ALTON HOTELS WORK TO KEEP DRUG DEALERS OUT OF ROOM

ALTON - Drug dealers attempting to move business transactions from
their homes to area motels are having to give up the practice cold
turkey as managers initiate new policies to eradicate the menace.

An Alton police official said almost every hotel in town has reported
drug deals within the past few years as pushers seek a hideaway for
their illicit activities.

One of the city's most notorious motels for drug activity, the Travel
Inn at 717 East Broadway, was recently closed and is scheduled for
demolition soon to make way for a new McDonald's restaurant at the
corner of Ridge and East Broadway.

"That was the worst in town," said Police Lt. James Hessel. "They had
a lot of police (calls), but we've had problems at all of them. It's
not uncommon for drug dealers to rent hotel rooms and deal out of the
rooms. They meet everybody there, and it doesn't arouse suspicions at
their homes."

Jack Leonard, who manages the Super 8 Motel at 1800 East Homer Adams
Parkway, has taken the toughest tack of all with a policy that
prohibits locals from 13 area communities from registering as hotel
guests.

Leonard said since he took over as manager in May, he has fired two
employees who apparently turned a blind eye on drug activities at the
hotel, and five arrests have been made at the Super 8, four of which
were drug-related. In some cases, rooms were damaged by guests who
were selling drugs.

"There was a lack of employee involvement with the guests," Leonard
said. "They didn't know what was going on with the guests, and they
didn't care. There was a lot of drug activity, but no more. And nine
out of 10 times, it was someone local."

Previous attempts to evict illicit drug dealers on Super 8 property
included asking locals for a $50 cash deposit at registration. That
proved to be ineffective, Leonard said.

So on June 12, he installed a sign at the registration desk that lays
it on the line - residents from the following towns must take their
business elsewhere: Alton, Bethalto, Brighton, Cottage Hills, East
Alton, Fosterburg, Godfrey, Hartford, Jerseyville, Moro, Roxana, South
Roxana and Wood River.

"Those were cities that we mapped out within a certain radius of the
hotel," Leonard explained. "They were the same cities that were
affected by the deposit policy, when it was in effect (for several
years). My experience has been that local people were staying here for
reasons other than a good night's sleep."

The Super 8 is owned by Salem's Midwest Lodging Associates, which also
owns 11 other Illinois hotels, including the Comfort Inn at 11
Crossroads Court near Homer Adams Parkway and College Avenue. The
no-locals policy is also in effect at Midwest's lodge in Peoria.

Days Inn Manager Jay Patel said his front desk personnel are trained
to spot customers who they suspect may be looking for a place to sell
marijuana and other drugs, but it's often a difficult call.

"It's very hard to monitor," said Patel, who has managed the motel at
1900 East Homer Adams Parkway for six years.

"Sometimes it's hard to distinguish the good guests from drug dealers.
If anything looks suspicious, we call the police and they take care of
it."

At the College Crest Motel, 1809 Burling Drive, owner Kelly Whitehead
has been lucky. She said she rents her 15 rooms mostly on a weekly
basis to long-term renters. When she does on rare occasions register
an overnight customer, she keeps a sharp eye out for problem characters.

"If I see anything going on that I don't like, I put them out,"
Whitehead said. "How can you tell if they're (drug dealers)? The
police are the ones who should know who's doing what, not me."

While Whitehead does reserve the right to refuse service to anyone,
she said Leonard's rule of refusing locals is wrong.

"It's not fair to people who are honest in the local area," she said.
"What if someone just wants to get away from the kids or the phones
for a night? That's just not right."

But Hessel said he's in favor of policies like Leonard's that take a
proactive role in protecting their clients' safety.

"I think it's great," Hessel said. "They initiated that policy on
their own, and it's a good idea."

Leonard also manages the local Comfort Inn, where the $50 deposit
policy seems to be doing the trick. "It wasn't as much of a problem at
Comfort," Leonard said. "The employees knew it (drug trafficking)
wouldn't be allowed, and we have security (personnel) on the weekends
there."

Although the Super 8 has no weekend security, Leonard said, "that may
change soon."