Pubdate: Mon, 05 Sep 2005
Source: High Point Enterprise (NC)
Copyright: 2005 High Point Enterprise
Contact:  http://www.hpe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/576
Author: Pat Kimbrough

POLICE: DRUG STRATEGY WORKED

HIGH POINT - Police say crime in an around the Daniel Brooks Homes housing 
project has stayed down in the months since an anti-drug strategy was 
launched there.

Reviews of crime statistics conducted at 50-day intervals since the start 
of the Daniel Brooks Initiative April 5 indicate a drop in violent crime, 
police say.

"The results are good," said High Point police Chief Jim Fealy. "After we 
get the 150-day data put together, we're going to take a look and see if 
there's something we can adjust to get even better results."

Police said last week that statistics illustrating the drop in crime were 
not available.

The initiative involved confronting nine drug suspects in the Daniel Brooks 
area and telling them unless they gave up their illegal activities, 
authorities would use evidence that had been collected against them to 
prosecute them.

The suspects were offered help finding jobs and housing.

The theory behind the initiative was that combating open-air drug markets 
that plagued the housing project and surrounding neighborhood would lead to 
a drop in crimes that are fueled by the sale or purchase of drugs.

"People are sometimes surprised to learn how few people drive all the crime 
and the fear of crime in a neighborhood," Fealy said. "Once you put those 
people in check - either by having them make a lifestyle change or sending 
them to the penitentiary or whatever other alternatives there are - the 
neighborhood returns to normal pretty easily."

Just as important as the drop in crime has been the change in "the pulse of 
the community" at Daniel Brooks that Fealy says he's noticed since the 
initiative began.

"People are sitting out on their porches. People are visiting with their 
neighbors. The kids are playing in the street again," he said. "Those 
activities had been curtailed for quite a while because of fear of crime. 
So those are very, very positive signs.

"You have to look at more than just the crime statistics, because, frankly, 
what we're really going for in the long run is returning those 
neighborhoods to the good and decent people who live there."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman