Pubdate: Tue, 09 Jul 2002 Source: Delta Democrat Times (MS) Copyright: 2002 Delta Democrat Times Contact: http://www.ddtonline.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2123 NEEDED RESPONSE TO DRUGS Greenville Police Department Develops An Aggressive Enforcement Plan The illegal drug trade has always been the scourge of any community, so what is engulfing Greenville these days is certainly not the exception to the law enforcement rule. However, city, county and state law enforcement agencies appear to be readying a response to rid the streets of the thugs and drug dysfunction, which ply their trade in our neighborhoods. Perhaps the arrest on Monday - by members of the Greenville Police Department, Washington County Sheriff's Department and the state Bureau of Narcotics - of a reported Greenville firefighter on drug trafficking charges is the long-awaited beginning of an aggressive antiphon to what we see as a runaway illegal drug train with no motorman at the controls. "We are aware that there is a problem in the area," Greenville Police Chief Lon Pepper Jr. said Monday during an editorial board meeting with the Delta Democrat Times. "We need good citizens to come forward with information we can use to build cases and make arrests." Mayor Paul Artman Jr., Councilwoman Audine Haynes, Maj. Lester Carter and Capt. James Tutor, commander of the Police Department's Special Operations Unit, said the city is going to see changes in the way the flourishing illegal drug trade is being addressed. We certainly hope so. Even though law enforcement is making a good-faith effort to reach out to the community, nevertheless, there is an obvious chasm of distrust between law enforcement and residents, which is not exclusive to Greenville. While residents desire help, they do not want to get involved because many fear physical reprisals from the low-lifes they demand be driven from the neighborhood. So the Greenville Police Department - through no fault of its own - is placed in a Catch 22 situation. "It is a matter of building trust," Pepper said. "But we need the involvement of the citizens." But building confidence takes time, and the Greenville Police Department does not have that luxury. The illegal drug problem needs aggressive law enforcement action, and it is required now. In recent weeks, residents living near Mulberry and Ohio streets have complained bitterly about the so-called "open air drug bazaar" operating in their neighborhood that goes unabated. It is an illegal enterprise that is placing residents at risk of the mayhem and lawlessness associated with illicit drugs, especially late at night. But the Mulberry-Ohio neighborhood is not the only Greenville community being relentlessly assaulted by illegal drugs. We are sure many communities in the city have a harrowing story to tell - be it crack cocaine in the African-American community to crystal methamphetamine in the Caucasian community. As we see it, there must be a concerted law enforcement response that shows the public that authorities are serious in addressing this epidemic that threatens the future of our youth. Anything less is not acceptable. - --- MAP posted-by: Ariel