Following Roosevelt Neighborhood violence, residents express concern in rising homeless activity

The 1st Floor Assembly rooms at Phoenix City Hall were packed full with concerned residents, community leaders and neighbors Wednesday evening for an emergency Town Hall meeting to discuss recent incidents among the homeless population in downtown Phoenix.

The meeting followed particularly violent events in the Roosevelt Neighborhood the previous weekend. Early Saturday morning, 36-year-old Joshua Fitzpatrick was killed after Curtis Bagley, 38, allegedly forced his way through the front door and stabbed Fitzpatrick with a knife from the kitchen. Bagley was arrested and is being held at the Maricopa County jail on a $1 million cash bond.

Prior to Fitzpatrick’s murder, Bagley was accused of terrorizing other homes on Willetta Street, carrying around a gas can and threatening to light up residents’ homes. Earlier that night, Bagley  allegedly set fire to a 24-year-old woman’s front door before attempting to enter.

In response to the tragedy, the town hall meeting was organized to answer questions about the alleged perpetrator’s repeat crimes and to address the increasing worries of downtown Phoenix residents about the rising homeless population.

The panel of speakers consisted of many city leaders and officials including Mayor Greg Stanton, Chief Jeri Williams from the Phoenix Police Department and Marchelle Franklin, Human Resources director for Phoenix C.A.R.E.S . No members from Arizona Department of Corrections were present for the panel, a fact that community members did not overlook.

A representative of the ADC later clarified over email the department was not asked to attend the town hall.

Phoenix Police Department Chief Jeri Williams began the community discussion by clarifying facts surrounding Bagley’s criminal record.

“Over the past decade, Bagley has been arrested 36 times,” Williams said. “His offenses include burglary, theft, probation violations, assault, criminal damage, trespassing, disorderly conduct and armed robbery.”

Following up on her answer, Frank Scarpati, the CEO for Community Bridges, said they provide programs to battle substance abuse and mental illness and says the number of services they provide has increased in the past few decades. However, even through the past 30 years of providing aid and service, Scarpati said the system is still not where it should be.

“We are a voluntary program. All of our services are voluntary in, voluntary out,” Scarpati said. “We can’t meet the demand, (but) we try through collaboration to make sure we are able to address every issue that comes to us.”

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One of the collaborations Scarpati reflected on was their support for the police, fire and first responders who bring in these homeless people to get them off the street to get help through counseling services and collaborations.

Mark Dix has lived across the street from the Fitzpatrick household for 19 years. With a wife and five children, Dix chose to ask the community experts what the neighborhood could do to protect their homes and families in case of another incident were to occur. He explained that his house, as well as others on Willetta, wasn’t built like the suburbs and does not have block barriers to protect the home.

“So what are we supposed to do?” Dix asked. “Do we need to go back to 1985 and put bars on our windows? We need tangible solutions.”

Lisa Glow, CEO for the Central Arizona Shelter Services said shelter and engagement services are critical in lowering the population of transients and the homeless in Phoenix, especially in regards to the mental illnesses these people may have.

“We do have a lot of prisoners and I know for a fact that they stay at CASS,” Glow said. “We provide intensive engagement. We partner with Community Bridges because a lot of them have mental health issues.”

Residents from neighborhoods all over Phoenix expressed their concerns and frustrations regarding neighborhood safety with a growing homeless population and the reliability of the services and programs that deal with the mental health of transients, homeless and criminals.

They told of incidences of harassment and assault from transients and addressed their negative experiences with law enforcement after they occurred. They requested quicker response times from the Phoenix Police Department and lamented the lack of sanitation and security transients created in their neighborhoods.

Jackie Young, a woman living on Portland Street, questioned how Bagley was released from custody and how his mental health evaluations qualified him to be allowed back on the streets.

“This isn’t about a homeless person. This is about a violent criminal offender who was released from the State Department of Corrections for unknown reasons,” Young said. “When they did a mental health evaluation, why was he just thrown back on the streets?

The ADC said Bagley was released from prison in March because his court-ordered sentence expired, and it cannot incarcerate someone beyond their sentence.

Becca Rowley and her roommate were affected by another one of Bagley’s alleged crimes. Their front door was burned with Rowley’s roommate inside the night Fitzpatrick was killed. Rowley also questioned the reliability of the mental evaluations requested for homeless transients. She told the members of the panel about the incident experienced by her roommate and how Bagley had threatened force entry into their home and set their house on fire.

“I want to know who thought it was ok to send this person back onto our streets and into our homes,” Rowley said. “The way he acted with my neighbors, pouring gasoline on them to ‘light them on fire.’ He was purposefully trying to trap my (roommate) in our apartment. There have been patterns of this person’s (actions), so why did we ignore them?”

Contact the reporter at smedwar7@asu.edu.