Pubdate: Sun, 13 Sep 2009
Source: Pine Bluff Commercial (AR)
Copyright: 2009 Stephens Media Group
Contact:  http://www.pbcommercial.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1562
Author: Ray King

DRUGS AT THE ROOT OF MOST CRIME IN PINE BLUFF

If there's one thing police, judges and prosecutors can agree on as
being a major contributor to crime in Pine Bluff, it's the use, and
abuse of drugs.

"Many of our homicides, or at least some of them, appear to be the
result of drug transactions, or people who use drugs," said Pine Bluff
Police Lt. Bob Rawlinson. "And we believe some of the other crimes,
the burglaries and things like that, are drug-related."

That trend, at least according to Chief Deputy Prosecutor Kyle Hunter,
"is much different from the way it was 25 years ago.

"We've seen it change almost from a (court) docket that included all
burglaries and thefts, even shootings and other acts of violence, that
weren't drug-related, to now where nearly all of the crimes are drug
related in some aspect," Hunter said.

As far as the homicides, Hunter said while some of them are still
under investigation, "probably when all the facts come out at a trial
down the road, drugs were a part of the problem."

Sixth Division Circuit Court Judge Earnest E. Brown Jr., who assumed
the duties of Juvenile Court judge on Jan. 1, has seen first-hand the
problem of drugs, having been both a deputy prosecutor and an attorney
in private practice before being elected to the bench.

"A lot of times, people that are delivering and selling it are not
using it," Brown said. "It is a challenge, and I think that if you
don't catch it on the front end, teach that responsibility and
commitment to society, then when they get older and get into the adult
system, it's harder to change that behavior."

Juvenile Drug Use

"But what concerns me is, these kids, if we don't get them turned
around and off drugs, the adult system is going to get them," Brown
said.

"Like I tell the young people that come through on the possession
charges, the delivery charges, with easy money comes consequences,"
Brown said. "It's not going to end up the way you think it is. We try
and refer as many of them as we can to the work force or city programs
so they can learn the responsibility of having a dollar and earning it
the right way, instead of poisoning our community."

"Sometimes they have a cavalier attitude and say, 'I want to do weed'
or 'I want to drink' or 'I want to do cocaine ever so often and it's
my body so what's the big deal,' " Brown said.

"Well the big deal is that you lose productivity on the job, you're
hurting your family, you're not going to have enough money to do what
you want to do so you're going to begin to steal and do those things
that affects society as a whole."

Juvenile Court Prosecutor Brandon Robinson said that he's already
seeing results from the drug court program.

"We've got a kid that, well, his father is a drug dealer and his
mother is, basically for lack of a better word, a drug addict strung
out on the streets," Robinson said. "The kid, 16, never had a chance
under the old system.

"What we've done is we've got him in drug court and he's getting
treatment," Robinson said. "The kid has been clean since we started in
April and he's doing good, he's looking good, and he's not doing drugs."

Adult Drug Court

While the juvenile drug court is still in its infancy, Jefferson
County has had an adult drug court for more than six years, working
with people who could have gone to prison but instead chose to enter
the intense, 18-month program.

"We're striving to help people turn their lives around," said Circuit
Judge Berlin Jones during a graduation ceremony for graduates in 2007.
"Every participant is hard-working, hard-disciplined, and we don't do
the work.

"We provide them an opportunity to rectify their lives and to become
productive citizens because when they do, we all win," Jones said. "We
can't force anybody to change their minds, but we can offer them the
opportunity to make the right choices."

While there have been some people who washed out of the program, there
have been some success stories.

"At first I didn't think I was going to make it," Gregory Brixie, who
was the top graduate of the 2007 drug court class, said. "I thought it
was something set up for us to fail but after a while, I began to see
the light at the end of the tunnel."

Brixie, who was arrested on methamphetamine charges, was offered the
chance to enter the program, instead of going to prison.

"I knew I wanted help," he said. "I was estranged from my family. I
had a bad attitude, had lost my job and couldn't see my kids."

After daily drug testing during the early phases of the program,
counseling sessions, meetings and community service, Brixie said his
life is totally different now.

"My kids are back in my life now and the day I completed phase four, I
got a big promotion at work," he said. "Things are getting better and
better."

William Dawson was among 11 people who graduated from the program in
March.

"I want to thank the drug court team for saving my life," said Dawson,
who before entering the program said he was homeless and had a $300 a
day habit.

"Drug court was there to help me because otherwise, being out there, I
would have died," Dawson said. "I want to thank them and thank God for
them."

Dawson currently counsels others with drug problems, and admitted
"being able to maintain a job is a wonderful experience."

Drugs Are Killing Us

Prosecuting Attorney Steve Dalrymple, who has spent much of his adult
life in the criminal justice system, has repeatedly said that "drugs
are killing us," and attributes some of the violent crimes in Pine
Bluff, especially homicides, to drug activity.

"When you're involved in that illegal activity, (using violence) to
force your position is not surprising," he said. "That gangster
mentality is there and that's exactly what it is."

The drug problem has also had an affect on the work force in Pine
Bluff and Jefferson County, according to Chris Hart, human resources
manager at Central Moloney and president of the Jefferson County
Manufacturing Council.

"I guess a majority of manufacturers do pre-employment and post
accident drug screens," Hart said. "Sometimes it's difficult to
maintain our shops because the first thing that shows up is poor
attendance on the part of people who use drugs.

"Work no longer becomes a priority for them and that eventually means
that we have to take termination actions," he said.

Marijuana Making a Comeback

While drugs like cocaine, ecstasy and methamphetamine have drawn a lot
more attention in recent years, especially from federal authorities,
Hunter said marijuana has posed a serious problem for law enforcement
agencies and the court system.

"It's out there, maybe bigger than ever now," he said. "It's a
constant battle now. You see more behavior changes probably with
ecstasy and cocaine and methamphetamine, but even marijuana is related
in these so-called associates getting angry with each other regarding
the drug trade and marijuana is right in the middle of that, just like
those other drugs."

Hunter's assessment would seem to be on target, at least based on the
second quarter figures of drug seizures by Pine Bluff Police Vice and
Narcotics officers.

While they were able to take 62.65 grams of crack cocaine and 33.6
grams of methamphetamine off the streets, they also located and seized
11,089.20 grams of marijuana and 10 marijuana plants.

Hunting Pot

For several years, Hunter said law enforcement agencies worked with
the National Guard and did an annual air search, looking for marijuana
fields in the state, including in the Southeast Arkansas area.

"They would find hundreds of thousands of marijuana plants," Hunter
said. "Now there doesn't seem to be as much mass production of it but
it's still here and that means it's coming in by some other means."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake