TOWARD SAFER STREETS IN EAST TAMPA

Mayor Pam Iorio said during her campaign that she wanted Tampa to be a more
livable city. Her opponents accused her of not offering specifics, but last
week she and Police Chief Bennie Holder began a very specific strategy for
making east Tampa more livable: Operation Commitment, a hard crackdown on
crime.

``There are 18 known drug holes in that community,'' said Iorio. ``That is
unacceptable.''

In most parts of the city it would be, but in east Tampa even law- abiding
citizens are often ambivalent about police efforts - they want drug dealers
and prostitutes off the streets, but they know that it is no long-term
solution to simply jail criminals without hope of changing the way these
lawbreakers behave. That is why the city's multifaceted approach to the
problem is promising.

In addition to numerous drug and prostitution related arrests, drug
counselors are accompanying police officers to offer services for addicts,
and code enforcement is being stepped up. While many residents believe more
jobs in the neighborhoods where open drug dealing is taking place would
offer employment alternatives for those who sell narcotics, they need to
realize that no investment occurs where such illegal activities are
commonplace.

At two different community meetings, east Tampa residents told Iorio and
other city representatives they appreciated the effort to clean up their
community but were also concerned that the results could be short-lived once
Operation Commitment is scaled back. Holder assured them that his
department's commitment would not end and that his officers would ``stay
right on [drug dealers'] butts and keep chasing them.''

The ultimate goal of Operation Commitment is not simply to jail people and
hand out code-violation citations. The goal is to change behavior so that
people don't feel it is acceptable to openly sell and buy drugs, solicit
prostitutes and discard trash in east Tampa. Only then will residents
experience safer streets and see their community revitalized, which is why
this energetic effort by Mayor Iorio and Chief Holder deserves the
community's strong support.