Pubdate: Sat, 09 Dec 2006
Source: News & Observer (Raleigh, NC)
Copyright: 2006 The News and Observer Publishing Company
Contact: http://www.newsobserver.com/484/story/433256.html
Website: http://www.news-observer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/304
Author: Marlon A. Walker

DRUG PROJECT AREA CHOSEN

Initiative Targets Street-Level Dealers

RALEIGH - The Rev. Jim Summey remembered what it used to be like in 
front of English Road Baptist Church in High Point, where 
parishioners had to get past the prostitutes to get inside.

"I'm a Christian, but I'm not real saintly," he told a packed room of 
Raleigh residents to make a point of how ticked off he was. That was 
before High Point police started an initiative that they say turned 
over ownership of the neighborhood from its drug dealers back to its 
residents. Now, Raleigh police are introducing their own Drug Market 
Initiative Pilot Project, which begins with identifying "dangerous 
street-level drug markets" in the city and picking one as the area 
for the pilot project. Raleigh police would not specify the target area.

At the Chavis Park Community Center on Martin Luther King Boulevard, 
Raleigh Police Chief Jane Perlov spoke Thursday about the need for 
the project. "We're very good at arresting people," Perlov said. "But 
it's not getting the neighborhood better, and it's not eliminating 
the drug market." The project calls for three phases. The first 
involves going after the suppliers in the chosen area. High-or 
mid-level dealers, or those found to have criminal records, would be 
arrested. Nonviolent offenders would get a chance to avoid arrest.

David Kennedy, director of the Center for Crime Prevention and 
Control at New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice, who 
devised the plan, told residents it helps residents regain control of 
their neighborhoods while helping to rehabilitate those who want to 
get out of the drug game. During the second phase, community members, 
service providers and police would provide support and one-on-one 
case-management to nonviolent offenders and their families.

The third phase involves residents looking for further signs of 
illegal activity, offenders being flagged for special prosecution, 
and government agencies working with the community to improve the 
physical environment. Geraldine Alshamy of Raleigh said the ideas 
reminded her of what she has tried to do in her own family. All seven 
of her brothers have been imprisoned on drug charges at some point, 
she said, and three have died. She said she has tried to provide her 
children, nieces and nephews with the resources to make smarter choices.

"I wanted to break the vicious cycle," she said. "If you live in a 
vacuum, that's all you know. And I didn't want that for my children 
and my nieces and nephews."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom