OFFICERS PULLED TO FIGHT DRUGS

Up To A Third Of St. Petersburg's Community Police Force Is Reassigned To
Track Career Offenders

ST. PETERSBURG - Hours after an innocent bystander was killed in a driveby
shooting, Mayor Rick Baker stood before a roomful of politicians, police
and reporters and assured them that St. Petersburg is "a safe, a relatively
safe city."

"We are not immune from the acts of violent people, but we are committed to
bringing the people who commit these violent acts to justice," Baker said
in the April 25 news conference.

Now, responding to mounting concern and criticism about public safety,
police Chief Chuck Harmon has launched a secretive campaign to rid the city
of the most violent elements of the drug trade.

Harmon has formed a multiagency task force to execute what some officers
call the most aggressive crime operation since the mid '90s. Up to a third
of the city's community policing force has been transferred to the task
force, which will spend at least a month targeting career offenders.

"It's a vital public safety initiative," said Harmon, who did not disclose
details of the project but vowed to provide the public with its results.

Mayor Baker would not discuss the task force but spoke generally of his hopes.

"Our objective in law enforcement is to get the drugs off of our streets
and to get the violent weapons off of our streets," Baker said. "They are
both poisonous to our community."

The crackdown is citywide, though officers are focusing on Midtown and
communities south of Central Avenue. The mission is to clear the streets of
criminals who deal drugs and carry the kind of combat rifles that killed
Cynthia Bethune, 41 and a mother of four.

Bethune was killed instantly by a stray bullet, caught in the crossfire of
two rival groups that had been fighting for a week over money, drugs and
another killing.

For more than a year, the city has been rattled by an increasing number of
shootings involving military-style weapons.

Some shootings end without injury or death but were public relations
nightmares. For example, a group of University of Alabama students working
last spring on a Habitat for Humanity house ran for cover when gunfire
erupted on a Childs Park street.

Last month's rolling gunbattle that killed two and injured two others was
an unparalleled act of violence. Gunmen fired at homes and police officers
from cars.

"We need to crack down hard," City Council member Renee Flowers said Wednesday.

For the past week, an undisclosed number of officers have been targeting
people with drug and violent criminal histories. Harmon refused to discuss
strategy or the number of arrests so far.

"This is a departmentwide initiative," Harmon said. "Resources from
virtually every unit are being utilized."

The task force also is getting help from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Up to 15 of the city's
approximately 50 community policing officers have been assigned to the
operation. Harmon would not offer specifics but said no neighborhood will
go uncovered.

Only one week into the project, however, Harmon is taking heat from
neighborhood leaders who are angry that the chief reassigned their
community officers, then didn't tell them.

"That makes us wonder, "Why don't you trust us?"' said Ingrid Comberg, 63,
a resident of Uptown, which lost its community officer to the initiative.

Many residents say that community policing officers who fill in from other
areas will be stretched too thin and that crimes such as burglary and
prostitution will rise. Unlike patrol officers, community officers are not
driven by 911 calls. They work flexible schedules and focus on
quality-of-life crime issues.

"Traditionally, in the summertime, the crime rates go up, and we need to be
more vigilant if our community police officer isn't going to be there,"
said Clifford Holensworth, president of the Crescent Lake Neighborhood
Association.

Brent Fisher, president of the Council of Neighborhood Associations, known
as CONA, said if the community policing force's role doesn't last too long
and residents see results, neighborhoods will be more willing to go along.

"But ultimately, we've got to get our staffing to the level that they're
able to do the drug stings and have the CPOs in the neighborhoods," Fisher
said.

Despite concerns, many city officials and residents say the crackdown is
long overdue.

Greg Pierce, a resident of Childs Park and neighborhood association
treasurer, said his neighborhood has grown so frustrated by open-air drug
dealing and street violence that he talked with members about suing the
city for not enforcing laws.

"Personally, I am looking at every option we can take right now because I
don't believe management truly understands how bad things are in the
neighborhood," said Pierce, 46, an 18-year resident of Childs Park.