ZERO IS THE BEST RESULT

MORE hideous than Hydra, the heroin trade continues its evil insinuation of
the city.

In Cabramatta, where drug deals and their ruinous consequences were on
daily show, police have lopped off the head of the beast. The continuing
Operation Puccini, characterised by instant action in response to every
observation of drug dealing and drug use, has produced results. Cabramatta
is losing its ugly reputation as the epicentre of the heroin trade. But as
one victory is claimed, the battle moves. Now, in the meaner streets of
Marrickville, syringes lie in filthy heaps as dealers and addicts make
their cheap transactions. Marrickville Area Commander Superintendent Neil
Gould says his officers have identified more than 20 fortified houses in
the area which are used as dealers' headquarters. On a daily basis, addicts
line up outside them to buy their doses of misery - for as little as $10.

Supt Gould believes dealers "displaced" from Cabramatta by police pressure
have surfaced in his precinct.

"This is reinforced by the fact that these dealers seem to be doing
business in a smarter way, as if they've benefited from seeing how police
operate (in Cabramatta)," the superintendent said yesterday. Using the
resources at his disposal. Supt Gould is doing his best to make life tough
for dealers in his area of command.

But the lessons from Cabrarnatta are there to be learned. The police
campaign there has been successful because resources have been made
available to allow officers to enforce the "zero tolerance" policy made
famous in New York by Mayor Rudi Giuliani and his intelligent and
resourceful police Chief of Department John Timoney. Refusing to accept the
defeatist philosophy that nothing could be done about illegal drugs in a
society in decay, Giullani and Timoney set about proving the trendy
sociologists wrong - and they succeeded.

Success in New York - and in Cabramatta - has come through concentrated
police action. When every police district has sufficient resources to
enforce the same determined policy, the war against illegal drugs can be
won.

Let the State Government see to it.

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson