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Letter to the editor

Neighborhood takes big step in war on drugs

By A TIMES EDITORIAL
Published June 14, 2007

Way to step up, North Greenwood.

Members and leaders of nine churches in the area have tentatively agreed to create a neighborhood crime patrol with the goal of shutting down the drug trade in the low-income neighborhood of Clearwater. And residents are talking about other ways they can help drive out the drug dealers.

This is a very big step - and a brave one. Residents of North Greenwood certainly know the potential hazards of going against the drug dealers, but they are willing to try to make the streets safer for everyone.

Drug sales occur in the open in North Greenwood. Violent crime, including several unsolved murders, has made residents feel unsafe. Police have been frustrated with the silence of neighborhood residents when they investigate crimes, and this newspaper has criticized North Greenwood residents in the past for not working proactively to clean up their neighborhood problems.

Now, all that may change.

On Monday, 30 to 40 residents showed up at a meeting organized by a few neighborhood activists and pastors. For two hours, they talked about ways to make their neighborhood safer. Among the ideas: drug marches, picketing drug dealers' homes, and seeking more jobs and programs for North Greenwood youths.

In addition, a faith-based neighborhood patrol is being organized among nine local churches. As tentatively planned, adult church members would walk the streets of North Greenwood for four hours each night, accompanied by two police officers. They would identify drug dealers and draw attention to their illegal activity. They would also visit the family of any identified dealer, hoping that will put pressure on the dealers to stop dealing or leave North Greenwood.

Clearwater police Chief Sid Klein, who has been working hard to encourage North Greenwood residents to work in partnership with police, will apply for a grant that could pay the salaries of the officers assigned to the faith-based patrol. But he said he will find a way to provide officers for the patrol even if no grant money is forthcoming. Since budgets are tight, Klein's comment is a good indication of how important this North Greenwood effort is to him.

The more people who join the patrols and the drug marches, the safer for those who participate and the stronger the statement to would-be criminals who think North Greenwood is an easy place to operate.

North Greenwood residents have the power to take back their neighborhood. It is good to see they are ready to use that power.

[Last modified June 13, 2007, 22:20:19]