DRUG MONEY IN CONTROL IN DUNBAR

Citizens Must Unite In Fight Against Crime

About 30 percent of the homicides in Lee County so far this year -- most of
them shootings --happened in Dunbar, a predominantly African-American
neighborhood of about 10,000 people.

Early last month the Fort Myers Police Department formed a special task
force to intercept the flow of guns throughout the city.

Judging by comments at a town hall meeting two weeks ago sponsored by the
Working Together to Stop the Violence Committee headed by councilwomen
Veronica Shoemaker and Ann Knight, Police Chief Hilton Daniels was still at
loss as to where the latest gun influx was coming from. He said guns have
been proliferating in Dunbar but his department hasn't been able to trace
the source. He said he couldn't find a pattern. Guns seemed to be coming
from everywhere.

He asked for the community's help in finding the source of guns, but the
loud and frantic "community" in attendance, about 30, thought this a
worthless request.

"You've got to hit ball park first," said a gentleman, "you won't get to
the guns unless you tackle the drugs."

Other people agreed. While drugs keep infesting Dunbar, taking guns away
from people is fruitless. "You've got to fight the reason for gun
ownership," said the man.

The one thing that seemed to puzzle everyone was why officers let people
stand on corners seemingly doing nothing (other than dealing drugs.)

Chief Daniels said he can't make an arrest if he knows there are no
witnesses and no one is willing to press charges. When officers stop at a
store to make an arrest, the store owner often comes outside and says,
"Don't touch him, he's OK."

Problem is, alleged one man, people complain about drugs in Dunbar but the
fact is everyone protects drug dealers because even churches are bought out
with drug money.

Chief Daniels said that starting the next day he would implement a plan
that had been developed over the last month where no one would be allowed
to stand idle on street corners. He said he didn't care if the community
complained.

The audience laughed at his initiative, saying response time is too slow.
They commented about how quick peddlers are in getting lost as police take
their time in showing up and give peddlers time to hide the evidence.
Someone said they bury the drugs in people's back yards.

Also attending the meeting were County Judges James Adams and Radford
Sturgis, the first time Councilwoman Shoemaker remembered a judge ever
attending a town hall meeting on violence issues. They, too, got an earful
from the audience.

When the issue of drugs was being discussed, Judge Sturgis suggested that
one person go to see the movie, "Traffic," to try to make a point that the
judiciary has its hands tied. The person responded: "Don't need to see no
movie, I watch it every day in Dunbar." The audience assented, frustrated
by the fact that drug peddlers have worked around the system so well that
the judiciary, law enforcement and nonprofit organizations are helpless in
fighting crime.

The judges said criminals have rights too.

The tragedy, a parent said, is that children grow up in this culture. The
meeting got loud when several parents spoke at once saying their hands are
tied up because kids know that with any little spanking, they'll be calling
the Department of Children & Family Services, so parents are giving up on
discipline and letting the state take care of them.

The circle of violence seems endemic in Dunbar. But 30 people speaking out
in anger won't do much for a solution. Dunbar needs all 10,000 people to
come out in one voice for solutions to fight crime. How many more funerals
does the community need to wake up? Dunbar must stop allowing drug money to
run the neighborhood.