WORTH THE PRICE

Residents deserve the benefits and safety that antidrug effort provides.

Mayor Street did a poor job of lining up finances when he started the
popular - and expensive - Safe Streets program. The effort has committed
hundreds of police officers to chasing drug dealers from about 300 street
corners.

Still, contrary to what cynics predicted, the offensive seems to be
working. That's good news for the decent people of those neighborhoods who,
for the first time in years, feel the streets belong to them.

They didn't before Safe Streets began. Consider these statistics from
Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson: More than 700 deaths last year were
drug-related crimes or drug overdoses.

Now, Mr. Johnson says, compare this May to last May: About 1,000 fewer
major crimes were committed last month when Safe Streets began than a year ago.

It's understandable, then, that the commissioner believes Safe Streets is
worth whatever it takes to shut down the open-air drug trade - even though
he understands that overtime from the operation could bust his $437 million
police budget.

He's right about the program's value.

Philadelphia's broken neighborhoods cannot be mended if drug dealers force
residents to hide in their homes. The mayor cannot expect his Neighborhood
Transformation Initiative to work if crime cramps communities.

So far, Safe Streets has reversed who controls the neighborhoods. It has
had the bonus effect of warming relations between residents and police.

It has not polished Mayor Street's reputation as a manager who figures out
a program's details well in advance of launching it. (See also his
neighborhood initiative).

The mayor should have had a financial blueprint for what was sure to be an
expensive battle against drugs in a city that is only a decade removed from
the edge of bankruptcy. He should have put it in his January budget
proposal. He could have pushed for it before Council passed a budget last
month.

His spokesman, Frank Keel, said the mayor believed the need was so urgent
that he was willing to start the operation even though all of the pieces
were not in place.

"You could argue that an operation of this scope requires a great deal of
planning and funding," said Mr. Keel. But "there was a sense of emergency
in the early spring, when the mayor counted 25 to 30 drug dealers working
one corner, at 12th and Huntingdon. It so enraged him that he was willing
to jump-start this immediately and allow the plan to evolve as it went."

You also could argue that politics played into the speed with which the
program was launched.

It's a stretch to believe that Mayor Street - the former city councilman
for a section of North Philadelphia where drug dealing on street corners
flourished for decades - just "discovered" this emergency.

Emergencies of a political nature that the mayor faced early this spring
may have had something to do with the operation's timetable: City Council
cutting the wage tax over his objections; his stalling on making "acting"
Commissioner Johnson permanent, and the fallout from his remark about how
"the brothers and sisters" are running Philadelphia.

Public attention is on Mayor Street's war on drug dealing.

Still, the operation's effectiveness overshadows any politics that may be
in the background. This time, the motivation isn't as important as the results.

A comment from an officer in last week's Inquirer that the $500,000-a- week
operation may have to be reduced because of tight finances seems to have
galvanized Mayor Street into a commitment not to reduce the program "now,
or in the fall, or in the foreseeable future," Mr. Keel said.

The best case scenario is that Operation Safe Streets can be sustained.

That challenge could be more easily met if U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (R.,
Pa.) succeeds in finding federal dollars to help pave Safe Streets' way for
the long term.

It could be aided too if, as Commissioner Johnson believes, the city
ultimately saves money in reduced criminal justice costs and the creation
of a stronger volunteer neighborhood watch effort that reduces the need for
a police presence. Commissioner Johnson says the police presence also is
drying up drug dealers' suburban customer base.

Residents say they are now enjoying the simple pleasures of sitting on
stoops or playing on sidewalks without fear of bullets and mayhem.

What a cheat it would be - for Philadelphia and for its residents - if that
enjoyment were short-lived.

Otherwise, if Philadelphia really cannot afford streets this safe, the
cynics and the drug dealers will win.