City of Palm Bay holds workshop addressing crime at 'The Compound'
A special workshop was held Thursday night to address issues in an area of Brevard County known as The Compound.
The area has drawn attention due to persistent crime and several high-profile murders.
Community activists said for years, The Compound has been a haven for street racing, drugs and crime and they’re eager to finally do something about it.
"I think the biggest contribution to this is it's in the middle of nowhere," the Palm Bay police chief said.
Earlier this month, deputies caught a suspected killer in the area trying to dump a dismembered body.
Two teens were shot and killed on Christmas Day, and that case remains unsolved.
The grandmother of Jeremiah Brown, one of the teens killed, says she's had enough.
"It's nothing but evil," Brown's grandmother said.
"It should be closed down until owners decide what they're going to do about that land," Brown's grandmother said.
The area is about 12 square miles, and nearly 3,000 acres.
The city only owns about 300 acres and it will consider recreation, commercial and entertainment developments.
But the challenges include aging roads and no electricity.
"Put together something like a community center," a speaker said. "We don't have a boys and girls club for our Plam Bay youth we need someplace for them to meet to feel part of their community."
Others don't want to see the city get rid of The Compound.
"That's always been a place for us to go and ride and I've been going out there since I was kind in diapers with my family," a speaker said.
"We have permit to fly our rockets out there in the compound and we support multitude of University students," a speaker said.
Police say they do hundreds of security checks at The Compound every year.
"But in the interim, we're short-staffed on our police and we need to find technology an innovative ways to patrol the area and stop the lawlessness that goes on out there,” said Thomas Gaume, a Palm Bay community leader.
As far as next steps, the city will look into redesigning and rezoning the access points and having conversations with property owners.
Mayor Rob Medina has gone as far as sending letters to billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, hoping they’d invest in the area.
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