ANTI-DRUG SIGNS PLACED ALONG HAL GREER BOULEVARD

HUNTINGTON -- While their source is a mystery, their message resonates with
people throughout the Hal Greer Boulevard community where they're posted.

Two signs just north of Hal Greer Boulevard's intersection with 7th Avenue
proclaim "CRACKHEADS YOU ARE BEING WATCHED" and "WE CARE. DO YOU?" People
started noticing them Thursday, including Thomas Kincaid, a member of the
Fairfield West Improvement Council.

"I was out today and saw them," he said. "I wonder where in the world they
came from."

Kincaid, a Fairfield West resident, said there is no question, however,
about the problems the signs address. He has watched drug trafficking
continually shift from one neighborhood street to the next, infesting once
peaceful neighborhoods.

"Drugs have been identified as a problem here," he said. "There's no doubt
about that."

Huntington Police Department Sgt. Rocky Johnson, a detective and narcotics
investigator, said Thursday that he and other city police were unaware of
the signs.

"Good," he said upon hearing the news. "I'm glad to see it, actually."

Johnson explained that he understands the community's outrage toward drug
dealers and appreciates their willingness to help law enforcement.

"They're fed up with it," he said. "We're definitely seeing more community
involvement."

He added that that sort of involvement has helped, especially in
drug-plagued Fairfield West areas such as Artisan Avenue. According to
earlier statistics released by the Huntington Police Department, more than
10 percent of the 633 drug arrests made by HPD officers between January
2002 and last September were made in the 1600 block of Artisan Avenue.

Meanwhile, Todd Dent, who lives close to where the signs have been posted
along Hal Greer Boulevard, said they seem to be working. He explained that
the signs were posted early Thursday after cardboard ones posted Tuesday
were torn down by prostitutes. He said the current wooden ones appear to be
screwed into utility poles.

"I got my first peaceful night's sleep last night," Dent said. "I applaud
the (sign poster's) efforts. . God knows, you can't walk out the door
without people propositioning you or crack heads honking."

Alex White, an employee of Huntington Bicycle Center in the 600 block of
Hal Greer Boulevard, said broken glass and trash is a constant problem near
the business, as well as drugged-looking people frequenting the area and
sometimes coming inside.

"They need to get that under control," he said of law enforcement.

Dent said the signs seem to be a positive first step, explaining that
prostitutes and crack dealers appear to have moved away from that area.

"If that's what did it, I'm very impressed," he said of the signs. "I wish
I'd thought of that myself."

Johnson said anyone who witnesses drug activity is encouraged to call a
confidential drug "tip line" maintained by the Huntington Police Department
at (304) 696-4444.

"They call us," he said of community residents. "These people are smart.
They know who's local and who's not. The tips we're getting from the
community are that 95 percent of these (drug dealers) are out of towners."