Pubdate: Fri, 07 Jul 2000
Source: Idaho State Journal (ID)
Copyright: 2000 Idaho State Journal
Contact:  PO Box 431, Pocatello ID 83204
Fax: 208-233-8007
Website: http://www.journalnet.com/

GOOD NEIGHBORS HELP KEEP DRUG DEALERS AT BAY

It's encouraging to read stories such as the one last week about a group of 
Pocatellans banding together and ejecting a methamphetamine operation from 
their neighborhood.

Fortunately, stories like that are becoming more common. Area residents are 
growing less and less tolerant of drugs and the people who make and sell them.

Unfortunately, that sort of citizen action is still the exception. Too 
often, people are willing to turn away while a house down their street 
operates as a lair for dealers, users and manufacturers.

What Pocatello needs is more people intolerant of the impacts drugs are 
having on our community. We need more people willing to stand up to defend 
their neighborhoods from drug infiltration.

We certainly don't condone private citizens jeopardizing their own safety, 
nor do we promote the invasion of another's privacy, but when a clear and 
obvious threat to a neighborhood exists, something should be done. One 
Harrison Avenue neighbor simply recorded the different license plates on 
cars visiting a nearby home. Armed with that information, police were able 
to formally investigate a complaint. The result was ideal - a meth dealer 
was eliminated from the neighborhood and the once-common criminal element 
has forsaken that area.

Area police are there to help, with information needed on Neighborhood 
Watch programs and advice on the proper steps residents can take to 
successfully eliminate shady elements from their neighborhoods.

It seems that just about every neighborhood in town is at least lightly 
polluted by drugs and their trickle-down impacts. Since January, police 
have cleared out dozens of potentially lethal meth labs operated in 
basements, kitchens and bathtubs, next door to families with children, near 
schools and in the midst of seemingly quiet, well-ordered parts of town. 
While it might seem a bit "Big Brother-ish" to encourage neighbors to spy 
on those living near them, keeping a watchful eye on surrounding houses can 
reveal a lot about a neighborhood and the people who live in it. Pocatello 
needs its caring residents to take an active role in policing their own 
neighborhoods.

Give the police a call for information. Equipped with some advice and a 
little cooperation from neighbors, a well-meaning resident can do some 
pretty great things.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager