| GITEM'S CONTRIBUTION TO NEIGHBORHOOD ANTI-DRUG INITIATIVE |
News Information
 STPD_88-CRIME: April 2, 2005, Second Annual Neighborhood Anti-drug Initiative
(These photographs were also taken by Amanda Johnson, South Tucson Police Deparment: another Good Job Amanda!)
April 2, 2005, South Tucson Police Department, Pima County Attorney's Office 88-CRIME program, Food City Employees, U.S. Marshals, and the Arizona Department of Public Safety's, Gang Intelligence Team Enforcement Missiion, (GITEM) officers team up for a Neighborhood Anti-drug Initiative
Anti-Drug signs are put up in South Tucson
By Scott Simonson
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
In South Tucson, community members are keeping an eye out for drug dealers. That's the word on the street - or at least, those are the words on the street signs.
Volunteers joined the South Tucson Police Department Saturday to put up anti-drug street signs in areas where narcotics selling is heavy.
The signs ask anybody who sees drug activity to call 911 or 88-CRIME.
The signs are an attempt to cut drug dealing in neighborhoods at a time when the South Tucson police force is adjusting to the loss of five positions due to recent budget cuts.
Employees from Food City, the city of South Tucson, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Arizona Department of Public Safety Gang Intelligence Enforcement Mission (G.I.T.E.M) and Pima County Adult Probation assisted in the effort.
"We've picked some locations where we think there is drug activity, and basically we're going to put those signs up and pass out fliers and ask people to report suspected drug crimes," said Ted Forgach, a 19-year reserve officer in the South Tucson Police Department who organized the project.
"People are tired of the drug problems, and if the Police Department has a good idea, people are willing to look and try it."
Within the square mile that constitutes the city, police in 2002 seized 1,214 pounds of marijuana, 24.4 pounds of powdered cocaine, and 5 pounds of crystal methamphetamine.
A group left the station on Saturday morning and began handing out fliers and posting street signs.
The metal signs are printed in Spanish on one side, and English on the other.
Reading "Sin Drogas" and "Drug Free," the signs bore the emblem of a syringe with a red slash through it, provided numbers of 88-CRIME and 911, and said drug violations in the area will be aggressively prosecuted.
"We're trying to help give people another place to call if they want to remain anonymous," said Gary Dhaemers, executive director of 88-CRIME, the anonymous tip line for the Pima County Attorney's Office.
About a dozen volunteers from Food City offered to help pass out fliers, said Mike Hall, store director for Food City, 2950 S. Sixth Ave. The store also supplied water and sports drinks, and cooked hamburgers and hot dogs for volunteers.
"A few of us just got together and wanted to do something in the community," Hall said.
Saturday's project took place about a month after South Tucson cut funding for five police positions as part of its budget for the current fiscal year.
After the cuts, Police Chief Sixto Molina said losing officers could hinder the department from responding to some calls for service.
Molina is deciding whether victims of minor crimes, including gasoline "skips," shoplifting and larcenies, will have to report those crimes using a mail-back form rather than talking face-to-face with an officer.
Saturday's project didn't cost taxpayers anything, Forgach said. Items such as signs cost $600 to $700 and were paid for with money seized from drug dealers, he said. Volunteers supplied the labor.
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July 31, 2004 Neighborhood Anti-Drug Initiative Slide Show
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