Pubdate: Tue, 27 Dec 2005
Source: Martinsville Bulletin (VA)
Copyright: 2005 Martinsville Bulletin
Contact:  http://www.martinsvillebulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2003
Author: Debbie Hall, Bulletin Staff Writer

MESSAGE TO LANDLORDS: TAKE ON DRUG DEALERS

Donny Gusler wants landlords to take on drug dealers to  make rental 
property safer for tenants.

"I challenge them to get involved," Gusler said. "It's  up to 
landlords to make their property safe for their  tenants. Decent 
people want a safe place for their kids  to play."

Gusler, assistant manager of the Richwood and Glen  Ridge apartment 
complex south of Martinsville, said  there was a drug problem at 
Richwood when he started  working in the maintenance department 
nearly three  years ago.

"It was like Dodge City when I first came there," he  said, with gun 
fights and rowdy behavior commonplace.

At the time, Gusler was just looking for a job. He had  worked at 
Fieldcrest for 18 years when the company  closed.

"When the lady interviewing me found out I had a black  belt in 
karate, I wondered why that was such a big  issue," Gusler said.

He soon found out, and realized he was destined for a  different sort 
of maintenance work.

"I don't mind getting up in a drug dealer's face and  I'm not one to 
buckle down to people getting up in my  face," Gusler said, and he 
decided to turn the tables.

"My goal was to do away with, not just cut down, the  drug activity" 
at the apartment complex, he said.

To do that, Gusler enlisted the help of some old  friends at the 
Henry County Sheriff's Office.

"Richwood, like some other apartment complexes, ended  up having 
problems (with people) hanging around there  .... congregating or 
associating in the parking lot"  and other areas, said sheriff's 
Major Kimmy Nester. "We  answered quite a few calls there."

But unlike many other apartment managers, Gusler wanted  to do 
something about his problem, said Sheriff Frank  Cassell.

"He realizes that there's a problem and he cooperates,"  said 
Cassell. "He calls us and gives us information. A  lot of managers 
don't want to admit they have a problem  and don't want to get 
involved and he wants very much  to get involved."

That helps police do their job, he said.

"It works a lot better when you've got a manager who is  working to 
keep a complex cleaned up," Cassell said.

However, "it's not something you change overnight,"  Nester said.

Working with vice officers and other investigators,  Gusler came up 
with a plan to put extra patrols in the  area. Vice officers also 
offered other tips on tools to  help combat the problem.

For instance, surveillance cameras were a boon to the  effort, Gusler said.

"Some of the cameras are visible, some are not," he  said, recalling 
that installing the cameras meant first  convincing the property's 
owners in Winston-Salem,  N.C., Landura Investment, that it was a good idea.

Shirley Hunt, head property manager at the complex,  oversaw the 
camera installation, Gusler said.

The results were positive.

"The cameras helped tremendously. Nobody wants to be on  camera," Gusler said.

Since the parking lot and nearby areas were visible  from the road in 
either direction, officers  occasionally would stake out the area on 
foot.  Undesirables in the area wouldn't see the patrol cars  or have 
an opportunity to disperse before officers  could make an arrest, Gusler said.

Such efforts are ongoing. The reason for them, to  Gusler, is summed 
up in a new sign recently erected at  the entrance of the apartment complex.

The sign reads: "Give Our Kids A Chance," he said.

Gusler paid for the sign out of his own pocket.

"It's like in the military when you raise the American  flag for an 
area after you take it," he said of the  sign's significance.

Now, Gusler would like other property owners with  similar problems 
to join the fight.

Giving residents a safe place to live and children a  safe place to 
play while taking a bite out of drugs is  challenging but also 
rewarding, Gusler said.

And the more involvement, the better, both Gusler and  Nester said.

"It's really a form of community policing. We all live  within 
society," Nester said. Combining efforts towards  a common goal 
results in "the most positive response"  and the most positive outcome.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom