POLICE ALONE CAN'T END CRIME

Regarding the June 30 article "Ex-chief's push fails to reduce crime":

One of the unifying themes throughout my Sarasota neighborhood
association's seven-year existence is trying to eliminate rampant
street-level drug sales and prostitution. Bayou Oaks has worked with the
police, who are more than willing to collect spot-specific information and
react to these locations. The problem is that once a spot is cleaned up,
the situation moves to another spot. What Bayou Oaks has been pushing for
is a larger police presence on foot and bicycle.

I didn't need to read the article to know that aggressive drug dealing and
prostitution are on the rise in our neighborhood. A quick review of my
notes indicates that armed robberies are also up. As the neighborhood
association's president, I am often contacted by neighbors and informed of
the trends.

My standard advice to neighbors is to call the police. However, the average
citizen has little confidence in the police to improve our quality of life.
Yet to assume the problems mentioned in the article are police-only issues
would be misleading and unfair. Bayou Oaks has been working with the city's
Code Enforcement officials and the Nuisance Abatement Board to hold
derelict property owners and absentee landlords responsible for their
properties and the tenants they select. Low-rent, dilapidated properties
are a magnet for drug dealers and prostitutes. Code enforcement needs to do
more to hold these property owners responsible.

Bayou Oaks and other neighborhoods north of downtown are not asking for
much: a safe place to raise our families, free from the dangers of drug
dealers, prostitutes and crimes that are associated to them. No new
programs need be introduced -- the wheel has already been invented. A
stronger police presence, increased code enforcement efforts and continued
Nuisance Abatement Board involvement are needed.

Alexander J. Boudreau)

The writer is a founder and president of the Bayou Oaks Neighborhood
Association, Sarasota.