… is still Dickerson Road. That isn’t stopping the Metro Council from considering changing its name to Skyline Boulevard. As I’ve mentioned before, I think this is ill-advised because it only puts a band-aid on a severe wound in our city. Let’s look for tangible, substantial activities and programs that will restore Dickerson Road and reduce the crime that is common there before we pretend a new name will mean the street is safer, cleaner and more vibrant. Wishing, no matter how hard, doesn’t make it so.

I regularly receive email news releases from the police department about the good work they do to address crime in the city. MNPD communications officer Kristin Mumford has reported the following activity via email within the past month:

• March 16: “East Precinct detectives charged 20 persons as the result of investigations on Dew Street, Crescent Hill Road, Avalon Drive, Rosebank Avenue, Dickerson Pike, Lucile Street, Straightway Avenue and North 14^th Street, Meridian Street, South 7^th Street and Main Street, Fern Avenue, Petway Street, Grace Street, Trinity Lane, Shelby Avenue, Boscobel Street, and 4^th Avenue North.  Seized were 8.2 grams of cocaine, one gram of marijuana, four Dilaudid pills, one weapon, one vehicle, and $1,570 cash.”

• March 9: “East Precinct detectives charged ten persons as the result of investigations in the 800 and 1800 blocks of Dickerson Pike, in the 100 block of Lucile Street, in the 800 and 900 blocks of Shelby Avenue, in the 1000 block of Joyce Street, in the 1400 block of McKennie Avenue, in the 1500 block of Rosedale Avenue, in the 1500 block of Jones Avenue, in the 2500 block of Flamingo Drive, in the 1800 block of Jefferson Street, in the 1900 block of Avalon Drive, at Dickerson Pike and Trinity Lane, at Dickerson Pike and Cleveland Street, at South 10th Street and Shelby Avenue, at South 9th Street and Shelby Avenue, at South 7th Street and Sylvan Street, at South 7th Street and Dew Street, and on North 2nd Street.  Seized were 7.9 grams of cocaine, two pounds of marijuana, and $1,475.00 cash.”

• March 1: In ongoing efforts to respond to neighborhood and business quality of life and safety concerns,  East Precinct Crime Suppression Unit detectives arrested a clerk at the Last Chance Market at 839 Dickerson Pike today at 2 p.m. for selling drug paraphernalia to an undercover officer.

  Representatives from three Dickerson Pike area neighborhood associations and the Dickerson Road Merchants Association were on hand as Muna A. Abubeker, 33, of Bell Road, was charged with unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to deliver.  She told arresting officers she was the sister of the market owner, who is registered with the Beer Board as Yasmin Abuker.  The market has been cited for violating local beer laws due to the illegal activity, and a Beer Board inspector will follow up on that citation.

  Undercover officers made three separate paraphernalia buys at the Last Chance Market.  Seven markets on Dickerson Pike sold undercover officers some form of drug paraphernalia, but the Last Chance Market was the most brazen.  The pipes were sold from behind the counter in packages containing a steel wool filter or “Chore Boy”, a glass pipe, and a lighter for $3.75.

  The seven markets that sold drug paraphernalia will receive letters of warning from the Metro Police department that they are not in compliance with beer laws and face possible revocation of their beer licenses should they continue to sell drug paraphernalia.  The nine markets that did not sell paraphernalia will receive letters of commendation.

  East Precinct Commander Bob Nash says “officers will continue to assist the community in taking back their neighborhoods.”

• February 26: “Last weekend’s Operation Safer Streets gang enforcement initiative, which took place Friday and Saturday resulted in 47 arrests involving six felonies, 58 misdemeanors, and eight outstanding warrants.   Seizures included 27.9 grams of marijuana, 5.3 grams of cocaine, one weapon, and $95.00 cash.

  At least once a week, officers and supervisors representing each of the six precincts and the Specialized Investigations Division (SID) partner together to implement strategies to combat gang crimes and activities in various areas of Nashville.

  Friday’s enforcement consisted of 12 SID detectives and seven patrol officers.  Areas targeted were North 2nd Street and Hancock Street, the 1500 block of Porter Road, the Dickerson Pike area, the Cleveland Street area, 16th Avenue North and Jo Johnston Avenue, the Edgehill area, the Andrew Jackson Parkway area, University Court, the J.C. Napier public housing development, Trimble Bottoms, Paragon Mills, Harding Place, Tampa Drive, the Woodbine area, and the 600 block of South 15th Street.”

• February 23: “East Precinct detectives charged 13 persons as the result of investigations on North 2nd Street, the James Casey public housing development, the 100 block of Lucille Street, Dickerson Pike and Lucille Street, the 800 block of Dickerson Pike, the 1400 block of Dickerson Pike, South 6th Street and Shelby Avenue, Lischey Avenue and Grace Street, and the Litton Park Apartments on Litton Avenue.  Seized were ten grams of cocaine, 6.5 grams of marijuana, 90 assorted pills, and $685.00 cash.”

Dickerson Road does not need a mere name change; it needs an overhaul. I want to see this part of the city become safer and more conducive to residential and commercial development, but I don’t think renaming the street will solve the problem.

Tennessean reporter Kate Howard is correct that this is what I think of when I hear the words “Dickerson Pike:”

Let’s do some word association. First thing you think of when I say… Dickerson Pike. Was it crime? Prostitutes? Drug dealers, or spray painting graffiti artists? If it was, you might understand why Metro City Council members want to give it a new moniker.

The city is considering a resolution telling the world they to be on “Skyline Boulevard” next time they’re riding down between Spring Street and Trinity Lane. The General Assembly would have to approve the change for the state route.

In my opinion, this is a shortsighted mistake that will only serve as a quick fix to a major issue. How long do you really think it will take until people realize that Skyline Boulevard equals Dickerson Pike?

The name isn’t the problem: The activity on that street is. I hope the council will stop spending time on another resolution that has no practical value and look for real solutions that will help permanently revitalize a blighted and dangerous part of our city. How about expanding the East Police Precinct and hiring more officers to work there? How about adding better and more streetlights? How about dedicating funds toward building future city agency locations there? How about providing incentives for businesses to relocate there?

Maybe none of these ideas make sense for Dickerson Pike. Maybe some of them do. Unless we keep thinking about how to improve the reality of Dickerson Pike and stop worrying about what to call it, though, it won’t be long until we read about the next prostitution sting or drug bust on Skyline Boulevard.

Changing the name of Dickerson Road, if you ask me, is putting a band-aid on a gunshot wound. I would like to see this much-maligned strip of crime, debauchery and violence improved, but renaming the street isn’t going to do that. It will just take awhile before “Skyline Boulevard” becomes synonymous with prostitution, drug dealing and other crimes. You can’t cure the flu by renaming it bronchitis.

In the book The Tipping Point (a great read, by the way), Malcolm Gladwell discusses the “broken window effect” and crime on the New York City subways in the 80s. NYC reduced crime on the subways by enforcing the law, especially instances of people hopping turnstiles, vandalizing property and robbing passengers. The result is that NYC subways are now much safer to use than they were 20 years ago.

How does this apply to Dickerson Road? There are a ton of broken windows, absolutely. Rather than applying a band-aid, though, let’s figure out a way to deal with the roots of the problem, not its symptoms. Let’s eliminate the incentives to commit crime and to abandon this street first, and then rename it when the environment is improving. Otherwise, in 20 years, someone will be asking to rename Skyline Boulevard.