When Dianne Beason steps outside her apartment at Cooper Homes each morning, the first thing she sees is an eight-foot-tall black metal fence.
Ever since the Anniston Housing Authority erected it more than a decade ago, Beason said, she has felt trapped. The fence has only two exits for the large public housing complex.
"They need to go ahead and tear it down," Beason said after sweeping her sidewalk across from the fence. "They put it up when I moved here and I said, 'Why do they need to go and do something like that?'"
However, Beason's concerns, along with her obstructed view, could soon be addressed.
The AHA's board of commissioners is considering removing the fence and selling it for scrap. AHA executive director Sonny McMahand, said the fence, erected in 2000 to prevent crime, has not been as effective as expected. Meanwhile, residents' complaints and the fact the housing authority is considering tearing down the aging Cooper Homes has also prompted the board's interest in removing the fence, McMahand said.
McMahand said the board will vote on whether to remove the fence at its next meeting Tuesday.
McMahand said the fence was intended to have gates that could be closed to keep criminals from getting into the complex.
"But because the fire department couldn't put its vehicles in, several of the gates had to be taken down," McMahand said. "That kind of mitigated the crime prevention."
McMahand added that though the fence was meant to appear decorative, its height negated that look. He said many Cooper Home residents have told him that the fence makes them feel imprisoned.
"What I've gotten from residents is most think it should be taken down," he said.
McMahand noted that tearing down the fence would be a good way to show residents that the AHA is serious about its housing renovation and redevelopment efforts. The AHA recently unveiled a multi-million dollar plan to redevelop its public housing properties, starting with tearing down and replacing Cooper Homes. The board is expected to vote on the plan next month.
"This will be a symbolic first step," McMahand said of the fence removal.
Anniston police Capt. Allen George, who works with a unit that focuses on crime in city public housing facilities, said the fence has helped prevent crime at Cooper Homes. George said the majority of the crime at the city's public housing facilities are committed by people who do not live in them.
"If they remove the fence, we're likely to see an increase in crime," George said. "Before it went up, people would just be coming in from every single direction."
George said the fence, with only two entrances, makes criminals feel like they are boxed in.
"Ultimately, the decision is up to the housing authority ... but I believe the fence did what it was intended to do," George said.
Fencing has not appeared to help the Greater Gadsden Housing Authority deter crime at its facilities, said Wayne East, executive director of the agency. East said Gadsden's housing authority has three properties surrounded by decorative fencing, installed not deter crime, but to improve the looks of the sites. East said non-residents have always been the main cause of crime at Gadsden's public housing, but said there is no evidence the fencing deters them.
"With our crime statistics, I can't really tell a difference in crime at one housing property with a fence and one without," East said.
East said the community's cooperation with Gadsden police has done much more to fight crime at public housing complexes.
"We have a very good police force ... and us working with the community, that's what has really made the difference," East said.
Read more: Anniston Star - Housing Authority mulling removal of Cooper Homes fence