The Perry Homes Housing Project "Ponderosa" (May 31, 1979)

Описание: The disco song "Livin' it up (Friday Night)" by Bell & James plays while various scenes of Perry Homes apartments at night are shown. Shots of: bus destination sign reading "Perry Homes/Carver Hills”; people leaning on cars; playing games. Man is interviewed off-camera, and says it’s more dangerous on the weekends, and says there could be killing and robbing. But Kauff says he never saw any crime the week he lived there for this report; not more than a policeman waiting for a tow truck to tow a stolen car that had been left there. He interviews police officer Willy Watkins, who had patrolled the area for five years, who says there was a time about four or five years ago when there was a domestic homicide nearly every day. Watkins said that it is not as bad as it used to be because of more police presence and contact in the community. Kauff stands in a particular part of Perry Homes and explains that they call it “Ponderosa” because of so many shootings, like on the western TV show “Bonanza,” featuring a ranch named “the Ponderosa.” A woman explains to the camera that people bring dead bodies to the woods next to Perry Homes from other areas. A young man's voice explains that Perry Homes is like Harlem, New York; if nobody is concerned it’s going to get rough, and that there are still a lot of bad people in Perry Homes. Another man says when he was in the hospital someone robbed his house and that someone tried to rape his wife twice. Another lady's voice says someone tried to break in her apartment and cut her lights off; she is scared and she is moving. Another lady's voice says her home has been broken into three times and she was sexually assaulted the last time. Kauff explains that residents say crime is the result of frustration, loss, and defeat taken out on each other. There is a serious problem with alcoholism and drugs. Several men interviewed say people get high because they have nothing to do. Kauff explains teenagers often smoke marijuana.
Reporter: Kauff, Dennis