Children gave testimonials, petitions bearing hundreds of signatures were delivered to the Davenport Committee of the Whole and citizens bombarded aldermen with faxes, but Police Chief Mike Bladel still wouldn't budge.

"I still stand by my proposal that it is time to retire the DARE program and put those police officers on the streets," he said near the end of Monday's public hearing on the city's proposed $141.2 million fiscal year 2004 budget, a discussion that focused almost exclusively on the anti-drug curriculum aimed at kids. Bladel has said it costs the city about $200,000 a year in operational and administrative fees to run DARE.

[continues 460 words]

Three months and 13 evictions after his firm took over management of Davenport's Courtland Apartments, Joe Overton of Van Rooy Properties says the sometimes-troubled complex finally is starting to experience some calm.

The number of police calls and extra patrols to the 36-unit building at 321-327 E. 7th St., have dropped dramatically from highs in July and August, according to figures from the police department. There is a new on-site manager and 24-hour-a-day security.

[continues 750 words]

The 18 square city blocks of Davenport police reporting Area 6E make up only a small fraction of the city's entire area of approximately 13,400 square blocks.

But vice officers know the tiny sliver of central city centered around West 2nd and 3rd streets immediately west of Gaines Street as Davenport's perennial ground zero when it comes to battling prostitution.

When complaints from citizens and businesses about the sex-for-money trade get too hot and heavy, that is where undercover officers go to conduct periodic sweeps that net dozens of men seeking prostitutes.

[continues 674 words]