Assistant Chief Paul McDonagh came to last night's East Precinct Crime Prevention Coalition meeting with hard data that shows a reduction in criminal activity since the Drug Market Initiative took sixteen drug dealers off the streets last August.
For the area around 23rd from Union to Jackson, arrests are down 22% and narcotics calls handled by police are down 38%.
In August sixteen dealers attended a "Call In" where they were given a choice: shape up and stop dealing, or face hard time for multiple strong narcotics cases that were assembled against them. Most of those sixteen individuals have stayed out of trouble since:
- Nine have accepted services for treatment, education, or other tools to help them lead a clean life
- Two are refusing services but have not re-offended
- One has been out of contact and not seen in the area
- Five have re-offended and four of those are currently in custody
The main focus of the program was around 23rd & Union, and neighbors near there confirm the success. One resident north of there used to spend a lot of time calling 911 to report drug activity. But she says it's been four months since she's had to make a 911 call about drugs, "a record since we've lived here." Another resident near 21st & Union used to call 911 a couple of times per day, but in the last few months has only had to call twice.
One concern about the program was that it would just push activity elsewhere in the neighborhood. McDonagh said that while he doesn't have any analytics around that, dealers that did show up elsewhere shortly after DMI started, but their presence stood out and was "strongly suppressed" by police patrols.
DMI was initiated and pushed by some key personell in Tom Carr's city attorneys office. There has been some concern that the new city attorney, Pete Holmes, wouldn't keep the same emphasis on the program. But last night Holmes made it clear that he's a big supporter of DMI and that it's a key part of this program to find ways to curtail crime while also reducing the costs of incarceration and prosecution. And while Holmes' office is de-prioritizing prosecution of simple marijuana possession, Holmes said that DMI participants may still be prosecuted for that since they've made a commitment to stay clean.
Going forward, McDonagh says that police are still looking for strong cooperation from the community to hold on to the positive progress of DMI. Residents should keep an eye out, keep call 911 when they see illegal activity, and continue finding ways to build community through cleanups, block parties, and other positive events.
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