Pubdate: Sun, 23 Jul 2006
Source: Oak Ridger (TN)
Copyright: 2006 The Oak Ridger
Contact:  http://www.oakridger.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1146
Author: Bob Holt

CITY 'PASSES BUCK' ON DRUG PROBLEMS

To the Editor:

Highland View has a terrible drug enforcement problem. The city seems 
unable to deal with it effectively.

We citizens have done all we know to do. All the responsible 
government authorities seem inclined to cast blame upon each other. 
All public meetings have been apparently sincere, but to no avail.

Why isn't more than just "lip service" given to the problem? Why is 
the buck always passed on upstairs?

On two occasions I know of, our district attorney at least made 
suggestions to Oak Ridge City officials, but it was like a tree 
falling in the woods with no one around to hear. Those suggestions 
have been ignored by city officials and not even reported by the 
newspapers. I know, but only because I was there. Business as usual.

When has serious news about this drug plague ever been reported by 
the press? They say, "If it bleeds, it leads," and that seems to be 
the case here. We who live hear see the bleeding every day, and don't 
need to read about it.

What we don't see is responsible response by the city of Oak Ridge - 
boots on the ground! What has the city ever done for law enforcement 
but maintain the vehicles?

At the League of Women Voters forum last month the candidates for 
chancellor were asked, "What is the most serious problem facing the 
justice system?" Jim Ramsey answered, "Resources." In other words, if 
you want to dance, you've got to pay the piper.

The most important things I heard Ramsey say were forensic toxicology 
turnaround times and higher pay for Oak Ridge police officers.

Ramsey said that the City Council should assess our law enforcement 
budgeting and find out whether they should do something to retain the 
good police officers they have trained at great expense. He said Oak 
Ridge needs to stop being "just a training ground for Wackenhut," 
where as soon as our police officers are trained to Oak Ridge 
standards, "then they get hired away by the private sector."

Why wasn't this suggestion at least reported in the press? You would 
think the officers would like to hear it. You would think that the 
City Council ought to hear it. It is relevant news, not alarmist, 
about our Highland View problem. The city probably doesn't even know 
it has this problem.

Won't the "city fathers" even consider more resources for local law 
enforcement, instead of just having public relations events with 
PowerPoint presentations to keep us regular citizens quiet - and to 
tell Council once a year how hard they're working?

Another suggestion: Back last spring I attended a meeting of the 
Highland View Neighborhood Association, and again I heard the 
district attorney say (I didn't read it in the paper) directly to the 
city manager, eyeball to eyeball, that Oak Ridge should look into the 
way Memphis handles its drug-infested neighborhoods, where, like us, 
they can't make arrests because of investigative obstacles.

I heard the district attorney tell the city manager that it might 
help to try the old "padlock" method, like in Prohibition days, or at 
least "look into the feasibility for Oak Ridge" of the Memphis model, 
where they use nuisance law as a supplement to criminal law.

Then I heard the Oak Ridge city manager say, "We'll look into that."

I didn't read that in the paper.

OK. So what is the feasibility for Oak Ridge of copying Memphis' more 
effective method of shutting down "crack houses"? What did the city 
manager find out? Did he forget to "look into it," or did he just not 
hear the suggestion? What is the good of having meetings and taking 
suggestions just to continue the PR merry-go-round?

We want the city of Oak Ridge to cooperate with the whole justice 
system, and not just pass the buck.

Bob Holt

Oak Ridge
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman