NEW ANTI-DRUG FORCE, NET, INTRODUCED TO PUBLIC

Olivia Swanson knows a neighborhood "hot spot" when she sees one.

As president of the Cuyler-Brownsville Neighborhood Association, she uses
the term to describe places where drug crimes occur.

"Hot spots are when you have street dealers hanging on corners and selling
their drugs, and people are passing by buying their drugs," Swanson said.

Now the Savannah police are targeting those same "hot spots" with a new
unit called NET, short for Narcotics Eradication Team.

The 10-officer unit, publicly introduced Wednesday, has been training and
working in the area for about three weeks.

Its goal is to make neighborhoods safer by blending street-level drug busts
with neighborhood improvements through city services and residential
partnerships.

"There is a reason why there are drug deals in certain neighborhoods," said
Sgt. Lavon Oglesby. "Sometimes it's the condition of the neighborhoods."

Cuyler-Brownsville is the first place where the unit will work, police said.

The officers, led by Oglesby and Lt. Harold Ragan, are trained to identify
problems and eliminate them through surveillance and stings.

They already have made 20 arrests, Oglesby said.

"What we are supposed to do is get the street-level users and the street
level dealers," said Edward Horner, an officer working with the unit.

Horner calls them little fish.

The Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics Team, he said, is supposed to catch
the big fish, or drug suppliers.

To ensure there is no overlap, a CNT agent will work with NET, Savannah
police said.

During a ride-along Wednesday, Horner pointed out dilapidated buildings
where police know addicts frequent.

He stopped his patrol car where he thought dealers might be working and
checked tags on cars thought to transport drugs.

"There are a lot of good people who live in this area," Horner said. "They
shouldn't have to put up with this."

Cleaning trashy and blighted areas through city services like sanitation
and the city marshal are also part of the unit plan.

But at least one criminal justice professional is not convinced on how
neighborhood appearance affects crime.

"The broken-window theory says that type of blight causes crime or leads to
crime," said Dan Lockwood, a professor of criminal justice at Savannah
State University.

"I don't necessarily see why motivation for bad behavior should come out of
the physical appearance of a neighborhood."

Social disadvantage -- determined by considering an area's jobless rate;
poverty level and numbers of people on public assistance; and single
females with children -- matters much more, Lockwood said.

"I would predict that within any neighborhood, the crime rate will remain
about the same regardless about what is done with the physical appearance
of the neighborhood."

But law enforcement and city government officials embrace the theory,
Lockwood said.

The residents don't seem to mind, either.

"We welcome the unit in," Swanson said.

"I am sure the residents in that area will work closely with them. They
want to get out and walk and be visible so these people will not take over
the community."