NAACP leader outlines drug plan

ST. PETERSBURG -- Local NAACP president Darryl Rouson rolled out a new three-point plan Monday in his continuing crusade against drug dealers, saying the proposal has the support of 20 ministers and many of their parishioners.

Standing on a vacant lot at Dr. M.L. King (Ninth) Street and 16th Avenue S, where a new church soon will be built, Rouson asked residents of the surrounding neighborhoods for help.

He urged them to identify drug dealers and the places they do business and to confront dealers and demand they leave the neighborhood.

Rouson also called for Mayor Rick Baker and Deputy Mayor Goliath Davis III to "continue with all deliberate speed the efforts to bring economic development to Midtown, to invest in a reinvigorated south St. Petersburg."

Rouson and other speakers at the afternoon news conference echoed the themes of a news conference City Council Chairwoman Rene Flowers held Sunday, seeking support for police officers and for more stringent drug enforcement in the area.

Last week in Bartlett Park, a 16-year-old was shot and later found to be in possession of crack cocaine. Someone threw small explosive devices at police officers Tuesday in 13th Street Heights and again on Friday in Melrose-Mercy/Pine Acres.

Four police officers who work in the area stood in the knot of people Rouson had invited to the event.

But a few people who gathered to hear Rouson's remarks said afterward that they disagreed philosophically with Rouson. Members and supporters of the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement warned that Rouson was helping to usher in a new era of "police containment."

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright