COMMUNITY TO RESPONSE TO FIGHTING DRUGS MUST CONTINUE

Ten months ago, the Southeast Missourian, in a joint investigative project with KFVS-TV, began publishing a series of articles detailing the crack cocaine problem in Cape Girardeau. When we embarked on "Zero Tolerance," most people in Cape Girardeau remained numb to the far-reaching consequences induced by the availability of cocaine in our community.

Our aim, as stated in an article introducing the series on Jan. 31, was to "take drugs off the streets and put them in people's homes" ... that is, to make all aware of the human misery that drugs inflict on our city. Last week, Zero Tolerance re-examined some of the facets of the drug problem explored during the year. And although crack cocaine by no means has been rubbed out in the city, there are some encouraging signs that indicate efforts against the scourge are working.

The most significant development by far has been the removal of Cape Girardeau's most conspicuous open-air market for crack cocaine. A year ago, on any given day, at any hour one had only to go to the 400 block of Good Hope Street to make a quick and easy buy. Some dealers in that one-block microcosm of the big city were making upwards of $2,000 weekly through illegal drug sales.

But in February several of the buildings where dealers staged their operation were razed. Through that single act, the former zone of vice now resembles -- in the words of one official -- a "church lot." At the same time the Chicken Shack and neighboring buildings were demolished, some of the city's most prominent drug dealers were being processed through the state and federal courts. As a result, many now reside behind bars, striking another blow to the drug trade in Cape Girardeau.

But more important, in our view, has been the conversion of a citizenry awakened to the gravity of the drug problem. The unfailing belief among dozens of law enforcement personnel interviewed for this series is that community support is tantamount to success for any city striving to rid itself of a drug problem.

When the city's police chief asked for four additional officers to better dispatch a growing case load stemming from drug-related crimes, the city council approved six officers. The council also unanimously supported the chief's plan to hire two community services officers and participate in the SEMO Drug Task Force's new SLASH unit. The community service officers will work in high-crime neighborhoods to attack drugs at their root and coordinate the city's drug enforcement with the efforts of neighborhood organizations, church groups and citizens. SLASH, which stands for Southeast Missouri Law enforcement Against Street Hoodlums, will continue to make high-profile raids where illegal drug activity is suspected.

The city's schools, along with Southeast Missouri State University, constantly adapt substance abuse education to keep our city's youth from ever descending into the anti-culture of drug abuse. In the neighborhoods surrounding Good Hope Street, business groups and property owners have formed organizations with the common goal of economic development and community betterment.

In other words, the citizens of Cape Girardeau are responding to the drug problem. A growing number of residents realize they have a stake in purging the city of illegal drugs. Authorities report drug activity and ancillary crimes have declined noticeably in direct proportion to citizens' awareness of the drug trade, and the citizenry's resolve to curb that activity.

While help was forthcoming from a number of official sources, one significant acknowledgement must be made to Cape Girardeau Circuit Judge A.J. Seier, whose frustration with the mounting drug problem in this city provided the germ of an idea from which this project grew. His continuing support was also invaluable.

Although this newspaper will continue to report on drug activity in Cape Girardeau, the Zero Tolerance project is at an end. But the community's response must continue. The doctrine of zero tolerance toward illegal drugs isn't something citizens need conjure up only in a time of crisis. It must be incessant. Such an attitude strikes fear in those who would engage in the drug trade, as they dread the consequences of their actions more than they crave its rewards.