The El Dorado Park neighborhood, west of Fresno State, is one of
the poorest in surrounding Fresno State, but progress is being
made toward a safer living area.
Stephen Keleher / The Collegian

While steel security fences at some Fresno State sorority houses do their part to ensure members’ safety, a group of Greek life students and neighboring members in Fresno’s “Sin City” area are taking further measures to ensure a healthy, safe living environment.

“All the sororities are trying to track the safety issues in that area so fencing and the electric gates were a major suggestion,” said Lauren Smoot, Associated Students, Inc. community coordinator.

Smoot has been instrumental in ushering student involvement at Neighborhood Watch meetings held at Wesley United Methodist.

Neighborhood Watch meetings started after a shooting at a fraternity house south of campus last summer. Two people were taken to Community Regional Medical Center, but their wounds weren’t life threatening.

“Because of that, students came to ASI and asked for help and advocacy on how students can be better protected and how they can get more involved in their community,” Smoot said.

Smoot began working with Vickie Healy, pastor at the church on the northern edge of the El Dorado Park neighborhood.

“What the students have done with Neighborhood Watch is kind of bring it back alive again,” said Healy.

Healy became the pastor for the church four years ago when the it was already committed to the two-block by four-block embattled community.

“The church made a conscious decision to stay in the neighborhood,” Healy said. “They considered moving north to a place that might be more attractive, and they decided, ‘No, this is where we wanted to do our ministry here,’ so because of that they are much more intentional in trying to figure out ways to reach out into the neighborhood.”

Though Sin City is now one of the poorest communities surrounding Fresno State, it was not always so.

“It used to be all student housing back in the 70s or 80s,” Smoot said. “And then it progressed and now it is majority Section 8 housing. I don’t know any students that live in that area except for in the fraternity houses.”

“You can buy anything there ”” drugs, prostitution. I’ve seen people dealing drugs,” said Fresno City College English professor Nigel Medhurst, who lives just west of the El Dorado Park neighborhood.

Fresno State students are helping to make the neighborhood safer.

Representatives from all the fraternity and sorority chapters in the area attend the monthly Neighborhood Watch meetings that are also frequently attended by the Fresno Police and University Police Department.

“What we’re trying to do with this is provide eyes on the street and provide communication,” Smoot said. “So if one area is having problems with bicycle theft then the other area can know ‘OK there’s this problem in the area. We need to start making sure that this doesn’t happen to us as well.’”

Smoot recommends that students concerned with crime in the neighborhood go to www.crimerports.com and type in the zip code or an address to see up-to-date incidents of crimes.

While adding that the lack of major, violent crimes is “a huge leap for that area,” Smoot warned. “There’s always things going on that just maybe people aren’t noticing and so it is a scary situation especially for the sorority women in the area.”

According to Healy, the Neighborhood Watch program has made the neighborhood safer.

“As citizens in this area become more involved, they’re more likely to report crime and they themselves are more aware of their surroundings and know who’s not supposed to be in the neighborhood, strangers, that kind of thing. Neighborhood Watch has done that,” said Healy.

For her part, Smoot wants to ensure the program will continue after she leaves her post in August.

“We’re looking to make this group a recognized club or organization on campus, which we hope to get that finalized in the next couple of months,” Smoot said. “And the University Police support us, they would be our primary adviser organization.­ It can outlast just this year and maybe it can help students in the future,” Smoot said.