COUNCIL SEEKS ANSWER TO DRUGS IN PUBLIC HOUSING

ASHEVILLE - So, where do we go now?

That's the question facing Asheville City Council after what was supposed
to be a straight-laced budget work session last week turned into a
contentious discussion of a proposed drug interdiction program in public
housing.

Vice Mayor Carl Mumpower's proposal calling for an allocation of up to $1
million for a street-level program, which he called "Operation Hard Time,"
was voted down 4-3.

Everyone agrees the city has a drug problem in its public housing. The
question is how to go about fixing it.

Longtime Pisgah View resident Dawn Jones says throwing money at a program
designed only to arrest people is a waste of tax dollars.

"You got an extra million dollars in this city and all you're talking about
doing is hiring more police?" she said Friday afternoon while she watched
children who are part of the Minnie Jones after-school program. "What about
all these young kids out here who need summer jobs?"

A 32-year resident of Pisgah View, Jones said she's grown tired of periodic
attention to public housing and drugs - mostly through arresting people. A
long-term solution is needed, she said.

"What are you going to arrest these kids for? If you arrest one, there's
another one coming along right behind him," she said. "You want to help
these kids, give them something to do."

Michael Godwin, deputy director of the Housing Authority of the city of
Asheville, acknowledges that the drug problem in public housing is "pretty
extensive."

"I don't want to make it sound like the drug problem is only in the public
housing, though, because drugs are a problem citywide and nationwide," he
said. "But we do have a lot of open-air drug selling, based on the arrest
reports we see from our safety team."

City Council seems energized now to find a way to combat the problem.

The majority of council a week ago supported a more "holistic" approach
that goes beyond simply arresting street dealers and buyers. Those voting
against Mumpower's proposal - Holly Jones, Brownie Newman, Terry Bellamy
and Mayor Charles Worley - want to address societal issues, such as jobs,
underfunded education and after-school programs and inadequate drug counseling.

Newman suggested the city more aggressively look at dispersing public
housing throughout the city. Almost 3,000 people live in 10 public housing
developments in Asheville.

Councilmen Jan Davis and Joe Dunn supported Mumpower's motion.

But Mumpower maintains, "We have to start somewhere.

"And to me, if we don't start with public safety, none of the rest of it
matters," he said.

Minnie Jones, a well-known community activist and resident of the Pisgah
View public housing apartments in West Asheville for more than three
decades, said she's meeting with Mumpower and other officials this week.
She likened the problem and its solution to lancing a boil, which you have
to clean thoroughly from the inside out.

"Both sides have some good points, but there are some points they are
missing," Jones said.

Those opposed to Mumpower's plan want to see the city take a long-term
approach that stems from the community.

"The remaining members of council are currently putting together a holistic
approach to this issue," Bellamy said, adding that they will be reporting
their suggestions in a matter of weeks.

As the traffic and cultural hub of Western North Carolina, Asheville does
have to deal with being a center for drug dealing. Acting Police Chief Ross
Robinson describes the problem as "moderate."

"We're more along the typical lines based on our size, but you've also got
to remember that regionally we're one of the larger areas, and that draws
people in (looking to buy drugs)," Robinson said.

Last year, the city got 610 calls for service related to drug dealing, with
most of those concentrated in public housing, Robinson said. And the city
recorded 1,433 drug-related cases in which evidence is in the property room.

Taking action already

In June 2003, City Council approved $150,000 for three police officers in
public housing. The Housing Authority also has its own security force of
about half a dozen officers.

The Police Department last year conducted a drug operation between July and
December in Deaverview and Pisgah View, resulting in several hundred arrests.

In January the Police Department rolled out its own special 10-officer
public housing police unit, which is heavily involved in community policing
and conducts some sort of drug arrest sting "virtually weekly," Robinson said.

"It's not that we are doing any of that (drug interdiction), because we
certainly are," Robinson said. "But I think council may have in mind we do
that much more intensively."

While an aggressive drug surveillance and arrest program may sound like a
no-brainer, it gets very complicated. Robinson formulated a tentative plan
for Mumpower that would've called for 12 officers devoted strictly to drug
interdiction.

The department would use experienced officers, meaning it would have to
hire and fully train a dozen officers, which would take close to a year,
Robinson said. Community support is also crucial in starting any kind of
high-profile street-level interdiction program, because the arrests are
sometimes very forceful.

"Our lieutenants and captains asked me this question directly when we first
began to talk about this: Do we have the support of the local community to
do this?" Robinson said.

One thing doesn't cure the problem

Chris Rush, a sergeant in the Harrisonburg (Va.) Police Department, also
works for the TCB group, which does training in narcotics and making drug
arrests throughout Virginia and other states.

"It's really hard to fight the drug war without having some sort of
interdiction team," Rush said.

But he's well aware of the pratfalls of aggressive interdiction,
particularly accusations of racial profiling. Community support is vital,
he says.

"The textbook setup is to have a department that says it's not just going
to do interdiction," Rush said. "We're going to do enforcement and crime
prevention, and we're going to do them both together. Basically, our job is
to be out in the community, talk to the community, then do what the
community wants you to do."

Godwin, the Housing Authority's deputy director, likes Mumpower's idea,
especially because the Housing Authority lost a $360,000 drug elimination
grant about 18 months ago that allowed them to attack the problem more
aggressively. But he also would like to see a community-based,
comprehensive approach.

"In addition to going after the street-level dealers, you need to be going
after more of the mid-level and upper-level dealers, too," Godwin said.
"And if you're going to have any long-term effect, you've got to look at
other things, too, including jobs and activities for youth."

New chief needs time to analyze problem

Another problem council members had with Mumpower's proposal is that the
city was in the process of hiring a new police chief and such a program
would have to have the chief's support and input.

Current Rocky Mount Police Chief Bill Hogan starts work June 14 in Asheville.

"I'd like to get on board, meet with the department and see what's been
done before, analyze the problem and see what's been proposed," Hogan said
Friday, adding that he'd also want to meet with Housing Authority officials
and residents.

In researching his proposal, Mumpower talked to officials in Winston-Salem
and Charleston, S.C., as well as in West Palm Beach, Fla. For an
interdiction program to work, he says, it must have appropriate manpower,
funding and a mandate.

"You have to target the distributors, the dealers and the users - all
three," Mumpower said. "And you have to be very persistent. If you give
them a place to rest, they solidify their consumer base."

Holly Jones said for an interdiction program to have a chance of success,
it must have the community's approval first, instead of coming from the top
down.

"Maybe the community will be supportive, but they're not now, and that's
not right," Jones said. "We know the most effective way to have the crime
rate come down is to have the eyes and ears of the community out there
working for you."

Mumpower says he's all for the holistic approach, but the city has the
ability to address the public safety issue now - and prevent deaths and
more drug abuse by doing so. The city's revenues are projected to increase
by $8 million in fiscal year 2004-05, so the money is there, he says.

The city manager's proposed budget calls for $27.4 million to go to public
safety, about a quarter of the overall budget of $103.3 million.

Mumpower says he will not let the issue die because lives are at stake.

"The way to look at it is it's like building a house," he said. "You start
with the foundation first, and law enforcement is the foundation. From my
perspective, council is trying to build the roof before the foundation, and
that doesn't work.