PROTESTER, POLICE AT ODDS OVER DRUG ACTIVITY

Carrying a poster-board sign on a wooden post, Janice Hamlin walked
back and forth across a Bloomfield Road sidewalk Wednesday afternoon.
She waved at cars and they honked back - in apparent support for her
cause.

Hamlin said she wants drugs out of her Village Green
neighborhood.

"The drug dealers are usually out here every day," Hamlin said. "They
left when they saw me walk out here with this sign."

Macon police officials said they support Hamlin's cause, but they do
not see the same problems she sees.

Asked if drugs are a problem in Village Green, police Capt. Joe White
said: "Not to the magnitude Janice Hamlin is speaking of."

White said drugs are a problem everywhere, from north Macon to Village
Green. But, he said, Hamlin's neighborhood does not have the "drive
through" drug service that she thinks it has. The woman is pointing to
people and accusing them of selling drugs with no evidence, he said.

The petite, blonde, 56-year-old has lived in Village Green - the
southern section of Bloomfield - for 21 years. During the past decade,
Hamlin said, drug dealers have thrived. She wants it to stop. Her
Wednesday afternoon protest was spurred by a run-in with police the
day before.

Tuesday, Hamlin said, she drove down Bloomfield Road and saw several
drug transactions under way at Bloomfield Road and Deeb Drive. She
said she saw drugs and money change hands, so she stopped her car and
just watched.

Eventually, she said, police came by and told her to move. She said
she told them about the drug dealers but they refused to listen and
threatened arrest if she did not leave. The next day, Hamlin paced
along that street holding a sign that said: "Get arrested today, turn
in a drug dealer." The other side of the sign said: "Help the police,
say yes to drugs."

Hamlin said she has started a loose-knit neighborhood watch program.
They meet weekly in her home and discuss ways to curb the drug problem.

"We've got children and elderly people around here," Hamlin said. "I
feel if the police aren't going to protect them, I'll try."

As people drove by Hamlin on Wednesday, some stopped to ask what she
was doing. Many gave their verbal support. Others laughed at her.

Ken Patterson, who also lives in Village Green, stopped to talk.
Patterson said he fully supports Hamlin's actions.

"This neighborhood would be better if some of the bad elements were
taken out," he said.

Patterson said he has had to build a fence in his backyard so his kids
could have a safe place to play. He has called police about drug
dealers, loud fights and other problems. When police show up, they say
they can't do anything unless they see the crimes firsthand, he said.

"Why should we do their job?" Patterson said. "If I wanted to arrest
drug dealers, I'd become an officer."

White said police do listen to the residents of Village Green. Hamlin,
he said, is on the Bloomfield citizens advisory board. Every time she
has made a complaint, officers have investigated. But in the past
year, probable cause has led to only four drug-related search warrants
in the Village Green area - that's with daily patrols by marked and
unmarked patrol cars. Other parts of Bloomfield have seen twice that
many warrants netting larger amounts of drugs.

Police Lt. Jimmy Rogers said people in Bloomfield have begun to
complain about Hamlin. She is singling out people whom she says sell
drugs. Those residents say Hamlin is harassing them.

"If she points them out and says they're drug dealers, we can't just
go into somebody's house," Rogers said. "We need probable cause."

Macon City Councilman Jim Lee, who represents Village Green, said the
police have been patrolling the area and they have helped reduce the
drug problem. Most of the time, he said, police patrol undercover. Lee
said he can understand why people such as Patterson and Hamlin think
there is no police presence in Village Green. But there is, he said.

"Village Green is an area popular with druggies, but not as much as it
was," Lee said. "I think (police) are doing a very acceptable job. But
they're not satisfied as long as drug dealers are there at all.
They're not satisfied, Janice Hamlin is not satisfied, and I'm not
satisfied."