CITY MUST FIGHT 'RATHOLE' FACTOR

Garden Street was quiet Friday morning. A guy was out washing his car, a
woman hurried to work, the crossing guard waited for kids on their way to
summer school. Somehow, these people have got to own the street in the
evening and at night.

On Wednesday, a 7-year-old girl named Takira Gaston was shot in the face
and severely wounded on Garden Street by a stray bullet that was probably
fired by some moron drug dealer.

This is an outrage on its own terms. It also bodes ill for Greater
Hartford's efforts to remake itself. Make no mistake, this isn't just
Hartford's problem. The state is risking three-quarters of a billion
dollars on a convention center and other amenities to make Hartford the
vibrant center of the Capitol region.

But this stuff isn't going to work if the city has a reputation as a
drug-infested rathole. People won't come. There are good things going on,
but the recent upsurge in shootings - 415 shots fired this year - and
violent crime puts the gains at risk.

So, what to do. Police Chief Bruce Marquis said the troops will be out,
visible, making more stops for minor offenses such as loitering and
trespassing.

This is the "New York strategy," employed so effectively by police chief
William Bratton. Contradicting conventional wisdom that cops should
concentrate on major crimes, Bratton targeted subway turnstile jumpers,
"squeegee men" and brown-bag drunks.

It turned out that one in 10 subway jumpers was wanted for felony and that
many were carrying guns. Stopping the little crimes helped to stop the big
ones. From 1993 to 1997, homicides dropped 70 percent and major felonies
dropped 46 percent. New York became livable again.

That's what Hartford needs. In addition to loitering and trespassing busts,
the department ought to be stopping every traffic violator they can find.
As Lt. Neil Dryfe put it, the drug dealers have to believe that anytime
they go out, a Hartford police officer is going to visit with them.

Also, track the guns. Handguns are all over the city. Kids run around with
them. Bratton pushed hard to track each gun and arrest the supplier. That
made a difference.

City building officials ought to come down hard on code violations that are
causing blight. In their "broken window" theory, James Q. Wilson and George
Kelling convincingly demonstrate a connection between a deteriorating
physical environment and the breakdown in order that leads to crime.

Also, let's make drug treatment available on demand. Drug dealers stay in
business because there's a continuing supply of addicts. Each addict in
recovery reduces the customer base.

Federal authorities ought to begin undercover work immediately. Anecdotal
evidence suggests some of the troublemakers are gang members getting out of
jail. The time to get them is when they're on probation.

Let's get on this.