DRUG THUGS BACK OFF ON MID-MARKET

An increase in enforcement on Sixth Street led to a substantial decrease in
violence in October along the crime corridor.

Stepped up arrests for misdemeanor drug offenses and petty crimes are the
reason, said Lt. Mark Swendsen, second in command at Southern Station, which
patrols the troubled mid-Market stretch.

Swendsen was citing the Police Department's most recent statistics, which
saw a 20 percent decrease in homicide, rape, auto theft, burglary and
robbery as compared to last year.

"All of the sudden, people realize that we're here and we're not putting up
with anything anymore," Swendsen said. "Drug dealers, who used to come in
from Oakland, now know the heat is on and stay home."

The heightened patrols work a perimeter marked by Market and Howard streets
and Fifth and Seventh streets -- an area known as the focal point for The
City's drug trade.

It works like this, said Swendsen: "I see a dope dealer, and I arrest him
for possession of crack cocaine. His arrest isn't for a violent crime, but
if I left him there, the dealer might get into a territorial dispute and
shoot someone."

It was because Swendsen wrote an extensive memo to the command of Southern
Station in August, asking for more resources to clean the crime zone, that
change began occurring along the corridor. In the memo, Swendsen asked that
more patrols be assigned to the area, and that officers start keeping better
track of the thousands of people that inhabit the blocks.

Though it was a struggle and he didn't get everything he wanted, Swendsen
said a number of his ideas were implemented beginning in late September.

The marked decrease of crime shows the plan is working, said Officer Manny
Bonilla, taking a brief break from his work on Market Street.

But it doesn't always target the right people, said Bruno, a self-described
former drug dealer, who lives on Sixth Street.

He claims two officers grabbed him and a companion Monday night while he was
hanging out near the Minna alley.

"They jumped out of the (squad) car, held me by the neck and told me to spit
out my dope," said Bruno, who wouldn't give his last name.

Bruno was let go when the officers failed to find any contraband, but he
says such rough treatment is getting more and more common.

"It's because of what I look like," he said, pointing at his puffy jacket,
baggy jeans and knit cap. "I've got four kids. I'm just trying to get a
job."

Ana Bolton-Argüello, the resident general manager of the Seneca Hotel on
Sixth Street, said the increased patrols had raised tension on the street,
but she was happy violence was down.

"The drug dealers are on edge because they can't sell their drugs," she
said. "They know they could be arrested any time. The addicts are on edge
too, because they can't come here to get their drugs."

Bolton-Argüello said her 19-year-old daughter, who moved out just three days
after arriving at the Seneca 14 months ago, has agreed to stop by.

"People tell you that things are getting better," she said. "Even my
daughter will come and visit."