THE ANATOMY AND GOAL OF A DRUG RAID

The news reports were brief. Tampa police arrested 20 people in a roundup
of suspected drug dealers' The recent event seems minor but reflects the
difficult and laborious battle police wage against parasitic criminals.

Drug peddlers, prostitutes and other street criminals can choke the life
out of a neighborhood. Fearful residents become prisoners in their homes.
The sense of lawlessness leads to burglaries, assaults and other crimes. No
businesses will invest in the area. Residents who can, move out. Those who
cannot remain trapped in a morass of blight and hopelessness.

In this case, West Tampa citizens resolved to do something about the
dealers who brazenly sold cocaine on residential streets. The citizens went
to police last spring, asking them to do something.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD contains public housing and working-class homes, some in
bad shape, others well-maintained. Close to the river, downtown and the new
Blake High School - the performing arts magnet school that is one of the
county's most attractive - the neighborhood would have much to commend it
were it not for the crime.

Tampa police could have gone right in and quickly made a few arrests. But
most of the offenders probably would have eluded police, and those who were
caught would probably have faced minor charges.

Tampa police could have gone right in and quickly made a few arrests. But
most of the offenders probably would have eluded police, and those who were
caught would probably have faced minor charges.

Instead, Police Chief Bennie Holder ordered a more systematic attack.
Undercover agents went to work to identify the major "players," learn their
operations and develop strong cases against them.

Three months later, officers have obtained warrants on 24 suspected dealers.

In addition to the undercover agents, a number of other officers from the
city's antidrug team are assigned to pick up the dealers. A command station
with communications trailer and paddy wagons is set up on a nearby parking
lot. Officers review a poster with the name and photograph of each suspect.

State probation officers are on hand to go over the records of those
arrested. Any on probation will not be able to get out on bail.

"We can always arrest them. We want to arrest them and get them off the
street for a long time," says Holder.

The SWAT team is assigned to make the arrest at the decrepit house said to
be the drug-dealing headquarters. Some of the suspects are known to carry
firearms. But in the moments before they undertake what could turn into a
bloody shootout the officers are upbeat and joking as they load into the
transport wagon, sweating in their bulletproof vests on this steamy summer
evening. Following behind them are animal control officials; the suspects
sometimes keep Rottweilers in the yard.

The SWAT team performs its dangerous task with lightning efficiency. A
noisy but harmless concussion grenade stuns the suspects, who are sitting
on the porch, and within seconds the officers have subdued them and secured
the house. A couple of women and a child are inside. Evidence is gathered.
The dogs, to the officers' relief, are nowhere in sight.

A crowd gathers to watch the excitement. It includes many children, some
barely toddlers. Mayor Dick Greco, who frequently accompanies police on
such raids, looks on in dismay: "Can you imagine growing up with all this
around you? Where drug deals or a raid or even a killing is no big deal?"

Now other officers take over, interviewing suspects, reviewing their
records, carefully examining the paperwork. Suspects are taken to the
command station before being transported to the county WI. Police round up
individuals from throughout the neighborhood.

This is typical police work - a few moments of excitement followed by hours
of tedious toil. But the police can deem the night a success. The prime
culprits are taken down - and are unlikely to be selling drugs on West
Tampa streets any time soon.

Of course, there are always other thugs ready to fill the void. Chief
Holder and Greco understand the raid alone won't save the neighborhood. And
while most residents quietly support the police, some are loudly resentful.
Holder brushes off the complaints. He is a lawman who believes the law
should be enforced throughout the city.

IT WOULD BE EASY enough to simply give - up on such poor, crime-plagued
communities. Many cities do just that, which results in wastelands where
only the poor residents venture.

But Tampa's trouble spots, fortunately, are not nearly so far gone. Most
are relatively small and remain salvageable. And Greco and Holder say they
are committed to providing the police support necessary to keep the bad
guys in check. But they also know the fate of a neighborhood is ultimately
determined by the residents themselves.

It's all important work, and not only because the crime left unattended
inevitably spills over from such neighborhoods. As Greco says, every child
in this city deserves to grow up in a safe neighborhood.