Pubdate: Sun, 19 Dec 2004
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA)
Copyright: 2004 Richmond Newspapers Inc.
Contact:  http://www.timesdispatch.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/365
Author: Osita Iroegbu

DRUG ACTIVITY PERSISTS DESPITE ARRESTS

Police Fear A New Generation Of Dealers Will Stake Claim To Illicit Trade In
Petersburg

PETERSBURG - Spit it out! Spit it out! You're going to die!" Detective
Anthony Patterson yelled to a teenager suspected of hiding drugs in
his mouth.

The 18-year-old stood there, quietly telling police he had nothing to
hide. He had been sitting with his brother on the curb in front of
their mother's house on Halifax Street.

Halifax runs through what used to be the Third Ward - also known as
the Heights - where local and federal law-enforcement joined hands to
indict and convict 36 men said to be members of the Third Ward Gang.

Even after their arrests late last year and early this year, however,
drug activity persists in the area. This year, 41 narcotics violations
have been noted, hardly a dip from last year's total of 42.

Patterson and Detective John Richardson were cruising the streets in
their unmarked vehicle when Patterson spotted the boy raising his left
hand toward his mouth.

They parked and approached the two young men. Patterson asked the
18-year-old what he had in his mouth. "Nothing," he muttered.

Unconvinced, Patterson made him open his mouth. Nothing was visible.
Patterson appealed to the young man's older brother.

"Tell your brother to spit it out," Patterson yelled. "If he swallows
it, he's going to die!"

Even with the arrests of the 36 men believed to be in the Third Ward
Gang, police said they are still dealing with remnants of the city's
drug-plagued past.

"They'll go to any extent to sell this stuff," Patterson said. "Most
of the major gang members are incarcerated. We are looking for kids
who look up to them."

In October, the police narcotics division arrested 17 people on drug
charges in a sweep unrelated to the Third Ward Gang, police said. The
indictments resulted from an undercover operation that began in May
and that targeted street-level dealers.

"We just recently arrested a 16-year-old guy selling crack," Patterson
said. "He had Third Ward tattooed on his arm."

Soon, police said, the corners the men frequented to sell drugs will
see younger faces vying to fill their spaces.

"It's not going to be too long before other kids come out to replace
them," Patterson said. "For most of them, it's all they've seen
throughout their lives."

"I grew up here," Richardson said. "It's always been kind of rough.
This city has always been territorial. Back then it used to be
fighting it out with fists."

But when you put crack cocaine and guns in the mix, it's different,
Richardson said.

"Tell your brother to spit it out," Patterson continued to yell to the
brother of the 18-year-old. "Do you want your brother to die?"

The brother eventually spat out a bag of crack cocaine he was hiding
at the roof of his mouth.

Patterson walked to the brothers' home and knocked on the door. Their
mother, in the middle of preparing a meal, stood at the door as
Patterson told the family he wasn't going to arrest the young man if
he'd promise to get his General Educational Development degree or get
a job by the next time Patterson checked on him.

"His mom is in there cooking dinner for the family while he's out here
selling dope in front of her house," Patterson said. "We have to give
them a chance to do better. If they don't listen, what else can we
do?"
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin