Summer nights in Chester often come with the pop of gunfire and the flash of blue police lights. But since Saturday, when the mayor declared a state of emergency in the city, residents have heard something different.
"Right now, I can rest in peace on my street," Alyce Johnson said. "I don't see the crowds, I don't hear cars zooming up and down the street at 1 in the morning, I don't hear loud music outside my window - because they're afraid you're going to lock them up."
Mayor Wendell Butler and the four other members of the city council agreed. They voted unanimously Wednesday to extend the state of emergency for 30 more days, until 6 a.m. July 23. The declaration sets a curfew in five high-crime sections from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m., and police can question anyone outside between those times.
State police and county sheriff deputies have helped beef up police patrols this week. Federal authorities have dispatched an agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to help the police track some of the 75 guns they have taken in already this year.
Butler called the emergency after four homicides, including the death of a 2-year-old boy, occurred in less than a week. The declaration also came a week before the long-awaited debut of the city's $115 million soccer stadium, where the Union play a sold-out opener Sunday.
The current level of violence in Chester is not unprecedented - in August 2008, for example, six people were killed within a week. And the timing of the emergency proclamation led some to question whether Butler and city officials aimed to protect soccer fans, a charge that angered the mayor.
"The mayor enacts a state of emergency - you think that's going to make me feel real good, to come to a soccer game?" Butler said. "Everybody that comes to Chester, they're going to be safe no matter what. . . . But this is not done for the soccer stadium. In fact, their hierarchy is quite upset with me."
Some residents are also upset with Butler over the curfew. About 100 people packed the city hall chambers Wednesday, many of whom said they don't want to be hassled by the police when they're sitting on their porches.
"We're under lockdown," said Bill Riley of Lloyd Street. "This is the summer, this is the height of the season that people who don't have air conditioning sometimes can't stay in their houses."
Some residents said they do not trust the police because they have been treated badly by officers in the past.
