Pushing pushers out of Midtown
	[Times photo: Michael Rondou] St. Petersburg police Officer Barry Books questions Roger Nadasky of Pinellas Park during a stop at Dr. M.L. King (Ninth) St. and 13th Avenue S in Midtown.

Police have turned up the heat on illegal activities in the area and residents and business owners are relieved by the heightened enforcement.

ST. PETERSBURG -- Roger Nadasky fumbled for his driver's license as the police officers waited. An unlit cigarette dangled from his lips. His fingers, charred black, quivered. "Is there anything illegal in there?" asked St. Petersburg officer Barry Books.

"I couldn't tell ya," replied the 41-year-old Pinellas Park man, who was stopped one night last week after driving away from a drug hole in a filthy car with an improper license tag.

Books got permission from Nadasky to search the car. The officer dug his hand between the front seats and pulled out a pack of Austin cigarettes. Stuffed in the plastic sleeve were seven pieces of crack cocaine.

"Bingo!" Books said.

Books, 32 years old and a police officer for 13 years, is part of what St. Petersburg officers call the most intense crackdown on drugs in the Midtown area in a decade.

Following news reports of declining drug arrests and a fatal shooting that left 58 assault rifle shell casings on Melrose Avenue, the St. Petersburg Police Department has set aside $200,000 for overtime and asked the Pinellas Sheriff's Office for help. The department also has changed its strategy on fighting drugs and violence in the 13th Street Heights and Melrose-Mercy neighborhoods.

"There's been an intentional, more visible approach from us," police Chief Chuck Harmon said last week. "Not that it was never there before. We're just making it more prominent than it's ever been."

[Times photo: Michael Ronduo] In this pack of cigarettes officers recovered from the car, they found pieces of crack in the cellophane wrap. The driver was arrested.

How are police officers doing it?

With more patrols, even on foot. With arrests, ranging from charges for drinking alcohol in public to trespassing and marijuana possession. And with help, from residents who phone in tips and march and shout anti-drug riddles.

"I'm hearing from people that police are stepping up, but their prayer is that it's not temporary," said Darryl Rouson, an attorney and local NAACP president. "When you turn the light on, the roaches scatter, and when you turn the light off, the roaches come back."

Chief Harmon and Maj. Cedric Gordon, who supervises officers in Midtown, said Melrose-Mercy and 13th Street Heights are a priority because they have the most significant issues.

The area was in "desperate need of some assistance," Gordon said.

"We've been out there so much that a lot of drug dealers have been pushed to another area," he said.

Over 43 days in Melrose-Mercy and 13th Street Heights, patrol officers have spent 272 hours on "directed patrol." They were not chained to the radio, answering call after call. Instead, at least two officers a day spent 1-4 hours, circling blocks and looking for dealers. Over those 43 days in April and May, 17 arrests were made in the area.

Residents noticed.

"I love seeing policemen," said Dennie Wainwright, 67, a 31-year resident of Melrose Avenue S.

But Dorothy Gilliam, 82, said that despite the increased police presence, drug dealers remain.

"They just move from one place to another," she said.

Officer Books and six other officers, some working overtime, saturated Melrose-Mercy and 13th Street Heights on Thursday night.

Three green and white cruisers pulled up to Ike's liquor store, 1205 Dr. M.L. King (Ninth Street) S, where the owner recently asked officers to warn and arrest people who loiter.

A dozen people were grilling chicken on the corner. Police said a few men in the crowd have peddled drugs from the hangout.

"This area is going to be dead for a while, just because we made a show of force out here," said Books as he climbed back in his cruiser.

Books and other officers also are persuading business owners and residents to sign blanket trespass forms. The forms allow police to warn and arrest people who loiter without having the property owner present.

Al Squires, a barber at 1139 Dr. M.L. King, signed up April 19. Thursday, a group of men hung out in front of his shop, cursing the police and griping to each other.

"I've seen more police in the area lately than I've seen in a long time," Squires, 69, said as he paid bills inside his shop. "The only problem is, they need to be seen more often."

Books said the trespass warnings have paid off. As he drove by Highland Street and 14th Avenue S, he pointed to what he said was a favorite hangout of Willie C. Hubbard, 36.

"Big pot hole," Books said.

Hubbard had been told once to stay away from 863 14th Ave. S. April 15, Officer Anthony McCoy found Hubbard there again. He arrested Hubbard on a trespass warning. After searching him, police found $339 in cash and 17 baggies of pot totaling 16 grams.

Eventually, officers will have to move to other hot spots, Harmon said, but they will maintain a presence in problem areas.

"Even if we get the criminal element out, it's real easy for it to get started again," Harmon said.

Officer Books believes arrests such as Nadasky's on Thursday on a charge of possession of cocaine will send a message and lead to other arrests.

"One stop like this," Books said, "can shut down a whole crack house."

-- Leanora Minai can be reached at minai@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8406.

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