CITY 'PASSES BUCK' ON DRUG PROBLEMS

To the Editor:

Highland View has a terrible drug enforcement problem. The city seems
unable to deal with it effectively.

We citizens have done all we know to do. All the responsible
government authorities seem inclined to cast blame upon each other.
All public meetings have been apparently sincere, but to no avail.

Why isn't more than just "lip service" given to the problem? Why is
the buck always passed on upstairs?

On two occasions I know of, our district attorney at least made
suggestions to Oak Ridge City officials, but it was like a tree
falling in the woods with no one around to hear. Those suggestions
have been ignored by city officials and not even reported by the
newspapers. I know, but only because I was there. Business as usual.

When has serious news about this drug plague ever been reported by
the press? They say, "If it bleeds, it leads," and that seems to be
the case here. We who live hear see the bleeding every day, and don't
need to read about it.

What we don't see is responsible response by the city of Oak Ridge -
boots on the ground! What has the city ever done for law enforcement
but maintain the vehicles?

At the League of Women Voters forum last month the candidates for
chancellor were asked, "What is the most serious problem facing the
justice system?" Jim Ramsey answered, "Resources." In other words, if
you want to dance, you've got to pay the piper.

The most important things I heard Ramsey say were forensic toxicology
turnaround times and higher pay for Oak Ridge police officers.

Ramsey said that the City Council should assess our law enforcement
budgeting and find out whether they should do something to retain the
good police officers they have trained at great expense. He said Oak
Ridge needs to stop being "just a training ground for Wackenhut,"
where as soon as our police officers are trained to Oak Ridge
standards, "then they get hired away by the private sector."

Why wasn't this suggestion at least reported in the press? You would
think the officers would like to hear it. You would think that the
City Council ought to hear it. It is relevant news, not alarmist,
about our Highland View problem. The city probably doesn't even know
it has this problem.

Won't the "city fathers" even consider more resources for local law
enforcement, instead of just having public relations events with
PowerPoint presentations to keep us regular citizens quiet - and to
tell Council once a year how hard they're working?

Another suggestion: Back last spring I attended a meeting of the
Highland View Neighborhood Association, and again I heard the
district attorney say (I didn't read it in the paper) directly to the
city manager, eyeball to eyeball, that Oak Ridge should look into the
way Memphis handles its drug-infested neighborhoods, where, like us,
they can't make arrests because of investigative obstacles.

I heard the district attorney tell the city manager that it might
help to try the old "padlock" method, like in Prohibition days, or at
least "look into the feasibility for Oak Ridge" of the Memphis model,
where they use nuisance law as a supplement to criminal law.

Then I heard the Oak Ridge city manager say, "We'll look into that."

I didn't read that in the paper.

OK. So what is the feasibility for Oak Ridge of copying Memphis' more
effective method of shutting down "crack houses"? What did the city
manager find out? Did he forget to "look into it," or did he just not
hear the suggestion? What is the good of having meetings and taking
suggestions just to continue the PR merry-go-round?

We want the city of Oak Ridge to cooperate with the whole justice
system, and not just pass the buck.

Bob Holt

Oak Ridge