CLOSE OPEN-AIR DRUG MARKETS

From the Journal Sentinel

Chief Arthur Jones has cited records showing that police officers have
actively fought the drug trade in the Metcalfe Park neighborhood. The data
include 143 drug arrests so far this year.

But however vigilant the police may be on that score, they goofed in
permitting a cocaine market to run for a long while in an alley near N.
33rd and W. Center streets. Residents say the operation has been going on
for many months. A Journal Sentinel reporter observed teen sellers brazenly
doing brisk business in the alley over three days.

Police must not permit an open-air market to operate in Milwaukee over any
extended period of time. Closing such markets must be a top priority. And
the police should sacrifice drug convictions, if necessary, to shut down
the operations. Getting such convictions often involve undercover work,
which takes time.

Police must regard the markets as the neighborhood nuisances that they are.
They lower property values and contribute to a sense of neighborhood
insecurity. They invite shootouts with rivals. Surely, the police have
sufficient grounds to roust outdoor drug dealers, even if authorities can't
pin dealing on the suspects. Drug possession, disorderly conduct or
loitering are handy charges.

Whatever happened to Jones' quality-of-life policing? Surely, not much
lowers a neighborhood's quality of life more than does open-air drug
dealing. Simply patrolling suspected drug spots more heavily would help. In
fact, that's all it took for the activity to disappear. The patrols came
after a Journal Sentinel article about the market.

The Police Department must not let outdoor drug markets flourish in Milwaukee.