A SHIFTING PROBLEM

The conventional wisdom has been that the best place to look for drug
crimes in Chapel Hill is in the Northside neighborhood.

That's not the case anymore, according to an analysis by The Daily
Tar Heel of drug crime arrests in Chapel Hill from Jan. 1 to the end
of September.

Police presence historically has been heavy in the Northside area,
which is behind Rosemary Street and bordered by North Columbia Street
and the Carrboro town line.

But many of the town's drug busts this year were actually on Franklin
and Rosemary streets, according to the analysis.

"Honestly, . it's what I have suspected for a long time, but people
have a problem believing it," said Delores Bailey, executive director
of Empowerment Inc., a community preservation group located in Northside.

Lieutenant Pat Burns, the head of the Chapel Hill Police Department's
narcotics squad, said that some of the shift can be attributed to a
convergence of police action and neighborhood involvement.

"What we've noticed is, due to the presence we put in Northside, a
lot of the people that are doing street selling have migrated up
toward Franklin Street," Burns said.

Indeed, 25 percent of the 342 drug crimes for which the Chapel Hill
police arrested people between Jan. 1 and Sept. 27 occurred on
Franklin or Rosemary streets, which form the main downtown business district.

But that's not to say that Northside is totally without crime.

Graham Street had about 5 percent of the reported crimes, with 18
charges, though three of those arrests were at Graham Street's
intersection with Rosemary Street.

There were a few crimes on other streets in Northside and a few on
other streets near campus but outside of Northside.

Away from campus and the center of town, arrests taper to almost nothing.

"I wouldn't say we have anywhere near the problems that communities
near us have," Burns said.

Controlled substances

Burns painted a picture of a drug trade in Chapel Hill that's neither
as highly organized nor as highly dangerous as in major metropolitan areas.

"Crack cocaine is our most aggravating problem," Burns said. "The
most common drug we run across is marijuana."

There's a geographic component to crack cocaine crimes, too.

Arrests for crack, which is refined cocaine in its crystalline rock
form, tend to cluster around less affluent areas, but marijuana is
found pretty much anywhere from traffic stops to dorm rooms, Burns said.

And generally low-level drug sales come from people wandering the
streets who sell some of their stash as an easy way to keep
themselves supplied with drugs.

These sellers are mobile but stay in a small area where they are
aware of their surroundings, Burns said. He said that when forced out
of their niches, these dealers tend to migrate blocks, not miles.

"They pretty much stay in an area where they feel comfortable," he said.

Home-based operations tend to rest a little further up the food chain.

But Burns said that even among drug houses, there are distinctions.

Some are amateur operations run by the newcomers to the criminal
world. These often can be broken up simply by knocking on the door
and asking for consent to search the property, Burns said.

Others are more complex operations set up by veteran narcotics
merchants and require more covert strategies to counter.

After several months of surveillance, Chapel Hill police in November
arrested a UNC student and an alumnus, among others, on felony
charges of possession with intent to distribute marijuana and
maintaining a dwelling for the purpose of selling drugs.

Their residence was at 304 Columbia Place East, which is in Northside.

Burns said that drug sales in Chapel Hill tend to lack the organized
and vicious gang components often seen elsewhere.

"I think we're less violent than most areas," he said. "We don't see
the gunplay as prevalent as you see it in major metropolitan areas."

Northside's turnaround

The drug problem in Northside neighborhood didn't disappear overnight.

Esther Foster, who has lived at her Cotton Street home in Northside
for the last 66 years, said the turnaround is in large part due to
the way the community has organized around Bailey's leadership.

"She literally went door to door talking to people," Foster said.
"And she is such a lovely spirit, such a warm, beautiful person.
There's no way you can say 'No' to her."

Bailey said that when she started to re-organize the neighborhood
about five years ago, all Northside had in the way of community
infrastructure was a quasi-defunct community-watch program.

"The police were coming to the meeting, but the residents weren't,"
Bailey said.

But when she asked the community to pitch in, she said, the response
was excellent. Now as many as 50 people show up to monthly community
watch meetings where residents air gripes and talk with police about
how to combat crime in the area.

The idea is for those people to then call someone when they see
something suspect.

A police substation opened Nov. 16 on Sykes Street, which Burns said
he expects to further cut crime.

The neighborhood also has benefited from groups like Empowerment,
which works to facilitate home ownership for low-income families.

Such moves came in response to a change in the character of the
neighborhood, Foster said.

"The students started moving in; all kinds of stuff started happening."

Foster said she started seeing nicer cars in her neighborhood: BMWs
and Mercedes.

"It's not us who are driving those cars," she said.

What it means

Perhaps more important than what this shift means for Northside is
the fact that the drugs aren't gone.

"From the town's point of view, this is an ongoing problem that we
have to devote resources to," Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy said.

A 12-unit police force was added in November to patrol downtown.

"The reasons we've got the police presence that we've got downtown is
to make it a safe environment and to make people feel comfortable," Foy said.

Lex Alexander, owner of 3 Cups Coffee Shop, at 431 W. Franklin St.,
said that his business has experienced several break-ins that seemed
drug-related because only small sums of money were taken.

But he said that policing in the area is looking up.

"The police are doing a better job now than they were this time last
year," Alexander said.

Northside also must continue to fight drugs, but both Foy and Bailey
are optimistic about that front.

"Northside is a lot safer neighborhood than it was," Foy said. "And
that has required a police department that is responsive and
innovative and in touch with the community."