Law enforcement agents have a plan for south Brooksville. But they say it will take patience and time to show results.
By DUANE BOURNE
Published March 28, 2004
BROOKSVILLE - Bold men would stand sentry in the neighborhood, making eye contact with motorists long enough to offer portraits of life on the fringe.
A police officer would patrol the streets of south Brooksville. But before he could reach his destination, someone would signal that the cops were coming. The men, likely drug dealers, scurried away.
Elsewhere, a car would slow to a creep on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. A young man would dig into his pockets.
"What's up? What you looking for?"
That was the scene a few months ago.
These days, a different picture has developed along the streets of south Brooksville - a picture that Hernando County Sheriff Richard Nugent says is part of an ongoing plan to combat street-level narcotics trafficking and crimes committed against people who frequent the area in search of drugs.
For the better part of a year, a task force created in response to residents' concerns that drugs such as crack cocaine are ruining their community has proceeded without much fanfare.
But earlier this month, law enforcement officers from the Sheriff's Office, the Brooksville Police Department, the Florida Department of Parole and Probation, the Florida Department of Transportation and the Florida Highway Patrol descended on south Brooksville streets and made their presence known. Several people were arrested on charges of drug possession and other crimes.
Days later, on a Thursday afternoon, a police cruiser idled on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at Twigg Street, a location well known over the years for drug activity. Down Twigg Street, near Public Street, a sheriff's deputy spoke with a resident. Farther down Martin Luther King, the sheriff's SWAT team convened for an undisclosed exercise. But less than a half-mile away, at Stubbs Street and Cook Avenue, the odor of marijuana filled the air.
Notice is being sent that authorities are serious. Yet everyone admits the battle will be long and difficult.
The Brooksville Police Department is involved with the task force because the group has targeted an area partly inside the city limits that has experienced an increase in violent crime.
The surge in crime, often considered a byproduct of drug activity, according to police Chief Ed Tincher, has left some residents with little sense of security. The proliferation of guns on the streets of Brooksville over the past decade has been another cause for concern, according to Tincher.
"The losers are the children and the families that have lost their freedom to move around as they choose," the chief said. "At times, they are literally hostages in their own homes because you have young men indiscriminately firing guns outside their windows. They deserve a whole lot more than that."
Tincher and Nugent believe that the task force, by rooting out the street-level drug dealers, will have a dramatic effect on other crimes, such as robbery and automobile theft.
"You can see how the drug trade has an influence on other things," said Nugent. "Street-level drug dealers create a violent community."
The chief and sheriff also agree that if they are successful, the dealers will leave, changing the perception that law enforcement turns its back on the problems of south Brooksville.
"Obviously, we are trying to send a message that we care," said Nugent. "We are trying to get out the message not to come here to buy narcotics. What we are really trying to do is enhance the quality of life."
For years, residents of this predominantly black, working class community have urged officials to take a harder look at south Brooksville. Some have complained that no one is taking the drug epidemic seriously. Others, who occasionally voice their opinions at City Council meetings, warn that if nothing is done soon, the open air drug trade and prostitution will seep into their neighborhoods.
It would not be accurate to say that all feel threatened in south Brooksville, however.
"I have no problems in south Brooksville," said Paul Boston, who lives outside the city, but regularly makes the short commute into the city for activities. "I can walk with $100 in my pocket. I am not afraid."
Boston, who contributes to a local newsletter called "JUST US" (short for "jauntily uniting society through understanding"), agreed that the anticrime initiative is important. But he added that neighborhoods such as south Brooksville have more pressing issues that extend beyond the work of a task force.
"There are economic and political issues here," said Boston. "If people pay attention to that, then the drug problems will go away."
As a community organizer who belongs to the Elks, the Buffalo Soldiers and the Congressional Black Caucus, Boston believes that once residents confront a history that has left many disenfranchised, they will be able to better handle the problem.
"I could see why they feel that way," said Tincher, "because in many instances we will arrest people, put them in jail, and you turn around and they are out literally before the report is written.
"The residents who say we are not doing anything, it is more of an observation because the work we are doing is not yielding the results they want. I don't consider it an indictment of the agency, but a system that has become lenient about drugs."
On March 15, the one-day operation consisting of 25 officers from five agencies resulted in 13 arrests on drug possession charges, probation violations and felony warrants, and more than 50 traffic citations. Officials lauded the joint operation as an effective way to share intelligence and coordinate policing initiatives to disrupt drug activity and other crimes.
"This just makes sense," Nugent said.
Uprooting the drug problem is going to be a difficult and long proposition, everyone involved acknowledges.
Officials plan to continue their efforts in south Brooksville and other parts of the county, including areas of Spring Hill, Hill 'n Dale and the east side of Hernando County.
"This is not just a one-time thing," said Nugent. "The drug issue is a big problem for us. It does not matter if it's in the city or the county. We are just trying to have a comprehensive approach. If you don't have a comprehensive approach, well, guess what, you will never get rid of it."
The traditional approach to policing the drug trade in Hernando has put few permanent dents in the trafficking business; some drug dealers have become savvy, Tincher said.
During the special operation, though, officers have been able to identify some of the dealers and areas where drugs and guns are prevalent, such as Peach and Shayne streets in Brooksville, and have increased patrols and undercover surveillance.
"The bad guys seem to think they are invincible," said Tincher. The task force, he said, "keeps them off balance (because) we have high-intensity as well as covert operations going on. If you can keep them off balance, there is a greater opportunity for them to make mistakes. We gather the intelligence and capitalize on their mistakes."
Nugent would not talk specifically about some of the tactics used by the task force. But in the long run, he said, the results of its presence and work will be evident.
"All I can tell you," he said, "is ... when it is all done, you will see the big picture."
- Duane Bourne can be reached at 352 754-6114. Send e-mail to dbourne@sptimes.com
