IMMOKALEE

Effort To Weed Out Crime Worth The Growing Pains

A fledgling community cleanup project in Immokalee goes by the clever name
of Weed and Seed. First we weed out the bad element, namely crime, then we
sow the seeds of good -- law and order, safe streets and community pride.

Some residents say the initial crackdown by sheriff's deputies, making drug
and prostitution arrests, is too harsh. The citizens claim racial profiling
and harassment of the innocent.

Law officers and other citizens, meanwhile, say deputies are merely
starting the big job that has to be done.

The clash of opinions is nothing new. That's the way it goes for start-up,
grass-roots efforts such as Weed and Seed. Naples knows well from last
year's difficult fence-mending at the black River Park neighborhood after a
fatal shooting by a white police officer.

Yet, the effort is worth it. Keep going, Immokalee. Keep talking.