Arrests made, changes coming in North Sarasota neighborhood | Crime

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Both the sign-in sheet and the waiting area are almost always crowded inside Phat Headz Barbershop in Newtown.

"It's a good neighborhood," says Greg Buchanan, who owns the barbershop in the same neighborhood where he grew up.

Recently, Buchanan noticed more law enforcement in the neighborhood. "They have a lot of patrols now I've seen in the last month or so like they said. And it's good," he says.

Over the last month, nearly 200 arrests were made in Newtown thanks to a joint operation between the Sheriff's Office and Sarasota Police.

"North Sarasota has experienced an increase in gun violence over the last year," Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight says. "Many of the subjects involved are known violent offenders."

The county's crime map shows several weapons-related charges, five homicides, and nearly 200 assaults over the last year. But Knight says extra deputies have been put on the streets there over the last month and residents say the neighborhood is only getting better.

Buchanan describes previous violence as "kind of getting out of hand." For instance, last April, two British tourists were found murdered in Newtown after they were believed to have wandered there from Main Street. In November, 22-year-old mother Naomi Clyburn was shot in her own front yard. Police believe she was never the intended target.

"We just need more of the adults and more of the people that grew up around here to come back and help our youth out," Buchanan says.

On Friday, law enforcement announced the start of a ministerial alliance called FOCUS that will act as a community liaison at crime scenes.

"We're not going anywhere," says Rev. Kelvin Lumpkin, who's president of the newly-created FOCUS. "We're going to work as long as possible and necessary to help bring about some healing in this community."

There are also future plans to install security cameras at four intersections in Newtown to monitor crime.