Pubdate: Sat, 10 Apr 2004
Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (NY)
Copyright: 2004 Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Contact:  http://www.democratandchronicle.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/614
Author: Alan Morrell

COPS VOW TO APPLY DRUG-FREE ZONE LAW

New Maps Show Areas Around Schools Where Penalties Increase.

(April 10, 2004) -- Rochester police are using a well-known but 
seldom-enforced statute to try to get drug dealers off the streets. 
Drug-free school zones have been around for years, carrying stiffer 
penalties for selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a school. For various 
reasons -- such as not knowing where those boundaries are -- law 
enforcement officials have not applied the tougher laws.

That changed within the past month. City officials used aerial photos and 
computers to superimpose the boundaries around schools, mapping out the 
1,000-foot perimeters. Six people have been arrested since then on the 
enhanced charges, which up the penalty for conviction from a mandatory 
one-to three-year sentence to two to six years.

"If (police) submit a felony complaint that alleges that charge, we'll take 
a hard look at it and jack (the charge) up," said Assistant District 
Attorney Thomas Brilbeck, who runs the bureau that oversees drug cases. "If 
they find decent cases, we're all for it."

Police are trying the new approach in northwest Rochester as part of a 
pilot program. The law applies to the sale of controlled substances, such 
as cocaine and heroin, but not marijuana, Brilbeck said. Law enforcement is 
only going after outdoor, or "open-air" sales, and is not targeting sales 
near day care centers, as they could under the law, because of a feeling 
that many day care centers are not easy to identify, said City Councilman 
Bob Stevenson.

"We're staying well within the 1,000-foot boundary, so nothing can be 
disputed," he said. Stevenson hopes the threat of stiffer prosecution will 
be as much a detriment as the penalties. "We want to raise the level of 
awareness. That's what we're after."

The six school-zone arrests resulted from two alleged undercover buys near 
School 17; one near School 30; two near John Marshall High School; and one 
next to School 7, Stevenson said.

The defendants are scheduled for court appearances soon.

Police Capt. Joe Davis, commander of Maple Section, did not want to comment 
in detail, but said that the idea came from neighbors through a drug 
conference.

One of those neighbors, Marion Walker, has been extensively involved in 
trying to rid the area of illegal drugs. He founded the Jay Orchard Street 
Area Neighborhood Association after the fatal shooting of 10-year-old 
Tyshaun Cauldwell, who was killed by a drug dealer.

"This will add another tool to our arsenal," Walker said. "This has huge 
implications for =85 people who get arrested for drugs in this area, 
because there are so many schools in the area."

Stevenson estimated that the zones cover half of Maple Section, which runs 
roughly from West Main Street to Driving Park Avenue and from the Genesee 
River to the city line.

Local and state officials did not know when the school-zone law went into 
effect.

Stevenson remembered when a sign was posted in the 1980s outside what then 
was Jefferson High School, where he used to teach. "It was a big to-do, 
then you never heard anything about it," he said.

Brilbeck said the sentencing portion was buried in the statute and 
apparently not noticed. Walker said the law was "under the radar screen."

A warning to drug dealers: It's not under the radar screen any more.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart