< Previous page
Next page >

The program

To begin, High Point police met with David Kennedy, a former Harvard University researcher who now directs the Center for Crime Prevention and Control at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.

Kennedy and the police developed a new approach: Citizens would meet with suspected drug dealers and offer them help finding another way to make a living. If those who had been warned continued to sell drugs, police would "pull every lever" available to punish offenders.

"The basics," Kennedy said, "are the frank talk with law enforcement and the community about drug issues and the role that each side plays in both perpetuating them and addressing them."

High Point police analyzed 911 calls and crime statistics to figure out which neighborhoods to target. Several qualified, but they settled on West End because of its strong community organizations. Officers investigated crack sales in West End and identified about 20 suspected dealers. Informants purchased drugs to build cases.

Next, detectives, along with a minister and a social worker, visited suspected dealers and their families at home. They delivered a letter from Chief Fealy inviting them to a meeting on May 18, 2004.

Fealy wrote that he wanted to show the dealers evidence of their criminal activity and give them a chance to stop selling before officers arrested them.

"Street level drug sales and violence have to stop," Fealy wrote. "We are giving you one chance to hear our message before we are forced to take action."

Officials also told these dealers they were lucky. Others, such as those with gun charges or convictions for violent crimes, did not get a letter. "There's some people out there that are so bad, we're not even going to give them a chance," Fealy said in an interview. "We're just going to arrest them and send them off."

Twelve suspected dealers were called to the first meeting. Nine showed up. By noon the next day, police arrested the missing three.

Dealers and their parents sat silent at tables as about a dozen community members told them they would get a second chance. People wanted to help them, but only if they stopped peddling dope.

Then the group entered a room with photos on the walls showing crack houses where the dealers worked. On a table sat binders with an unsigned arrest warrant inside each one.

High Point police, ATF agents, federal drug agents, state police, the Guilford County district attorney and an assistant U.S. attorney filled the room. They thanked the suspected dealers for coming and explained that they were considered "special."

If they were caught selling or possessing drugs again, they would be arrested and prosecuted. And High Point police wouldn't be the only enforcers; federal agents, state investigators and neighboring police departments would help.

Stuart Albright, then the Guilford County district attorney, told the group that if they were arrested again for selling dope, there would be no plea deals.

"I can promise you, with the 7,000 felonies ... we prosecute in Guilford County, I can't remember every single name," Albright said. "But I can remember y'all's names. I've got every one of y'all on the list."

Enforcement picks up

Soon, police intensified patrols of the West End. Officers cracked down on prostitutes and secured search warrants for suspected crack dens.

When police arrested a dealer, they blanketed the neighborhood with fliers. One side explained the initiative and how dealers could get help; the other had a photo of the suspect and the penalties he faced.

< Previous page
Next page >