PATROLS STEPPED UP IN COMPLEXES

Evansville police are taking an aggressive approach this summer in trying
to keep drugs and drug dealers out of some Covert Avenue apartment complexes.

Six officers - some working off-duty - prowled The Arbors, Savannah
Gardens, Dellhaven Estates and surrounding areas late Friday afternoon.
They said the East Side area has become a hotbed of drug activity during
the last several months, and saturated patrol efforts are one way to tell
dealers they aren't welcome.

"We're making clear we're going to do something about it," said Jeff
Vantlin, the neighborhood's community police officer. "It's just a few bad
people making it bad for everybody else."

Friday's police crackdown was the second this summer. On the night of July
5, police made one felony arrest, three misdemeanor arrests, seized a small
amount of cocaine and barred eight people from the private properties.

The initiative Friday netted three misdemeanor arrests, and police seized a
small amount of marijuana. Vantlin wasn't surprised that the second
saturated patrol was less busy than the first.

Drug dealers, he said, "are kind of keen to us now."

Apartment managers picked up the bill for the officers' four hours of
overtime pay Friday. Walt Lowe, who owns Savannah Gardens, said the police
department's efforts are having an impact.

"I can't believe the number of people who are coming in and saying they
appreciate what we're doing," Lowe said.

Several tenants had been moving out because of drug problem, Lowe said, but
now his apartments are filling up again. "It's turned around in a month and
a half."

Officers scoured the grounds of all three apartment complexes on the humid
Friday afternoon, making conversation, asking for identifications and, in
some cases, frisking people.

People who cooperate with officers working saturated patrols generally have
nothing to fear, Vantlin said. But he said anyone who sees an officer and
runs becomes suspicious.

One man who ran from officers Friday was chased into a Jeanette Avenue
duplex. He and another man were taken to jail on outstanding misdemeanor
warrants.

Some residents said they appreciated the police presence. Many of the drug
dealers don't live in the apartments, they said.

"They need five or six of 'em (police officers) out here all the time,"
said Cyndi Gerlis, who recently moved out of Savannah Gardens but returned
Friday for a visit. "(Trouble makers) are out here at 3, 4, 5 in the
morning, screaming, yelling, fighting, hitting cars."

Tonya Baker, who lives in The Arbors, said she has no problem with the
increased police patrol.

"I left one apartment complex 'cause the drugs were so bad. Now I come
here, and it's the same (expletive)," she said.

Baker believes her neighborhood needs more recreational equipment for
youth, whether it's arcade games, basketball goals or playground equipment.

Because there's little for youth in the neighborhood to do, Baker said,
"they get together and clutter, and when they clutter, it looks like
they're doing something bad."

Vantlin said the occasional saturated patrols will continue through the
summer. Police encourage apartment residents to report drug dealing and
other suspicious activity, but Vantlin said that's a difficult step for
some people to take.

"A lot of people here are good, they're just quiet," Vantlin said. "They
don't want anything to do with this."