KEY TO FIGHTING NEIGHBORHOOD CRIME

The nation has long been tormented by repeated confrontations between black
communities and urban police departments, with many whites wondering why
cities don't assign only black officers to patrol black neighborhoods. Such
a move would be not simply discriminatory, but a blazing signal of failure.

We all have to get along, and to do that we need to instill confidence in
minorities that law enforcement officers, whatever their color, are focused
on catching wrongdoers, whatever their color, and keeping the peace.

There was good news at a rally last Monday.

Six days before, at 12th Avenue South and 12th Street in St. Petersburg, a
homemade bomb was thrown at police officers as they made a drug arrest.
They were only slightly injured, but someone in the jeering crowd shouted,
``We own the streets down here.'' Anarchy was taking hold, which is why
Darryl Rouson of the local chapter of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People, along with St. Petersburg City Council
members Rene Flowers and Ernest Williams, held the rally to call on
residents to take back their community. Most important, they called on law-
abiding citizens to support the police.

Cooperation with the police is anathema to fringe groups, but animosity
between the community and the police benefits only criminals.

The police can't be everywhere at once, but those living in the community
can greatly help. Neighborhood residents, working together and with law
enforcement, can aid the investigation of ongoing problems, not just incidents.

People understand, of course, that this is the hard part of fighting crime.
The effort must include alerting the police to suspicious activity, showing
up at police headquarters to identify suspects and - hardest of all -
appearing on a witness stand and testifying, even when threatened.

But the future of south St. Petersburg is already brighter because some
residents have decided to support the police in getting rid of felons. In
so doing, they are helping the whole city, but most particularly their
neighbors and themselves.