I.C.P.D. EYES CRACKDOWNS

When police stopped virtually every suspicious car that entered his
neighborhood in response to a 1998 drive-by shooting, Jerry Hansen
remembers gang activities quickly disappearing.

"It was amazing," said Hansen, who lives in a neighborhood that police say
attracts gang members. "It helped immediately. The drugs, the shootings --
it all went away."

Local residents and law-enforcement agencies say it will take similar
crackdowns and other tactics -- such as informing citizens and community
policing -- to rid the Iowa City streets of gang activity. They acknowledge
it may be a long, difficult fight.

Iowa City police have implemented community policing over the past five
years, in which officers are assigned neighborhood "beats" for a minimum
period of a year. The city has been divided into four areas of focus, in
which officers patrol and establish connections with residents of the area.

"The philosophy of community policing is for officers to do more than just
respond to calls. They develop relationships with citizens," said Sgt. Mike
Brotherton. "This will make them more likely to provide tips to police and
report criminal activity."

Other responsibilities of officers include attending neighborhood functions
and socializing with residents by walking through areas on off-duty hours,
he said.

Police departments in Des Moines, Council Bluffs, Waterloo, and Davenport
have also implemented programs to develop more interaction with citizens.
"It seems like every department in Iowa has one," Brotherton said.

Some local citizens have also joined the battle against organized criminal
activity. Hansen says he has been fighting gang presence in his East Side
neighborhood for three years now, and he will continue to "as long as it
takes."

"Gang members over here are engaging in arson, drive-bys, and even
threatening tenants who may inform the police," Hansen said. "We have to
band together and stop them from eroding the whole base of the East Side.
We need to hire more cops. Police just don't have the manpower."

Hansen says police reduced their presence in the neighborhood after
residents in other areas complained about police giving the neighborhood
unequal attention. Police say the Southeast Side of town is a haven for
gang activity. The Wetherby, Broadway, and Cross Park area particularly
attracts gang members because it contains a high percentage of low-income,
subsidized housing.

Area residents have found syringes in their back yards, and drug deals take
place in parked cars along the road, Hansen said.

The community must get a handle on the situation because it has already
started to spread to other areas of town, Hansen said.

"Because of gangs operating in 'stealth mode,' my hardest problem in Iowa
City is to convince other neighborhoods that they do exist here," he said.