DRUGS ON THE MOVE IN DES MOINES

"Crack is so overwhelming up here. It's basically the cash crop of the
block."

- - Joe Widlowski, Des Moines police officer

Police Officer Sean Wissink asks two men about drug activity in the 1800
block of Ninth Street in Des Moines. A juvenile in the area was taken into
custody for possession.

* Recent bar closings have scattered the city's drug activity and increased
the amount of street dealing.

Call it a game of cat and mouse.

Des Moines police and residents on the city's near-north side say that every
time they put pressure on the latest hot spot for drug sales, the activity
moves somewhere else. And every time a drug dealer is arrested, the dealer
either posts bond to get out of jail or is replaced by someone else.

"We all drive the drug element around the city," said Confuie Cook,
president of the Carpenter Neighborhood Association. "That keeps them on
the move."

Police say Nelson's Lounge, 1605 Sixth Ave., used to be a center for drug
sales until authorities closed it in April. Then, drug activity moved to
The Cloud at 2006 Forest Ave., they said. That bar was closed in July after
a fatal shooting and a subsequent police raid.

Neighbors and police seem to agree that recent bar closings have scattered
the city's drug activity and increased street dealing.

"It's all on the side streets now," said David Stephenson, who lives in the
King-Irving Park Neighborhood at 1527 10th St. "It's left the taverns and
went back on the streets."

Narcotics Lt. Clarence Jobe said the tavern's closure had the effect police
wanted: keeping the heat on drug dealers. "Each bar closing has increased
that pressure a little bit," he said. "The more times you move (the hot
spot), you'll have it dispersed longer."

He said the street activity could also be explained by the season.
"Summertime is conducive to street dealing," he said. "They're going to
look for a place outside to gather."

Police officers Joe Widlowski and Sean Wissink patrol part of the area
commonly known by police as "the block" - roughly defined as the area
between the Des Moines River and 25th Street, and between MacVicar Freeway
and Hickman Road.

Widlowski said that since The Cloud closed, some of the drug activity has
shifted east, and has picked up around Evelyn Davis Park, where 16th Street
intersects with Forest and Carpenter avenues.

On July 29, police arrested 17-year-old Jonathan Winters at 16th Street and
Carpenter Avenue after finding 15 grams of crack-cocaine valued at $3,000 in
the lining of his underwear.

And on Aug. 18, police arrested 18-year-old Charles Webster at

Evelyn Davis Park after discovering eight rocks of crack-cocaine in his
underwear.

Meanwhile, drug activity appears to have decreased in some parts of the
Carpenter Neighborhood. Cook said that immediately after the closure of The
Cloud, she and her neighbors saw less pedestrian and car traffic at the
corner of 21st Street and Forest Avenue.

Yet Cook said the Carpenter Neighborhood is still trying to put pressure on
about four or five drug houses on 21st, 22nd and 23rd streets. And last
Friday, Widlowski and Wissink arrested five people - including a 17-year-old
crack dealer - on drug charges after recovering five rocks of crack at an
apartment at 1338 21st St.

Although methamphetamine is getting a lot of attention in Des Moines, police
say crack-cocaine is still the drug of choice in the inner city, making up
about 95 percent of the drug activity. "Crack is so overwhelming up here,"
Widlowski said. "It's basically the cash crop of the block."

Police know that residents in the block are sick of the drugs and gang
activity. But some residents say they are not discouraged.

Stephenson, who lives at 10th Street and College Avenue, said it's a matter
of economics for him. He said he could not have purchased a house at a
better price elsewhere. "It's too late for me to buy a new house," he said.

Cook, who lives at 1301 24th St., said she loves the international flair of
her neighborhood. "I've always lived in the inner city," she said. "I
guess I just like the mix of people."

And Polk County Supervisor Tom Baker, who lives in the Chautauqua Park
Neighborhood, said he is continuing efforts to establish a senior center at
21st Street and Forest Avenue, the former location of The Cloud.

Officer Joe Widlowski searches a driver he pulled over in Des Moines

Reporter Lynn Okamoto can be reached at (515) 284-8088 or
okamotol@news.dmreg.com

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst