FEDERAL PROSECUTOR TOUTS SUCCESS OF WEEDING, LOOKS AHEAD TO SEEDING ASPECT

Saying that "the most basic fundamental duty of our government is to keep people safe in their homes and in their streets," Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Ferrell updated a packed meeting of Sikeston citizens on the success of the Weed & Seed program yesterday.

At a meeting of the Weed & Seed steering program in the new police substation in the Sunset neighborhood, Ferrell spoke of the 24 federal arrests of alleged drug dealers made in the neighborhood.

"It is the first job of our Weed & Seed edition to weed out the dangerous criminals from this portion of our community, and put them in jail where they belong," Ferrell said. "So that people like you can have an opportunity to make a difference."

A 10-month-long undercover investigation in Sikeston resulted in officers making 61 separate purchases of drugs in the Sunset area, leading to the arrest of 24 people who have been charged in federal court on various drug violations.

The most recent arrest was of a man with six prior arrests for violent crimes and four drug convictions who was allegedly caught in the Sunset area discharging a semi-automatic weapon. Under federal guidelines, the man could 15 years to life in prison if convicted.

In all, 16 of the 24 arrested have been sentenced, Ferrell said, with an average sentence of 10 years in prison.

"Of those who have elected to go to trial, which are the primary dealers that we've prosecuted, the average sentence was over 26 years without probation or parole," he said. "The average person that has plead guilty from the beginning in this case has averaged over five years."

Ferrell added that these arrests do not eliminate the entire problem in Sunset.

"There are others out there," he said. "We know who they are. Some of them we have cases made against already.

"We know that the message has been received by at least 24 of them. We want to see that the message is received by each and every one of them out there."

Sikeston Department of Public Safety Chief Jim Leist followed Ferrell with specific programs the DPS is implementing in the Weed & Seed program.

In addition to the new substation, which is up to full strength with four officers working out of it, DPS graduated a class of 29 people from the citizens academy, the COPS program will receive three more officers by way of a federal grant and the police department will soon begin a program called Pastors on Patrol (POP).

POP is currently a group of five local pastors: Carl Addison of Tanner Street Church of God, Ricky Anderson of Prince of Peace, Greg Robertson and Jim Calvin of Assembly of God and Ben Tippett of Faith Christian Fellowship. These men have graduated from the DPS's citizens academy and will be riding with officers on their patrols.

Leist said the graduates of the academy will act as representatives of the police for in the neighborhood.

"They're like ambassadors for us," he said. "There is a misconception of what we do as police officers. And what the graduates do best is educate the citizens about why we do certain things."

The officers of the Sunset substation have begun walking their beats and meeting with citizens, Leist said. Officer Stacey Hunnicutt said so far Sunset has been relatively quiet without a great deal of criminal activity. The officers are expecting to receive bikes shortly which will increase their range and response time.

Also speaking at the meeting were representatives of the seed portion of the program.

Tricia Roland of the U.S. attorney's office and DPS Officer Shirley Smith have been working together to get a summer work program off the ground. Smith said they have 12 kids, ages 10 to 15 years old, locked into the four-week program. They will begin doing yard work and general clean up for the elderly citizens of Sikeston for $5 an hour.

And while lengthy jail terms and summer jobs will play a part in solving Sikeston's problems, Brenda Jones of the Missouri African American Cultural Initiative said her group is looking for ways to bring culture into the daily lives of Sikeston's citizens to quicken the resolution of those problems.

"This program is based on the idea that art is not something that you take care of after you've taken care of the crime and after you've taken care of jobs," Jones said. "It is based on the concept that art has the power to help solve all of these other problems."

With this in mind, Jones is hoping to bring cultural activities directly into the homes of Sikeston citizens as just another phase of the Weed-and-Seed initiative.