POLICE TARGET EAST END

They Charge Dozens Of Suspected Dealers

It took five months, up to $10,000 for "hot spot" buys and 15 Richmond
police officers working undercover.

Their target: street-level drug dealers all across Richmond's East End.

But by the time they wrapped up Operation Street Vendor with a round-up of
suspected drug dealers, police officials say, all that time, money and
manpower had paid off.

Richmond police Major Frederic M. "Rick" Hicks, who supervised the
five-month investigation, ticked off the results:

a.. 28 suspected drug dealers had been arrested, and police were looking
for 15 more as of Friday. a.. Police seized crack cocaine, marijuana and
heroin, but no guns. "We arrested people for selling drugs at 21 different
locations," Hicks said. "I think we've relieved these East End communities
of drug dealing."

Hicks said this kind of investigation can be expensive. "It takes money to
buy drugs," he said. He estimated the five-month probe, not counting the
officers' pay, cost $7,000 to $10,000.

"Citizen complaints and our own intelligence and surveillance" prompted the
investi-gation, Hicks said.

"We were definitely responding to the complaints of the community," said
Lt. Charles Sipple, officer in charge of the police department's narcotics
squad.

A Montrose Heights resident, who requested anonymity, said Friday he was
among those who called police about the drug dealing, not all of it on
street corners.

"At one house in my neighborhood, two men were dealing drugs right out of
their house," he said. "They would talk with a buyer out on the sidewalk
and go back into the house for the drugs."

Hicks said that, while the 43 charged in the investigation are accused of
being only street-corner dealers, "we are actively pursuing any leads to
mid-level or top-level suppliers."

Richmond's police roundup of the suspected drug dealers began about 7 a.m.
on Aug. 10 and wound up with the arrests of 22 people.

Word got around on the streets, he said. A couple of the suspects walked
into First Precinct at 25th and Q streets and turned themselves in, he
said. Four other suspects have been arrested since.

In all, 34 Richmond police officers, four Virginia State Police officers,
two Henrico County officers and four local probation and parole officers
helped make the arrests, Hicks said.

The probation officers took part because four of those wanted on drug
charges were on probation, he said.

"Since our action came in response to East End community residents, we hope
they will follow these cases in court and show their support for the
prosecutors," Hicks said.