A COMMUNITY PARALYZED BY FEAR

Nothing illustrates the core problem in east Tampa better than reporter
David Karp's story in last Wednesday's Times. Who would choose to live or
start a business in a part of town where a city parks attendant is beaten
senseless, in apparent revenge for outing drug dealers, while nearly two
dozen people watch, none of whom intervene or cooperate with the police?

All the talk about redeveloping Tampa's largely poor, black neighborhoods
avoids the sensitive, but critical, question: Are residents prepared to
break the grip of fear that enables street crime there to thrive?

The city has poured millions of dollars into east Tampa - razing public
housing, going after drug holes, forcing slumlords to repair their
properties. Tampa's new police chief even changed the department's tactical
approach, creating a new patrol division to strengthen the police presence
in east Tampa.

But for conditions to change, residents need to take more responsibility
for the look and feel of their neighborhoods. While some in the community
have spoken up - notably Hillsborough County Commissioner Tom Scott - east
Tampa's political leaders have not called for the community to help itself.

This lack of leadership is not only dishonest; it hangs out to dry have
taken on the dealers and thugs without the power of public office behind
them. Billy Gardner, the parks attendant, was well known for chasing away
teenagers who drank or used drugs in the park. None of the nearly 20
witnesses came forward after he was attacked.

After Owedia Walker organized a crime march in the neighborhood, someone
threw paint on her car. She, like Gardner, had been marked.

Changing the landscape is important in east Tampa, but so is changing the
tolerance of everyday nuisance and violent crime.

With more attention from black political leaders such as Kevin White,
Arthenia Joyner, and Les and Gwen Miller, east Tampa's crime watch and
neighborhood groups could become stronger counterforces to the criminals
running down their neighborhoods. While Tampa police announced an arrest
Friday in Gardner's beating months ago, the fear factor is still high, and
understandable for those who are trapped in a tough neighborhood with few,
if any, real options.

But the alternative is what's happening now - those standing by themselves
are made into targets to terrorize the larger community.

This is no way to live. It blocks redevelopment, and it's a problem whose
solution doesn't cost a cent.