for more than 30 years, said most crime occurs between 16th and 22nd streets where the Salvation Armycenter is located.

“I think what happened Thursday was a senseless tragedy,” Finnegan said. “I knew the major, and he did a lot of great things. ... He helped a lot of people in that area.”

Antonio Howard, 21, said he plans to move out of the neighborhood in the next month because he doesn’t feel safe.

“It’s really bad. It’s shooting every night,” said Howard, who’s lived a block from the center for three years.

But violent crime in the neighborhood has gone down over the past 1 1 /2 years, said police Sgt. Terry Kuykendall, spokesman for the North Little Rock police. He credits a grant that paid for officers to work overtime there and in nearby areas.

The grant ran out at the end of the summer but, Kuykendall said, there hasn’t been an uptick in violent crime.

Last year, homicides citywide were down from 20 in 2007 to nine in 2008, according to previous Arkansas Democrat-Gazette articles.

So far this year, police have investigated 10 homicides, including Wise’s. Three other homicides were deemed justified and therefore not included in the count, Kuykendall said.

Officers canvassed the neighborhood Saturday trying to gather information about the shooting, Kuykendall said.

Police have a good relationship with residents in Baring Cross, he said.

“Many times when you are investigating homicides there just aren’t that many people who have pertinent information,” he said.

On Friday, police offered a $1,000 reward through Pulaski County Crime Stoppers for any information on the slaying. Anyone with information can call them at (501) 758-1234.

On Saturday, Johnson said some of the Wises’ relatives had flown in from West Virginia in the past few days, and were staying with the family attheir Maumelle home.

Wise was originally from Weirton, W.Va. He and his wife, who adopted their three children while in Arkansas, met while working with the Salvation Army, Johnson said.

The Salvation Army is an international evangelical organization, the mission of which is to “preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination,” according to its Web site.

The organization is configured much like a military organization, with commissioned officers of various ranks leading groups of “soldiers” and volunteers.

The North Little Rock center provides church services, youth programs and a food pantry, among other services.

Johnson said the center will hold Sunday worship services and open Monday as usual.

A public memorial service for Wise is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday at First Assembly of God, 4501 Burrow Drive, North Little Rock.