POLICE BLANKET 'HOT SPOTS,' HOME IN ON DRUGS, GANGS

As the mounted patrol officers clomped down the street on horseback in the
Douglass community, people sitting on their porches, walking their dogs or
just getting off work stared in amazement.

"I mean it is wonderful to see the officers in the neighborhood, and then
some of them are on horses, that makes it even better because things are
bad out here," said resident Donnie Swift. "Especially with those kids
getting killed. It is good to see the police out here, and I hope the
horses can jump some fences because the bad guys sure enough can."

Thursday and Friday night, more than 50 Memphis and Shelby County police
officers hit the North Memphis area in an operation responding to the drug-
and gang-related shootings that have left five children dead or wounded in
the past two months.

"We came to the North Memphis area in our first saturation because we've
gotten a lot of complaints from citizens about drugs, prostitution and
gangs," said North Precinct commander Insp. Janice Pilot. "We're out here
to clear the streets because this is a united show of force."

The random see-and-be-seen saturation operations will continue periodically
as police respond to citizens' complaints about crime in their neighborhoods.

"We're hitting hot spots in these areas," Pilot said. "We're doing sweeps,
and if we make arrests that's great, but even if we don't they know we are
here."

At 4 p.m. Friday, officers with the Metro Gang Unit, the Organized Crime
Unit and several North Memphis community police officers zeroed in on a
carwash on Hollywood and Dexter in the Hollywood community.

The more than a dozen people sitting or standing in the shade quickly put
their hands where the officers could see them. "My hands are up," one man
said as the officers jumped out of their cars asking for identification.

Lt. Richard Granderson with the Douglass community police unit called the
carwash area a known "dope track" where people buy, sell or smoke crack
cocaine.

"Yeah, they know to put their hands up when they see us because we've been
here so many times and they keep coming back over and over again,"
Granderson said. "And we keep coming in and arresting them."

Officers handcuffed about 10 men behind the carwash and charged them with
criminal trespass. On this sweep, no drugs were found, but Thursday night
officers netted 510 grams of marijuana worth about $2,500 and 4.5 grams of
crack cocaine worth about $400. They arrested 30 people on drug charges,
traffic violations and some misdemeanor charges. They questioned others who
admitted they were in the Crips street gang and searched several houses
gang members are known to frequent.