Pubdate: Sun, 04 Mar 2001
Source: Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel (FL)
Copyright: 2001 Sun-Sentinel Company
Contact:  http://www.sun-sentinel.com/services/letters_editor.htm
Website: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Forum: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/community/interact1.htm
Author: Kai T. Hill

DANIA BEACH'S ANTI-DRUG PUSH RUBBING SOME THE WRONG WAY

DANIA BEACH -- In the still of a Friday night, dozens of casually dressed 
anti-drug fighters parade out of the City Hall parking lot in a stream of 
cars bound for the city's most notorious drug haven.

Some of the activists -- members of Turn Around Dania Beach -- are packed 
as many as five to a car, checking their surroundings from side and back 
windows. Others sit high in the back of a pickup truck, clad in their 
trademark white construction hats and bright yellow T-shirts that boast: 
It's drug-fighting time.

"This night is for us to take back our community," shouts Tony Wrice, the 
son of the late Turn Around America founder Herman Wrice, who started the 
Dania chapter in October 1998.

As the slow-paced stream of drug fighters flows into the low-income Modello 
Park neighborhood in the city's northwest section, drug dealers are 
unusually scarce, which disappoints some.

Residents, who are mostly scattered about at convenience stores or taking 
strolls, observe the group's arrival with familiarity. Others pull back 
their window curtains to get a closer look at the action.

The anti-drug crusaders step out of their cars and walk in a cluster as 
they shout boot camp-style chants through bullhorns, condemning dealers and 
pleading for residents to reclaim their neighborhood from drugs.

What do we want? Clean streets. When do we want them? Now! We're fired up, 
we ain't taking no more.

Sending a message

 From street corner to street corner, members young and old march and 
chant, with Broward sheriff's deputies serving as their guards. Some city 
commissioners and commission candidates are among the marchers this January 
night.

At the corner of Northwest Fifth Avenue and Northwest First Street the drug 
fighters direct their chants toward a tavern where a group of men are 
standing. The men -- some dressed in work uniforms -- are engaged in 
conversation.

Drug dealers, you can't hide. We're going to be doing it all night long. 
Bad boys, bad boys what you gonna do? What you gonna do when they come for you.

The group of men notices the chanters but continue their conversation until 
two drug-fighters beam flashlights in their direction.

At first, the men exchange surprised glances, then throw up their arms in 
unison and shout: "You got the wrong people, you got the wrong people."

In your face

For the past two years or so, Turn Around Dania Beach, a group of about 150 
that has won broad acclaim in the city, has employed such in-your-face 
tactics in its fight against drugs.

Members, who stage marches throughout the city once or twice a month, have 
been credited with helping reduce drug dealing and assisting the city and 
the Broward Sheriff's Office with several community development projects. 
They also have been heavily criticized for their approach and accused of 
targeting anyone they think might be committing crimes.

"What they do is target and pick out people at random who have nothing to 
do with drugs," said former mayor Bobbie Grace, president of the Modello 
Park civic association. "They are wrong. It's the way they present 
themselves. You're not supposed to antagonize people."

Jeff Bryant, who stood among the men that night, said Turn Around Dania 
Beach's actions were demeaning to him and his friends, who he said were 
simply enjoying a Friday evening out after work.

As a counselor with the Department of Children and Families, Bryant said 
he's in court every day fighting for children's rights.

"When I come home I don't want to be portrayed as someone I'm not just 
because I patronize a bar," he said. "It made me feel degraded like I went 
to school for nothing. I'm about to start graduate school, and it made me 
feel like a nobody."

Sophia Steele, the group's coordinator, said she knows the criticism all 
too well. And if there is one possible drug dealer out of a group of guys 
standing around, then beaming the lights on them is worth it, she said.

"To save a life, absolutely," she said. "Did you see the children across 
the street? Take a good look?"

Mixed opinions

Members of Turn Around Dania said they don't target specific residents when 
they march. "[We] target the whole neighborhood," said Steele, who owns a 
Dania beauty salon.

Steele said the group targets street corners and areas where there have 
been numerous drug-related arrests and complaints from residents.

"If they're for saving their community then why didn't they come over with 
us [and march]," Steele said, referring to the men who were standing on the 
corner.

Some Modello Park residents said they appreciate the group's efforts to 
crack down on drug dealers.

"It's not safe. ... Kids, they have no place to play so they just roam the 
streets," said Lajuan Funchess, 15, who was riding his scooter just a few 
blocks from the anti-drug marchers.

But others disagree with the group's way of attacking the drug problem .

After marching with the group for the first time that night, 
then-commission candidate Mike Nolan said he was left with mixed feelings.

"The good thing about it is that members of the community are willing to 
take a courageous stand," he said. But he called some of the tactics 
"provocative."

The group has received praise from the Sheriff's Office and Gov. Jeb Bush, 
who marched with the group in June. Last year, the city gave the group 
between $30,000 and $40,000, which covered the start-up costs of training 
volunteers. The city also gave the group $15,000 last year to help with the 
cost of Turn Around America's annual drug-fighters convention in Fort 
Lauderdale, said City Manager Mike Smith.

Smith said residents have never complained to the city about the group's 
actions.

Commissioner Bob Mikes, an avid marcher and supporter of the group, said he 
had some "question marks" at first about whether the group's drug-fighting 
approach would be effective.

"The difference is day and night in what it used to be," Mikes said. "You 
could come here [Modello Park] at night. I'd slow down and someone with 
crack cocaine would try to sell it to me."

Commissioner Jim Cali, however, feels differently.

As vice mayor in 1998, Cali said he brought Herman Wrice to the city 
because he believed in his program, which empowered residents of particular 
neighborhoods to fight crime and drugs.

But Cali said when Wrice came to Dania, "he changed his modus operandum." 
Cali said the marches and rallies work "when everyone in the neighborhood 
is on board."

"But to randomly pick a house [as a target] without any firsthand knowledge 
is a problem," Cali said.

Wrice, members say, was known for confronting suspected drug dealers face 
to face. When Wrice died last year, local members vowed to keep his vision 
alive.

The group now holds these organized marches in various neighborhoods 
throughout the city.

Sheriff's Office District 2 Chief Robert Anton said he "respects and 
supports the group 100 percent."

"They want to see a positive change, they are interested in the community," 
he said.

Merida Mitchell, who marched with the group that night, said she wouldn't 
be involved with the group if it pointed fingers randomly at people, 
"because that's not fair."

Had Mitchell and others talked to the men before group members beamed 
lights on them, she might have discovered that Bryant, who wore a black 
leather jacket and black and red hat, was Mitchell's former student when 
she was a guidance counselor at Hollywood Hills High School.

"All of us are career professionals ... but they're not trying to hear 
that," said Bryant, 30, who recognized Mitchell among the fiery chanters.

Todd Shoats, wearing his gray manager's uniform from Prestige Property 
Management, said he was hurt by the group's actions.

"It's not right for them to shine the light in people's face. We're not 
trying to hurt the community," said Shoats, 30.

Turn Around member Joseph Demma sympathized with the men. "The flashlights, 
you're right about that. I don't like that but we are trying to send a 
message."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D