If you tuned into 91FM this morning you may have caught the feature piece by WHYY's Joel Rose about the city's drug trade and its effect on violent crime. Rose got a tour of some of Kensington's most persistent drug markets from an off-duty police officer in the 24th District. The officer speaks of watching as drug dealers are picked up only to replaced by two or three more the next day.
Rose also interviewed Rutgers criminologist Patrick Carr, who has studied crime fighting efforts in cities around the world and was on a panel about violent crime that we videotaped and is available for view.
Police Commissioner Johnson repeats his oft-used plea for more witness cooperation and Michael Nutter re-emphasizes his idea to get more cops out of cars, walking or biking the beat and getting to know the people in their districts more personally. (More about Nutter and community policing)
You can download the piece by right-clicking on this link and choosing "Save As" to download it as an .mp3 (for Mac users, that's Control-Click).
If any of you live in a neighborhood with a lot of open-air drug corners, what have your experiences been? What kind of policing does your neighborhood get? What do you think the next mayor can or should do to help combat the drug trade?
Other thoughts or comments on the piece? Feel free to share.
Comments (2)
It doesn't take much of a tour at all to see open air drug marketing, prostitution, etc. pretty much anywhere in the city. I think that there is an atitude that being a "gansta" is cool and until that becomes less of a way of life and another way promoted, this will continue to grow.
It's periodically been hard to get police out in a timely fashion in my neighborhood unless you say the words: "gun" or "domestic violence". We had a bad summer here last year, a gang of school kids went around kicking folks half to death here. Granted they probably did owe some dealer money somewhere along the line or had ratted on a dealer or his cronies, but seriously, these kids were mostly under 15 & some couldn't have been much more than 8 & should have been in school on those days. Our local "watchers" called police & local schools but got the run-around. No one showed up at all for the first few beatings & the school they were supposed to be attending wanted no responsibilty. Not until school let out and these kids got REALLY out of hand did the police finally start coming out for beatings in broad day light. The night shift did take the adult brawls I called in seriously, though and we did not have to wait for shots in the street - fortunately.
On the other side of the coin, the same 2-6 prostitutes are working the same corner near Kensington for the 6th year now for the same pimp/drug dealer. They use the local El or any other building they can break into for a toilet and they leave bags of clothing near the corners they work which they change into in broad day light. They are kept high by the pimp and occasionally disappear for a little while, but are always back. The jerks that come looking for them make walking to the local transit station a bit of a trial now and then, asking if I wouldn't like a ride, or would I like to make a few quick bucks...
There have been more and more shootings in our area, but most are drug related, though a few folks have been the victims of mistaken identity. It is mostly drug related and if this is follwed more carefully, I think crime will be reduced.
I think aggressively prosecuting petty crime (like thefts/robberies which are signs of new drug abusers) and intervening with work training/placement/public service and probation would be far more effective than heavy policing, eliminating the need to wait and sort out who will turn hard core and commit murder.
Thanks!
Jeannine
Posted by Jeannine S Missaoui | August 23, 2007 5:46 PM
Unknown Tours :
http://www.newsmax.com/inside_cover/guns_england/2007/08/26/27556.html?s=al&promo_code=38F3-1
Posted by Jasper Zeigler Jr | August 27, 2007 12:00 PM