Pubdate: Thu, 20 May 2004
Source: News & Observer (NC)
Copyright: 2004 The News and Observer Publishing Company
Contact:  http://www.news-observer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/304
Author: Benjamin Niolet

TO GET A HANDLE ON CRIME, JUST ASK RESEARCHER TELLS OF PROJECT SAFE

DURHAM -- Speaking in a city desperate to reduce violence, a renowned 
researcher said that what has worked in cities as large as Boston is 
simple: Ask criminals to stop. Harvard University researcher David M. 
Kennedy told participants in the Violence Reduction Summit that the 
strategy is cheap, immediate and dramatic. It has been adopted by the Bush 
administration, and leaders from across the state met in Durham on 
Wednesday to discuss their successes and ideas with Project Safe 
Neighborhoods, as the approach is known nationwide.

In communities plagued by violence in recent years, notably Boston and 
Rochester, N.Y., researchers have found that a small group of people -- 
sometimes 100 or fewer -- are responsible for a large number of crimes.

Cops on the street, whether in narcotics units or gang task forces, can 
name the people likely to be perpetrators or victims. With no threat of 
arrest, authorities invite them to a meeting and explain that if they do 
not change their lives, they will be prosecuted as harshly as the law 
allows. The police then stand aside and social workers, neighborhood 
leaders, clergy and others offer to help them find jobs, homes and other 
alternatives.

Prosecutors make an example of the first one of the bunch caught in a 
crime. In city after city, researchers have found that one or two examples 
are enough to get the word out. Homicides drop radically, as do other types 
of crime.

The city of High Point has been using the strategy since 1997, making it 
one of the most experienced in the country. With Kennedy's help, officials 
there decided to target an open-air drug market, said Maj. Marty Sumner of 
the High Point Police Department. Officers identified 20 people who were 
responsible for all the drug dealing in a neighborhood. Police did 
undercover buys and built cases but stopped short of signing arrest 
warrants. Instead, they invited the suspects to a meeting Tuesday.

Nine came with family members. The police explained that they had cases on 
all of them, and if any were dealing drugs starting Friday, they would be 
prosecuted. They were then offered help from community agencies.

"A couple who where grown men were lit up by momma on their way out the 
door," Sumner said.

The department is anxiously waiting to see what happens Friday, but Sumner 
said the streets were free of prostitutes and dealers Wednesday morning. If 
the strategy works, it will be cheaper than prosecuting individual dealers. 
It also saves the police department from undertaking a military-style 
operation in a neighborhood, serving search warrants in tactical gear.

Rob Faggart, Durham's Project Safe Neighborhoods coordinator, said similar 
efforts have been under way here.

Kennedy likened traditional law enforcement methods to raising a puppy. The 
way the system usually works he said, would be like scolding a puppy three 
days or two weeks after it soiled the rug. After a year of belatedly and 
sporadically trying to punish the dog, the owner then shoots it and 
complains to a neighbor that puppies these days don't seem to have any 
respect for authority.

"We do not provide consistent consequences," he said. "We provide 
consequences like a lightning strike."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom