BAY AREA FOCUS FORMULA FOR CHANGE, HOPE OFFICER HELPS TURN AROUND
OAKLAND PROJECT

Oakland Housing Authority police Corporal Malcolm ``Jerry'' Williams
remembers when it was downright hazardous to patrol the Lockwood and
Coliseum Gardens housing projects.

Police routinely dodged bullets, rocks and bottles and loathed having to
drive through the complexes off 66th Avenue, even during the day.
Residents, meanwhile, lived in fear amid drug deals and a murder rate that
was the highest per capita in Oakland.

That was five years ago. Since then, no one has been slain in the two
projects. The openair drug markets are no more. And nowadays Williams, 50,
is met with waves and smiles from a grateful citizenry because he helped
turned everything around.

The formula was simple: Williams set up a community policing office at
Lockwood Gardens and started listening to residents. Together, they thought
up novel ways to reduce crime and change the community for the better.

For his pivotal role in the community's revival, Williams received a
$25,000 California Peace Prize from The California Wellness Foundation this
month.

The award, which honors those who work to prevent violence in their
communities, is a recognition that's welldeserved, residents say.

``Jerry is oneofakind,'' said Bernestine Robinson, 43. ``He listens to
your problems just because he has a badge and suit on, he doesn't let
that be the reason.''

Dale Burrell, 34, was a cocaine addict and in danger of getting evicted.
Then he got some counseling from Williams.

``He bailed me out on a lot of things I owe him my life,'' said Burrell,
adding he hasn't used drugs for three years.

A burly, barrelchested officer, Williams has an engaging banter and a
quick, easy smile. On a walk through Lockwood Gardens recently, he was
greeted with shouts of ``Hi, Jerry,'' hugged babies and got some
goodnatured ribbing for the money he won.

It was a decidedly different setting when Williams first came to the
projects as an undercover narcotics officer buying drugs from dealers.

``This place used to be like Beirut,'' Williams said. ``The people in this
community were being held hostage in their own home.''

Williams earned a degree in administration of justice from California State
University at Hayward. After a stint in counseling, he joined the force in
1986 and quickly gained a reputation as a tough, nononsense cop. His drive
and arrest rate got him promoted to corporal.

He was then assigned to work as a community policing officer, a job
description foreign to him at the time.

As he walked his beat in the projects, Williams was met with open
hostility. He knew something had to be done, but thought it was a daunting
task because no one seemed to respect the police.

Then Williams attended a meeting taught by Beverley Wilson, a former
resident of the projects. The session introduced him to the concept of
``health realization,'' in which one's inner potential is used to solve
problems.

``You look at the good in people, the innate mental health that is a
birthright,'' Williams said. ``Once they realize they have it, they can tap
into it.''

Williams acknowledges that the ``health realization'' program, pioneered by
Dr. Roger Mills of Saratoga, is a far cry from the traditional concepts
taught to new officers.

``Most police officers have a military style of training, and when you're
trained like that, everybody becomes an enemy,'' he said.

Williams, an 11yearveteran of the Housing Authority police, said he
changed himself and the community noticed.

Before, he was simply a conditioned police officer, just another cop in a
car racing from one call to another. These days, Williams is known as
``Officer Friendly,'' a caring cop who keeps candy in the trunk of his car.

His rapport with the community has produced tangible results.

In 1993, Williams and residents put up ``wanted'' posters with the pictures
of four drug dealers who controlled the neighborhood.

The dealers, unaccustomed to the spotlight, soon left the area and never
came back. There hasn't been a drugrelated murder since then in the
projects where there were four killings as recently as 1991.

Williams has trained more than 1,000 police officers under the ``health
realization'' program, encouraging them not to focus on the bad side of
people but rather to accentuate the good side.

His efforts have been recognized by President Clinton, who shook his hand
during a visit to Washington. Attorney General Janet Reno has visited the
projects twice.

His community policing skills also have served as a foundation for
``Healing Our Future,'' a coordinated program targeting inner city
students, including those from nearby Havenscourt Junior High School.

Williams holds workshops with schoolchildren participating in the program,
in which students, parents, teachers and counselors work together to
address children's issues, said director Aubrey Degnan.

``Jerry Williams is a cop with compassion,'' Degnan said. ``Every
interaction comes from a place of genuinely caring about the person in
front of him.''

For Williams, it was his personal transformation in policing philosophy
that made it all possible.

``To establish partnerships with the community, I had to change it was
easier than changing the community,'' he said. ``They thought, `Here's a
person who cares.' That's what turned everything around.''