Pubdate: Mon, 25 Mar 2002
Source: Capital Times, The  (WI)
Copyright: 2002 The Capital Times
Contact:  http://www.captimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/73
Author: Steven Elbow

CITY LOITERING RULE WILL BE MISSED AS ANTI-DRUG TOOL

Police officials say the expiration of the city's loitering ordinance will 
hamper efforts to control the outdoor drug dealing that often leads to 
violence and gunfire.

City Council members intend to introduce another version of the law in April.

"We're certainly going to miss that as a tool," said South Police District 
Capt. Randy Gaber. "We'll probably see people try to set up their 
operations when the weather starts changing and it's imperative we use 
every tool at our disposal."

Gaber has reason to lament the passing of the law - 83 percent of the 
citations last year were issued in his district.

The ordinance has had a rocky four-year run, with critics saying the law 
unfairly targets blacks, who received 80 percent of last year's citations. 
Police Chief Richard Williams, who is black, has argued that the racial 
disparity exists because open-air drug dealing in the city's most 
challenged neighborhoods is primarily conducted by blacks.

The ordinance, enacted in 1997, makes it illegal to loiter for the purpose 
of illegal drug activity, allowing police to issue citations on the basis 
of behavior that appears to stem from drug dealing, even if no drugs are found.

The City Council had originally passed the law with a sunset provision, 
then renewed it in 2000. Last month the council voted to make the law 
permanent, but Mayor Sue Bauman vetoed the move, saying the law has been 
divisive and has not effectively curtailed illegal drug activity.

Council members say they expect to re-introduce the law in April with 
another sunset provision that directs the Police Department to come up with 
an alternative strategy while it is in place.

Bauman has said she would approve an ordinance with those conditions.

Some residents suggested that measures such as speed bumps to discourage 
nonresidential traffic and convincing landlords to improve lighting in 
parking lots where drug sales take place would be more effective than the 
ordinance.

Jackson Tiffany, an Allied-Dunn's Marsh Neighborhood Center board member, 
said the loitering law has become a mechanism for some officers to harass 
people unconnected with drugs or any other illegal activity.

Just a few weeks ago, he said, he spoke with a woman who said she was 
stopped and questioned while she was on the way to the grocery store.

"We understood that the enforcement was supposed to be done by people with 
specific training, used only by police who had prior documented knowledge 
of drug use," he said.

Council President Gary Poulson, who with Ald. Dorothy Borchardt 
co-sponsored the original law, said he was concerned about reports of misuse.

But he said he would support resurrecting the law with stepped-up oversight 
of its use by police.

"We have to be absolutely clear with what we want back from them," he said. 
"I guess I would prefer to see it come back with a longer sunset period, 
and during that time somehow do some thinking about alternatives to dealing 
with outdoor drug dealing."

According to Allied neighborhood officer Carren Corcoran, neighborhood 
officers and Dane County Narcotics and Gang Task Force members have been 
trained and authorized to issue loitering citations. According to police 
statistics, only one citation was handed out by a patrol officer last year.

Corcoran, who issued two loitering citations last year, said the law gives 
officers a way to address behavior that is indicative of illegal drug 
activity. The law, she said, allows officers to contact people who are 
acting in a suspicious manner. If a suspect can explain their behavior, no 
ticket is issued.

"Losing the loitering law is certainly going to make my life more 
difficult," she said.

Corcoran disputes reports that officers use the law to harass residents, 
saying that officers use the law judiciously.

"I think it's totally invalid," she said of claims of misuse.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens