CRONIN TOUTS DRUG ARREST RECORD AT MAYOR'S CONFERENCE

FITCHBURG -- The Police Department has arrested more drug dealers,
raided more homes and seized more heroin, cocaine and marijuana this
year than last, Police Chief Edward Cronin said Tuesday.

"We don't want drug dealers here. We don't want them to live here.
Leave," Cronin said, using Mayor Dan H. Mylott's press conference as a
pulpit to order dealers out of town.

The Police Department -- working in conjunction with the regional
North Worcester County Drug Task Force, an amalgamation of about 10
law enforcement agencies -- executed 63 search warrants so far this
year.

That number, as well as the number of arrests and the amount of drugs
seized, represents the total for the region, not just Fitchburg.

Last year in Fitchburg, specifically, the department alone executed 19
search warrants.

"We have to stop looking at it as a city issue," Cronin said. "It's a
regional issue."

Cronin said 1,296 grams of cocaine, 178 grams of heroin and 10 pounds
of marijuana have been seized so far this year by the regional task
force.

"I think the figures are stark, and speak for themselves," he said,
noting 121 drug arrests have been made by the regional task force this
year.

But Cronin said his concern over drugs has not lessened.

"The main concern for me is heroin," he said, calling it the "most
lethal" drug in Fitchburg.

Mylott, reinforcing his long-standing campaign promise to reduce crime
and drugs in the city, said, "We're going to continue to make this a
top priority in this administration."

On a separate issue, Mylott denounced mayoral candidate Bernard
Landry's accusation this week that police officers were targeting his
street, Atlantic Avenue, for parking tickets in response to his public
criticism of the Police Department.

Mylott said he investigated Landry's allegations and said his findings
showed the claim "was just wrong. Just wrong."

Landry and other residents along the street contended police patrols
began after an article was published in which Landry specifically
criticized Cronin for not doing enough to thwart the city's drug
problem. Parking tickets, Landry said, were issued to only some
illegally parked cars.

"I want to be very clear the allegation of there being a conspiracy
.. is just not true," Mylott said.

Mylott said the patrols of Atlantic Avenue "coincide directly" with
the opening of St. Bernard's High School, an event that can result in
an increase of illegally parked cars in the area. As a response,
police have enforced parking regulations in the area for the past
three years, Mylott said.

A printout of tickets issued between Sept. 2 and Sept. 10 show that
six parking tickets were issued on Atlantic Avenue, one on Maverick
and Tilton streets, one on Boutelle Street, five on Goodrich Street
and five on Harrison Avenue.