BIBB CITY RESIDENTS PROTEST DRUG CRIMES

About 50 people marched through Bibb City Friday night in protest
against drug crimes in the area.

"It's getting bad. Things are getting out of hand," said Chris
Johnson, the organizer of Bibb City Against Drugs. "We want to knock
out some of the violence and drugs."

The march began and ended in the parking lot of the old Bibb Mill. The
marchers, led by a police car, chanted "Up with hope, down with dope,"
as they marched through the dark streets, waving to residents on porches.

Johnson said residents, many of them elderly or retired mill
employees, have lost their peace of mind.

"There is no comparison," said Bessie Bacon, who has lived in Bibb
City since 1941. Now, Bacon said she lives with "an unsafe feeling."

Nancy Hendon, a lifelong resident of Bibb City, agreed.

"It's nothing like it used to be," said Hendon, who was born in Bibb
City in 1949. Hendon said she remembered playing outside as a child
and that the neighborhood had a family atmosphere. People never locked
their doors.

"Everybody knew each other," she said. "I have to lock my doors
now."

Others on the march, like Paul Ausland, said drug crimes could spread
to other parts of the city if allowed to continue unchecked. Ausland
lives in north Columbus but marched in support of Bibb City residents.

"If we don't fight the drug dealers here, we'll be fighting them in
our own neighborhoods," he said.