SAFER STREETS

The Rocky Mount Police Department is sending a strong message to the
community. And it's one the community has been yearning to receive.
Recently the department's Street Engagement Team concluded the second
phase of an operation to crack down on street level drug dealers.

Operation Heat Wave and Heat Wave II each resulted in 20 arrests.
Those 40 arrests send sweeping signals to criminals (namely, that
Rocky Mount won't tolerate it) while also taking a big bite out of
crime (for the action-speaks-louder-than-warnings criminal). But the
arrests are only half the story for the successful street unit.
That's because the collars are partially the product of community
involvement. SET knows the importance of this involvement and has
made equal strides in bridge-building and improved public relations
to foster an improved working relationship with the community.

Without community support, the street unit would sorely lack the
momentum on which it now rides.

The team targets drug and firearm violators. Having an elite unit
focused on these crimes is making the city safer and making crime
tougher. The results speak for themselves and should continue to
restore residents' faith in the phrase "to protect and serve." We've
sung praise for the street engagement unit in this space before, but
enough can't be said about the great job those men in blue do in
rooting out unwanted elements. If thugs are running scared, they have
far less time and energy to set up shop on our street corners and in
our neighborhoods.

Here are some more heartening numbers to consider: In the last year
the team has made 3,000 arrests. The street unit took 41 firearms off
the streets last month and 135 in the first half of 2008.

And we have good reason to believe more headlines highlighting SET's
successes are on the way. The team has been working with state and
federal law enforcement agencies, and these collaborations will net
more solid numbers, continue to strengthen the team's community ties
and wrest footholds from drug lords and gang members. It's a winning
formula, and it's up to the community to keep SET plugged in and
plugging away. Rocky Mount is ready for and capable of a turn of the
tide.