By DAVID CRUZ

In the weeks following the death of Ana Charle, the director of a homeless shelter in Wakefield, security at the shelter has picked up. A parked security car sits outside the shelter. Three part-time peace officers and a supervisor from the New York City Department of Homeless Services (DHS) now roam the facility, a reactionary response by DHS shortly after Charle’s death.

Charle had been allegedly stalked and killed by West Spruill, a former resident of the shelter who knew Charle, in a shooting that’s galvanized the community and renewed calls from local legislators to demand the shelter close despite the Charle-Spruill incident happening outside the shelter’s walls. DHS currently has a contract with Project Renewal at 4380 Bronx Blvd., which operates the site since opening in 2013. Charle had been its director, supervising the men’s only shelter that’s generated nearly one thousand 911 complaints originating there.

Just across the street, another shelter is under construction. The Mueller Center, at 555 Nereid Ave., is expected to house 200 men. As the shelter is being built, a burning question at a recent 47th Precinct Community Council was raised: How can the Police Department, which routinely responds to 911 calls at the Project Renewal site, handle an increase volume of issues that could emanate at shelters?

A review of Project Renewal’s contract with DHS shows $0 were allocated to security when the shelter first opened, though metal detectors, an X-Ray machine and surveillance cameras were installed. But apparently, it wasn’t enough, given requests by Charle and Councilman Andrew Cohen, whose district covers the shelter, to incorporate more security at the site.

In late April, as part of the executive budget process, the city approved increased funding for security at the site by $38,285 for Fiscal Year 2015 and $51,016 for Fiscal Year 2016. The budget has increased from $0 in 2011, when Project Renewal was awarded a 20-year, $86 million contract.

In some ways the battle to keep the neighborhoods protected from the shelter population is fought on two fronts by the 47th Precinct, whose jurisdiction covers several shelters and supportive housing sites in the north Bronx. They partner with the city Department of Homeless Services in conducting active warrant sweeps throughout shelters. One is scheduled for the week of May 18 at the Project Renewal site, an indication some felons live there. In the case of West Spruill, the suspect had a long criminal rap sheet that includes an attempted murder charge in the 1990s.

At the precinct council meeting on May 12, Deputy Inspector Ruel R. Stephenson, the 47th Precinct’s commanding officer, has suspected some shelter residents to have committed crimes that remain unsolved.

“We had a forcible touching pattern all of last year. Nineteen victims. Young girls, 12 to 25.  Most of them are the ages of 13 to 15,” said Deputy Inspector Stephenson. “We’re very sure that the perpetrator was from one of those homes.”

Inspector Stephenson pointed out that in some cases, panhandling by the homeless is a daily occurrence, becoming a

nuisance to store owners. “It’s calmed down because we addressed it,” said Stephenson, who warned that shelter residents, who come from all over the city, may pose a danger to residents.

The Project Renewal site is one of several shelters currently opened within the 47th Precinct’s borders, that include a temporary housing shelter at East 233rd and White Plains Road. The shelters are joined by a supportive housing site, operated by Praxis Housing, at 4453 White Plains Rd.

In the last year, activity occurring in or around the Project Renewal shelter generated 987 calls to 911. Inspector Stephenson didn’t elaborate on the nature of those calls about the shelter, which houses men with psychiatric conditions.

Project Renewal asked for more security at the site in February to handle the population, a plea echoed by Cohen who conducted joint walk throughs of the shelter in recent months, noticing shelter employees were assigned to monitor its clients.

For now, the Mueller Center is un-welcome in the community, fueled by incidents at the Project Renewal shelter. At the precinct council meeting Deputy Inspector  Stephenson warned the audience they “should be concerned,” encouraging residents to take a stand.