Kenneth Riley was born and raised in south Macon, but over the years, he moved around some. For the last three, he's been living at the corner of Ibex Street and Houston Avenue.
After a shooting over the weekend just down the road, Riley says he’s worried about his neighbors.
“They're destroying their lives with the bad decisions and bad choices that they're making in life,” Riley said.
Bibb Sheriff David Davis is concerned, too. He says the area is the epicenter of blight in Macon.
“When you have these kinds of conditions and environment, it’s not surprising that you have some of the criminal incidents that we've had,” Davis said.
That’s why he and deputies got out of their cruisers and hit the pavement on foot. They talked to neighbors, and even played a quick game of checkers.
“Let good people know that we are here to protect them,” Davis said. “Let the bad people know we're going to be watching them and to make a difference. Are we going to change this street with one walk, on one afternoon? We’re not. It lets the neighbors know we're here for them.”
He says those conversations and handshakes go a long way when it comes to improving safety.
“When we come in here to do enforcement actions, we have the backing of the good people in the community,” Davis said. “It shows that they don’t just see us when we’re coming in here to arrest somebody, they see us when we’re trying to do positive things.”
That’s how Riley sees it. He hopes their continued presence will influence some young people turn their lives around.
“I hope what happened on Ibex Street last week doesn’t happen to somebody else, most definitely hope it doesn’t happen to me,” Riley said.