HOT LINE, WEB SITE ALLOW RESIDENTS TO PROVIDE ANONYMOUS INFORMATION TO POLICE

Elmira police are seeking the public's help to stop drug dealers,
users and other illegal activities in the city through a new
initiative called Operation Halt.

The approach features a hot line -- (607) 271-HALT or 271-4258 -- and
an online form. People can provide information about crimes and
report suspicious activity anonymously, officials said.

"We all have seen incidents across the city. We are not going to sit
back and take it," said Mayor John Tonello, who was flanked by Elmira
City Council members and police during a news conference Thursday.

Operation Halt resulted from a string of shootings in the city in the
fall and Tonello's call for new ways to empower citizens safely.

The initiative also includes cooperative efforts with Chemung County
District Attorney John Trice and the county Drug Enforcement Unit.
The initiative will also draw renewed attention to the sale of drug
paraphernalia in neighborhood stores and will publicize the names of
lawbreakers.

"It's going to come as a great surprise to many what is available
legally in some of the local stores," city police Chief W. Scott
Drake III said. Police visited about a half-dozen convenience stores
in the city and found a variety of drug-dealer supplies for sale, he said.

Drake said items on display included crack and methamphetamine pipes,
packaging to sell marijuana and crack, and a "crack starter kit."
Sold in a brown paper bag for $2.50, the starter kit consists of a
crack pipe, disposable lighter and scouring pad to keep a rock of
crack from being inhaled while it is smoked.

Drake said an undercover officer went into one store, said he wanted
to buy a crack pipe and pointed at one. "The clerk corrected him and
said, 'You don't want that for crack. That's for meth,'" he said.

"I'm hoping that we'll get cooperation from these local merchants to
stop selling this crap. We don't want it in the city of Elmira," he
said. "It's no different than selling drugs."

If police get no cooperation, they will identify stores that sell
drug paraphernalia and will ask the community whether it wants to buy
other items from them, such as gas, bread and milk, Drake said.

Additionally, a street crimes detail is being established that will
focus on drug interdiction as well as quality-of-life complaints such
as people walking in the middle of the street obstructing traffic,
drivers with loud, booming stereos, and anyone drinking openly on the
street, he said.

"We're going to take zero tolerance on that stuff," Drake said. "If
you get stopped by the police, you can count on getting arrested for it."

Drug money seized by police and turned over to the district
attorney's office will be used to help fund some of the special
patrols and programs, Trice said.

Photographs of offenders will be published on the city's Web site and
possibly at a kiosk in City Hall, Drake said.

The effort will get a boost from the Friends of Elmira Police, said
Bill Newgent, its chairman. The group is considering a billboard
campaign for the hot line number and Web page.