DRUG DEALING - KEEP THE HEAT ON

The city of Seattle is assembling new data tracking drug crimes. Some
Seattle neighborhoods don't have to see the city's numbers to know
about problems on their streets and sidewalks.

As Pioneer Square residents have discovered, 911 comes up short as a
magic set of digits to call for solutions. Neighbors are
understandably unhappy with the city's failure to stop drug crime in
Fortson Square, at Second Avenue and Yesler Way.

Gutsy Pioneer Square neighbors are after the dealers and the city.
The fun part of the residents' in-your-face approach is an ad in The
Stranger with a map and a photo of the mayor and the city's top cop.
The almost official-looking ad proclaimed: "Mayor Nickels & Chief
Kerlikowske welcome you to Fortson Square's Open-Air Drug Market." In
the harder part of the neighbors' campaign, they shot video of drug
deals in the square for several days. Some dealers became angry, but
the citizens stuck with their filming.

While the public shouldn't have to be quite this much on the front
lines, citizen involvement is a part of controlling drug problems.
For its part, the city is out sharing newly developed data tracking
drug arrests, which has led to a map of hot spots. The Narcstat data
program can show where 911 calls about drugs are heavy, letting
officials target areas for enforcement even if they can't make
arrests after each call.

Some Belltown residents, for instance, reportedly have noticed
improvements from combined local and federal efforts to halt open
dealing. But we suspect there are a lot of areas that share Pioneer
Square's frustrations. The heat needs to remain on not just dealers
but also public officials.