NEW SIGNS IN SCHOOL ZONES WARN DRUG DEALERS

The Signs List Potential Sentences If Dealers Are Caught There

LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - New signs are being posted in drug-free school
zones all over Lancaster City and County, warning potential drug
dealers of the consequences if they're caught.

The minimum jail sentence is two years in state prison and five years
if the dealer has a gun.

The five-year sentence took effect last year, which is one of the
reasons that Project Safe Neighborhoods wanted to get the word out.

District Attorney Donald Totaro said that they want to "educate the
public... not only for students but for anyone else to know that there
is a mandatory minimum."

Other drug-free school zone signs do not list the minimum jail times.

With cooperation from the School District of Lancaster, 39 signs were
placed in the city and 12 in Lancaster Township.

Drue Miles, the city district's assistant superintendent for student
services, said that it was an expansion of current drug-free zone
signs intended to reach high population areas.

"When you look at areas around McCaskey campus, you have two high
schools, an elementary school and a middle school. There are an awful
lot of kids there," he said, and the group found that there were fewer
signs than needed.

Many signs are near schools, but signs were also placed in areas like
Reservoir Park, where many students congregate after school, said Miles.

Miles and Totaro both noted that local businessman Rick Bomberger was
largely involved with the initiative and deciding sign placements.
Bomberger owns West King Street's "Rick's Place," an alcohol-free
nightclub for teens.

Project Safe Neighborhoods also offered signs to county police
departments and state police.

In all, 116 signs have been requested so far by nine departments
outside of the city and Lancaster Township.

Of those nine, Manheim Township and Quarryville and Millersville
boroughs ordered the most.

Where exactly the signs are posted is up to each police department and
local school district.

The signs cost about $16 each to produce, and the money is coming from
drug dealers themselves, in the form of forfeiture funds.

If police can link money on a drug dealer's person to drug sales, the
money goes to the public.

"No taxpayer money is involved," Totaro said of the signs.

The education initiative also includes fliers distributed throughout
the city and a warning videotape shown to Lancaster County Prison
inmates before they are released.Project Safe Neighborhoods is a
federally-funded program with a goal of reducing gun crime. Locally,
it is comprised of law enforcement officials and community leaders.

The group meets once a month to "strategize and look for ways to get
the message out, particularly in the areas where they may be most at
risk," said Totaro.