PARTNERSHIP POTENTIAL

The Biscayne Gardens neighborhood in North Port doesn't fit the stereotype
of a distressed community needing federal aid for fighting crime. But the
neighborhood and the small, isolated city in Sarasota County face unique
challenges that warrant their inclusion in the Weed and Seed program.

The program is sponsored by Drug Free Communities, an initiative designed
to funnel federal resources to local governments, where they can be used to
deter crime and improve neighborhoods, thereby averting larger problems.

Drug Free Communities, which administers the Weed and Seed program in six
neighborhoods in Sarasota and Manatee counties, is seeking to expand to
North Port.

Police Chief David Yurchuck likes the idea because it could open the door
to enlisting undercover help from the FBI's Violent Crimes Task Force. In a
small community like North Port, it doesn't take long for detectives and
other police officers to become recognizable to suspects.

The challenge for North Port would be to provide imported officers with
required local knowledge -- specifically, a grasp of the Ukrainian language.

That's a cultural challenge few Florida police departments confront. North
Port has a relatively large Ukrainian population. According to Chief
Yurchuck, some young criminal "wannabes" speak the Ukrainian language.

Fortunately, a retired New Jersey policeman fluent in Ukrainian recently
volunteered his services to North Port. His combination of language skills
and police experience could measurably improve the federal initiative, if
it's approved. If the volunteer were teamed up with the task force, it
could produce the type of local-federal cooperation envisioned by the Weed
and Seed program.