by Bubba 
Columbus, Georgia Drug War...
a Shameful Failure!
A
merica's "War on drugs" hasn't reached Columbus, Georgia yet. In Columbus, you can buy crack cocaine, regular cocaine, methamphetamine, pot or other illegal drugs in front of a church while Christian services are going on. Young drug dealers openly roam residential neighborhoods 24 hours a day, seven days a week EVERY day of the year (rain or shine, cold or hot), selling just about any kind of illegal drug customers want.Our federal government can afford to spend $3,000,000,000 TRILLION on the war in Iraq but just ain't got no money to fight the war against dangerous illegal drugs here at home. The profits from illegal drugs are so huge that whole nations have come under the sway of drug rings. Billions of dollars are being siphoned out of our nation and into the pockets of a few men in Columbia, Mexico, Bolivia, Peru, Thailand, Pakistan, Turkey, Afghanistan and many other countries while our pothead president wants "open borders" -- so MORE drugs and terrorists can flow in. Even Afghanistan is back in the illegal drug business: opium production there has more than tripled since before the American invasion and a lot of money from this drug is going into the hands of Mohammedan terrorists. This huge loss of American dollars to foreign and often enemy countries isn't figured into our "trade deficit" for sure.
The higher drug bosses use young men, older guys and kids as young as 11 and 12, as well as women, to deal on the streets. They usually walk but often ride bicycles or operate directly out of their houses. In most cases, they stick to a particular area of a neighborhood. Instead of "blending in", too many of them attract LOTS of attention by creating a constant disturbance, hollering at every car that goes by -- day or night as well as at each other, playing their car boom boxes FULL BLAST at all hours, chanting rap noise and every other way they can to disturb neighbors. In between customers, they shout, hoot, talk loudly, sing obscene and threatening songs and create enough noise to keep even the deaf unnerved.
Many of the dealers as well as their customers often take their own wares and become loud and boisterous, to the point that residents cannot sleep in the middle of the night or become alarmed at the ruckus. Residents often find their autos damaged by these hoodlums. On one street for instance, they busted windshields of seven cars in two days. Windows were broken, cars broken into, ignitions damaged, cars dented with huge pieces of concrete blocks, paint scratched, windows broken out; batteries, windshield wipers, fuses, radios, tags and other items stolen from the cars; and more.
The street dealers work mostly in lower income neighborhoods. That's because the rich boys won't tolerate it openly in their own areas. So the rich folk have to come to the poor areas to buy their drugs.
One particular street is a good example of what is going on in Columbus and most other cities in America. For nine years now, 6th Avenue -- between a park on the south and 33rd Street on the north and 5th Avenue on the west, all the way to Veterans Parkway on the east, including all of Wilson Apartments (a public housing project) -- has been a drug supermarket. This is one of the poorest areas of Columbus, with old houses and the large public housing project one block away. Wilson Homes, the housing project, itself is a hub of drug activity, with some dealers living there and operating off their front porches and yards. Residents of the area live a subsistant life on minimum wage jobs and poverty is rampant.
Traditionally, the poor receive the least amount of attention from those who govern because the rich and powerful rarely notice their servants. Columbus is no different. Police protection is practically non-existent. For a brief period in the summer of 1999, a few police patrolled the area in autos. This was only because the Columbus newspaper had featured several articles on formation of neighborhood "watch" groups.
The local media and city government made a big hoopla over this movement. Police set up roadblocks at the intersection of 6th Avenue and 34th Street next to an elementary school. This intersection had become notorious for drug sales and prostitution. Teenagers walked or rode bikes around the area all day and night selling drugs. The roadblocks became a neighborhood party: up to a hundred or more residents brought their lawn chairs and snacks and filled an empty lot on one corner to watch the goings-on. But alas, the police netted quite a few folk for not having auto insurance, driver's license problems and other minor infractions -- but no drug dealers. It was all for show.
Nothing changed except the location. The drug dealers and prostitutes simply moved two blocks south and increased their sales -- as openly as they had done at the other intersection. The drug dealers decided to make the move a permanent one however. Instead of living elsewhere and working a 'hood, they began running out the residents and literally taking over the area by moving in themselves.
Poydasheff finally gets the message --
you failed as mayor and you're OUT!!
Bob Poydasheff spent his time as Columbus mayor on a lot of moronic programs that brought little benefit to the city...such as several thousand dollars on a slogan for the city. Yet, when it came to vital needs like more city ambulances and medics to man them or the rampant drug trade that infests and sickens the city, he was "out to supper". During his administration, drug crime and crime allied to the illegal drug trade increased dramatically. Drug dealing goes on openly on the streets day and night every day of the year, thanks to Poydasheff's lack of attention to this horror.
Voters across America and in Columbus are finally waking up to the fact they don't have to take it any more from politicians who are either too damn corrupt to do anything about drug crime or just too confounded tolerant of such crime. Americans showed they are fed up with corruption by politicians and many of those in Congress learned the lesson the hard way. In Columbus, Poydasheff learned his lesson...either you do your duty or we kick your tail out of office!
Now, the voters will give Jim Wetherington, a long-time Columbus police chief, a chance to prove whether he is willing to take on the illegal drug crime and put a damper on this sickness infesting the community. And here's a promise to our next mayor...if we don't see a dramatic and effective change in our police department's handling of this gigantic problem, then we can and will take the same action at the next election. Those of us who voted for you are looking for major changes in how the police handle the drug racket and expect those changes to come as soon as you take office.
Mister Mayor --
this AIN'T what we elected you for!!
Our new mayor, Jim Wetherington, has so far failed to get Columbus police on the ball. In fact, drug dealing has risen and wild behaviour has gotten even worse in some neighborhoods. That is shorely true in one hood...the 6th Avenue and 32nd Street area next to Wilson Homes housing project. The number of drug dealers and street whores has risen sharply since the first of the year, as well as the chaotic noise.
More and more drug buyers, both in cars and on foot, have been pouring into the area, bringing with them their full-blast booming noise. Even church services right around the corner don't deter this scum from turning their car boom boxes full blast...nor the time of day or night. Since the dealers and whores know the police aren't going to come around but once in a blue moon (and there aren't many blue moons!), they can carry on like wild savages and deal day and night with no worries about arrest.
So -- where's your promise to 'make a change', mister mayor? Or wasn't the massive drug crime wave swamping Columbus, Georgia a part of your proposed changes?
The word is that 17 new policemen will be coming on duty soon. How about 200~!
Or do we simply turn over our city to the drug gangs?
If you don't take some drastic steps -- and fast -- you will be a one-term mayor, Mr. Wetherington! The voters are SICK AND TIRED of this mess!
Times Are a'changing...
police finally pour into 6th Avenue crime area!!
Maybe our new mayor finally got the word, because the police presence in the 6th Avenue crime area has shot up unbelievably. The drug task force has been flooding into the area in recent days as of the first part of May 2007. Neighbors report that this is the most drug raids they have ever seen. Arrests of middle aged men, young men and teenagers has put a definite damper on the drug trade. The peace and quite is almost 'unnerving', as one resident observed.
Now that our police department is finally 'on the job', they need to adopt new tactics. Some Suggestions
First, don't patrol the crime areas in droves. The dealers and their spotters know where you are because they keep in touch constantly with their cell phones.
Split up your squads into two-car groups -- one an unmarked vehicle and the other marked; keep the marked car a mile or two away while the unmarked vehicle patrols the crime area. When dealing or trouble is spotted, they can call for help. This allows for patrolling a larger area more frequently.
Otherwise, they simply go right to 'business as usual' as soon as you leave the area.
Columbus, Georgia cops "too busy"
to bother with drug crime wave!!
On one particular night in 2006, one of our watchers called 911 pleading for help to get the drug dealers on 6th Avenue to shut down their loud boom boxes during an apparent drug party. They had the noise going for several hours by then. The call went in at 11:19 PM but no police car had been seen by 11:50 PM. Another call was made to 911 only to learn the call had been 'cleared'...meaning no action was taken. After a dire plea to the operator, an officer finally did arrive. After hearing a few minutes of complaints of the crime wave on 6th Avenue that has gone on for 8 years, the officer then took it upon himself to coldly scold our watcher, saying "We don't have time for this kind of stuff. We're too busy answering calls about beatings, robberies and more important things." Asked if drug crime wasn't just as important, he got upset and scolded the watcher even further. When the watcher pointed out that the Sheriff's Department had set up a road block at that intersection and had made numerous arrests and impounded numerous autos, he once again said the police department didn't have the time for that kind of stuff and if we wanted protection here, then call the Sheriff's Department. The officer wore glasses, has a shaved head and drove car number 655. We wonder who pays his salary and who trained him?
Perhaps if the officer had scolded the drug dealer bunch as bruskly as he did the 'victim', we might get a little peace and quiet around here. By 12:30 AM, the boom box noise was going full blast again. Same ol same ol, as they say. If this guy is typical of the quality of police we are hiring now -- then just let them stay home. We can't get protection from him so why should we pay his salary?!
Columbus, Georgia has a major illegal drug crime wave swamping the city but our police tell us they are 'tied up with other stuff' and just don't have the time to fool with such things as sales of cocaine, crack, meth and a host of other illegal drugs. Those illegal drugs in turn create more robberies, more killings, more rapes, more burglaries, more assaults, more wrecks and a host of other crimes. Those trapped in the drug cycle go out and rob to get money to buy more dope while young girls hooked on the drugs turn to prostitution to support their habit. As the city decays, more jobs are lost and it decays even more.
The Columbus Police Department's Narcotics and Vice Unit has never had the manpower nor willingness to stamp out this crime wave. In fact, several officers in this unit became mired down in a sex scandal and the entire unit has been disbanded and its duties have been combined with the existing 'tactical squad' and renamed as the "Special Operations Unit". Several officers from the old drug and vice squad were reprimanded and reassigned, facing a law suit by a female undercover officer of sex harrassment. Considering the lack of effectiveness of this bunch, it is no wonder.
Let our new mayor take heed...clean up the police department and put some decent men on the job!
Gunshots in the middle of the night have become commonplace in the area of 6th Avenue and 32nd Steet. Starting Thursday 30 Mar 2006, the druggies fired off gunshots every night for the next five nights. This outrage started out with up to 20 shots (or more) fired from a black four door older model car, firing in the middle of 6th Avenue between 32nd and 33rd Streets. The man then sped away going west on 32nd. Knowing police might come, the dealers cleared the street and cars left the area in minutes. More shots rang out on Friday night and Saturday. On Sunday night at 4:20 AM (Monday), several series of shots were heard. One resident called police. As usual, the police had the same old excuse -- short of manpower.
More shots were heard Monday night, starting with four shots at 11:20 PM and more later. Police were called when about 7 hoods gathered around a car at 6th and 32nd, raising a loud noise. Since they know when police are coming, the street cleared out within minutes of the call and at least four cars left the area. A short time later, a bounty hunter was seen chasing a short black youth with a shaved head across the area. He got away.
More shots were heard later in the night. Those shots were apparently the ones which killed a black man on 6th Avenue. One officer said his body was found in his car. The police had the car towed away. A person believed to be a drug dealer had been seen using the car in the area for several months. Tuesday morning, some seven or eight detectives combed the street while about four uniformed police blocked off the street between 32nd and 33rd.
The next day after the murder, two men moved furniture out of a house in the middle of several dug houses and placed the furniture on the sidewalk. The house has had 'for rent' signs on the door and gate for several weeks, yet it was not 'empty' -- drug dealers and prostitutes have been using the house for about two years or more.
If this lack of protection is an example of what is in store for the future of Columbus, then why in the hell would any business or industry want to stay here...much less why would any new business or industry want to come here?? The excuse from our city fathers and police department that they are short of manpower has grown stale and the more we hear of this excuse, the more rotten it smells.
America's old frontier towns where the wild boys shot up the streets every weekend weren't just the stuff of legends, nor the fiction of the once popular Western movies. Nor were the lawless days when the Italian mafia shot up the big cities. Those were all real and now we right here in Columbus, Georgia are getting a bad taste of this as a tidal wave of lawlessness swamps our streets with shootings, prostitution, illegal drugs and more.
Since the shooting described above, the shoot-em-ups have become a nightly or daily spectacle. At 10:15 PM on 24 April, several shots were fired from a car on 32nd Street at the intersection of 6th Avenue while next to another car with four young blacks. It is not clear from which car the shots were fired. One car sped off quickly and then the car with the four males sped away in the opposite direction moments later. It took more than 20 minutes before police arrived, only to go to the end of the street. By the time they got to the intersection, all the eyewitnesses who had been on their front porches had either gone back inside their homes or left the scene. An hour later, more shots were fired by a drug dealer on the corner of this intersection. This time, no one was hit by the gunshots. Sooner or later, a child is going to be hit and Columbus will make national news -- certainly not the kind of publicity a community wants when you are looking for new jobs and economic growth.
Once again, we got the same ole excuse...not enough police to do the job. Same kind of excuses that cities taken over by criminals in the past have always used.
Another update: five minutes after our Internet guy got this update posted on the web, one of our spotters heard several rapid fire shots. Before he could get on his porch, a car was heard racing west on 32nd Street. As he got on his porch, he saw two police cars from different directions chasing after the car. A few minutes later, a Sheriff's patrol car was also seen. Maybe our pleas for help are finally getting a little notice! Who needs Hollywood with this kind of show going on?
Drug dealers are bringing more and more violence into Columbus neighborhoods. Another example is the 'drive-by' shooting that took place on 32nd Street between 6th Avenue and 7 Avenue at about 8:20 PM 25 Sep 2006. Three carloads of hoods roared up to a group of young men playing basketball in the street, along with a number of small children. Several of the gang got out of their cars and opened fire on the crowd, hitting one 19 year old in his leg.
Luckily, none of the children or other adults nearby were hit. The man who was shot in his leg was seen being returned home about 7:45 PM the following night...on crutches.
Several shots were fired rapidly before the gang jumped back into their cars and sped off, circling the block before leaving the area. A detective was seen placing at least 8 markers in the street as police collected the empty shells. One youth told police that one of the gang held what looked like a "machine gun" in one hand while he fired a large caliber pistol with the other hand.
The shooting turned the block into a frenzy of screaming and hollering by residents. Many immediately left the area.
This block contains several homes of drug dealers and dealing goes on there round the clock.
Despite the rampant drug dealing, prostitution, shootings and other crime that goes on in the area, the police department has steadfastly refused to post police in the area full time, constantly whining that they are 'undermanned'.
A 16-year old girl was shot in the neck 12 Oct 2006 by a drive-by shootist.
The attempted murderer was driving a small dark, 2-door car with shiney tire covers...possibly a Honda witnesses reported. After firing many shots (up to ten), he sped away south on 6th Avenue at a high rate of speed before turning west onto 32nd Street. A news report stated one police officer who was in the area heard "about four shots". He needs a hearing aid if he heard only four shots. There was at least double that number, all fired in rapid order.
Our spotter says the shooter was flying down 6th Avenue doing at least 50 miles an hour but managed to make the turn on 32nd before flying away again, heading toward 2nd Avenue.
This car, or one like it, was seen on 6th Avenue twice two days later. The driver is believed to be a drug dealer. Numerous other vehicles were seen leaving the area before police sirens were heard...at least 11 vehicles were seen quickly leaving and coming west on 33rd Street.
Shootings such as these are becoming more and more of problem in this area.
In November, another round of gun shots (8 or more) were fired in the middle of 32nd Street between 6th and 7th Avenues. Once again, the 911 operator and the Police Department failed. While the incompetent 911 operator kept insisting on our caller's full name, telephone number and home address -- despite having caller ID -- the drug dealers were shooting up the town! Then when the police did come, the shooter was gone. Do you really expect wild and drug-crazed shooters to stick around waiting on you?!
As of spring, 2007, the drug dealers and their street whores have taken up
'residence' at three houses on the west side of 6th Avenue between 32nd and 33rd Streets. One of the houses is occupied by a woman and her four children. She not only helps the dealers but is now seen dealing every day. The dealers and street whores take refuge in her house when it is cold or raining and appear to spend more time in her house than at their own homes. She helps them deal out of the house and her front porch. She can be seen frequently running out of her house with 'the goods' for the dealers and handing it through windows to buyers. Buyers often go into the house. Her mother(?) lives two doors south. The mother's husband died last year and both she and her new boyfriend are heavy users. He often lets the dealers use his black pickup to run errands. One man who seems to be a sort of 'street boss' stays in this house enough time to be considered an 'occupant' He comes and goes with large bags of 'stuff' He is black, very tall and skinny with a shaved head.
The occupant of the house in between has graciously put a large stereo on the front porch to accommodate the dealer's desire for loud noise. It can be heard blocks away and blares away day and night.
Large crowds of up to 30 dealers, street whores and others often gather around these three houses. There are ALWAYS at least 3 to 4 dealers, even at the latest hour but sometimes as many as a dozen gather there. As an example, on what should have been a peaceful Sunday, there was a big crowd, the boom boxes were going full blast (with church services going on just a few feet away) and the dealer's 'hoes were washing their vehicles as everyone danced a jig.
Around the corner on 32nd Street betweeen 6th and 7th Avenues, there are several houses on both the north and south sides of the street which are drug houses. Many who live there come down to 6th Avenue to deal because there is more traffic. Shootings in this block are frequent and dangerous.
And the customers know where to make a buy. For instance, at 8:20 AM on 17 May 2007, a city truck with two occupants pulled up in front of these three drug houses and the driver made a 'buy'. The truck number was 9981 (a utility type vehicle), plainly marked with the city seal. It isn't the first time city vehicles have been seen making drug buys in this area.
This kind of mess is NOT what we expected out of you mister mayor. Get busy and do your job!
Since the raids in the area, these three houses described above have really quited down. The gal who lived in one of them moved out quickly, along with several other drug dealers and their friends. In fact, 6 houses emptied in just a few days (one at 1:30 AM).
One of the many houses emptied as some druggies fled the area after the raids began was a house on 32nd Steet just east of 6th Avenue. This house was raided by the drug squad 2 1/2 years ago and 3 dealers were busted. One came back and joined his girlfriend. But he supposedly fled to Atlanta after the recent raids for a "better job".
As of June, 2007, the house has been taken over as a new 'conference center' for the druggies. In 2004 and 2005, this house was a center for some type of meetings every Thursday night. It was apparently also used as an area distribution center, including cell phones for all the street drug dealers. The gatherings attracted much nicer and newer vehicles than the street dealers use, meaning these folk were further up the drug crime ladder.
Could this new brazen activity mean the drug crowd have been told that the drug raids are at an end? Some of the street dealers have even been getting more brazen with their behavior -- telling one of our spotters to "Quit looking at us. You are violating our rights!" The guy was simply cutting his grass as he has done for years.
This isn't the only house in this one block of 32nd Street that is filled with drug dealers. There have been young dealers operating out of a house on 6th Avenue at the corner of 32nd now for a long time; in the mornings, they sell off their front porch and go to the back yard in the afternoons. Many of their regular customers know their cell phone numbers and call ahead. In addition, there are four other houses on 32nd beside the new 'quarters. They have operated with no problems for so long that they often throw their parties outside, bringing their boom box out to the curb and turning it full blast. This goes on day and night and even while Sunday church services are in progress just around the corner.
As usual, complaints to 911 and the regular police force get little response. In fact, most of the time when folk call 911 to complain about the drug dealer's noise, no police ever come.
Can it really be true what several old timer police have told us that most of our police force is on the payroll of the drug bosses???
During April and May 2007, the 6th Street area of Columbus has seen more activity by Columbus police than we've seen in ten years. At this writing, it is quite and peaceful in the middle of the night...no hollering, no booming boom boxes and no one on the street. This follows a bust of two persons in front of a drug house about 7 PM. When one, a middle aged dealer was told to put his hands on his head, all kinds of goodies began falling out of his pants.
At about midnight, our spotter was on his porch when a policeman pulled up and told him that the police had made a 'major bust' around the corner on 7th Avenue which netted some 40 grams of coke. It was the same policeman who had chastised our spotter a few months ago for 'wasting his time'. Glad to see the change of heart. Thanks guys for the good work. But you can't let up because the dealers will only hide for a while and come right out as soon as you leave. Breaking the drug market isn't just a one-time or one-day effort. We need to keep our kids in school -- not turn them loose on the streets as drug dealers. We need to keep our folk drug free--not ship billions of dollars to Mexico and Columbia. Only you guys can make a difference. If it takes tearing down the drug houses like the mayor of Jackson, Mississippi is doing, then so be it!
Columbus, Georgia's drug crime spree has become so brazen that drug dealers in the 6th Avenue - 32nd Street area now boldly flaunt their illegal drugs right in the face of folks trying to worship in a church across the street. On one typical Sunday, they turned their car boom boxes up full blast right across the street from a church on 32nd Street filled with Sunday night worshippers...while drug addicts made their buys. Many of the drug buyers added to the den of noise with their own boom boxes blaring away. Two men and a woman who live in the drug house moved to the corner of the steet from the middle of the block in February 2006 and since then have made life for the church folk miserable with their blaring noise -- not to mention the residents of the area who endure this bombastic noise 24 hours a day. One of the drug punks gets great pleasure in flaunting his loud noise...often dancing a jig and holding his crotch and daring neighbors to call the police. As if the volume of noise from the boom box is not enough, the content of the noise is downright offensive to church goers and area residents...blaring away with crude gutter language and blatant cussing. Much of it is also racially offensive to both black and white residents.
This bunch of drug dealers are as cocky as they get. They have three autos in the household...none of which have tags. One of the guys has been driving an older model Mercury with a customized maroon and gold paint job for four or five months...with no tag. He has no hesitation flying around the area day or night. He finally got into the habit of parking the car in the back or side of the house to hid the fact it has no tag. The woman's car however, stays on the steet all the time.
Despite the fact that sale of illegal drugs is also a violation of both state and federal law, it is also a violation of federal law to sell illegal drugs near a church or other house of worship or near a public housing project. Big deal...these druggies are apparently exempt from any kind of law. That seems to be the case when trying to get the Columbus Police Department to clean up the area. Take the night of 12 Mar 2006 for instance. A call went out to the police at 12:01 AM asking for police to try and quite the noise down and with information as to where it was coming from, the fact it was drug dealers and info about their cars. Within 5 minutes, the boom boxes had all been turned off... drug dealers took off in their cars and those on foot fled into their houses or the back yards. When three marked police cars finally cruised through the area 20 minutes later, they barely slowed down -- even though one spotter kept flashing them with a flashlight; didn't check out the house, cars or anything else on the street. Once again (and again and again), our police fluffed the job.
At least their pass through gave the dealers a jolt. One woman came out on her porch and began raising cane with dealers who had taken refuge in her back yard. She gave them a big dressing down. It isn't the first time she has had run-ins with the drug dealers. This gal has guts! Good for you!
As soon as one real estate mogul completed renovation of the row houses in one block of 6th Avenue, the drug dealers began moving in. As of 2007, there are at least six houses in the block of 6th between 32 Street and 33 Street occupied by drug dealers. They constantly operate on the steet and keep themselves entertained by turning their car's boomboxes full blast. The noise goes on 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The only time police have been seen going into any of these houses is when drug dealers get into a big fuss with each other. Whores also operate out of these houses, plying their own trade and helping the drug dealers sell theirs. They even have one guy living in the block who does nothing but work on their cars, including washing them. When a dealer gets a different car, he works on the engine to soup it up. That and helping the dealers in other ways appears to be his only job.
As of 2007, the drug dealers have taken over the front porches, yards and the street in front of three houses on the west side of 6th Avenue, just north of 32nd Street. They have been welcomed by the residents of those houses and the folks living there even offer their pickup for deliveries and errands. One resident even put a large stereo on the front porch for the druggies to have entertainment 24 hours a day...and it can be LOUD!! In fact, this area has become one of the wildest in Columbus. Just around the corner on 32nd, between 6th and 7th Avenues, the entire street has become a drug heaven. Dealers live in almost every house in the block and flaunt their noise and dealing 24 hours a day. Where's the cops? Don't bother!
Columbus police NEVER enforce the city's ordinance on noise control in the high drug crime areas and only rarely enforce the ordinance on disorderly conduct. If our police aren't going to enforce the law, then why have the law in the first place? In fact, if we can't get police who WILL enforce laws on drug crime and drug dealers, then why don't we just hire another police department to do it for us?!
It is a crying shame when police allow drug dealers to blast away with rap noise on their boom boxes right across the street from churches, even while church services are going on. Sunday church services matter little to these hoods -- they just keep on selling their drugs right across the street from churches. Mongrels have little regard for religion; so they and their customers don't care if folks are singing the praise of Jesus; both customers and dealers pass by with their boom boxes blasting away, while dealers across the street do the same (both with boom boxes in cars parked by the house and more in the house) and hollering, chanting and cussing the whole time church is going on. They seem to take great delight in flaunting their drug trade in the face of the church and neighbors. One druggie tried to do an imitation of 'singing' by rapping that 'I'm back! An I'm gonna party harder!!' aimed directly at one neighbor watching his vulgar scene during church service.
This kind of drug crime, disorderly conduct and obscene behavior goes on EVERY Sunday during church services in the 6th Avenue area of Columbus, Georgia. Why does our police department tolerate such behavior? Same ole excuse -- not enough manpower, etc. The next time a citizen's car gets hit by a person high on drugs; the next time a shop gets robbed by a druggie; the next time a person is shot by a druggie or any other crime is committed by a person high on drugs -- then consider suing the city for lack of enforcement of our drug laws. Maybe THAT will get their attention!
When vandalizing cars, tearing up vacant homes, trashing the neighborhood and constant booming noise don't work to drive out law-abiding residents, the punk drug dealer's last resort is threats of violence. All this has gone on in one particular neighborhood of Columbus, Georgia ... and now comes the threats of violence. The cockiest punk dealer in the 'hood described above has crossed the border and hopes to rule the roost by threatening the remaining residents with violence. The night after some events described above, he turned up his car's boom box to full flast while he was in his house, then came out and as he walked across the street from one of our spotters, he tossed out the threat: "Keep on watching me! Im gonna give you something to look at. You watch me like I'm a kid. Well, I'm a grown man! Yea, keep on watching me and I'm gonna kill yo ass!"
One more black eye for our local police department. We have begged for eight years to get them to do something about this neighborhood but always get the same ole malarkey 'Not enough manpower.' BULLCRAP! When police are called to quiet down a gang of drug dealers in the middle of the night and one finally comes and instead of running the dealers off, he stops down the street and awakens and harasses an elderly mentally retarded woman because of bags of garbage on her porch, then this sorry excuse proves the cops are a major part of the problem.
One option which has been discussed by neighborhood watch folks around town for some time has been a major federal lawsuit against city officials and the police department. It would get enough publicity that even elected officials and cops on the drug payroll would have to cave in or go down in disgrace.
Several drug dealers have become real pals with a white trash group living on 6th Avenue at the intersection of 32nd Street. The bunch, who have a histoy of alcoholism, apparently are not into illegal dope as well. They began taking the dealers on errands (to get more dope?) and soon began letting the dealers themselves use his truck. The dealers now take refuge on their porch during rain and sit there late at night between drug sales.
Could it be that these folk are getting a 'cut rate' price on drugs in exchange for the use of their truck?
One drug dealer moved his bunch in the middle of the block down to a renovated house on the corner of 6th Avenue and 32nd Street, directly across the street from a church. He, his gal and buddy delight in turning their car boomboxes on full blast -- even while religious services are going on next to their house. The dealer has been driving a custom painted car for several months -- with no tag displayed; in fact, his gal's car didn't have a tag either. This block should have been cleaned up by the cops years ago but it remains today as one of the biggest 'drug stores' in Columbus.
When police were notified in the wee hours of Sunday morning of the loud noise coming from the dealer's car (the one with no tag), they didn't bother to stop and check anything out when they finally cruised through the hood 20 minutes later.
Then, on Monday, the Columbus Drug Squad was notified of this bunch and the lack of tags on all their cars. Two hours later, noise again but this time guess what...the car had a tag! Funny that after all these months the car didn't have a tag until the Police Department was notified of the noise and drug dealing. When the dealer pulled out from behind his house and came onto 6th Avenue, he stopped in front of the house of one of our spotters who was on his front porch. The dealer got out of his car and approached the spotter with his hand in his rear pocket (as though ready to draw a weapon) and demanded "You got anything to say to me?" and then repeated the question. Since several policemen have told our spotters in the past to NEVER say anything to the dealers or buyers, no reponse was given to the dealer. This dealer has become so brazen that he wants the whole neighborhood to know that you don't 'mess with him' and you don't call the cops.
Oh yea, that tag...it's no longer on the dealer's car, yet he can be seen frequently driving his car without a tag late at night. Much later, he finally has a tag on the car.
So how do the drug dealers know in advance when police have been called or what complaints have been made? Some of the old timers in the police department have told us the department is rotten with corruption, as well as many of the judges in the city. Money talks and illegal drugs are BIG money folks! A big black eye for the Columbus Police Department and our elected officials!
This particular drug dealer loves to aggravate the hell out of the 'hood -- and doesn't give a damn if it jolts the folks holding service at the church across the street. But he doesn't like being 'watched'. In fact, he hollered at one of our neighborhood watch committee that he was "gonna swear out a warrant on you watching me!" He taunted the spotter to call the police..."Call the police. I'll call the police too. I'll swear out a warrant on you for harrassing me." This raucous dealer and the other dealers on this street have become so bold that they think they 'own' the town, not just the 'hood. It looks like they also own the police. Let's see if they own the Sheriff's Department.
This druggie's mom finally moved out of the hood and he no longer deals from around her house. Sure cut down on the noise.
A large number of officers with the Columbus drug task force staged a raid on a reputed drug dealer on 6th Avenue between 32nd and 33rd Streets Saturday night 9 August. Several arrests were made. Many of the drug dealers and prostitutes living in surrounding houses gathered to watch as police cleaned out the house. Even a lawn mower and industrial vaccum were loaded up and hauled off. The vaccum cleaner was used by a white man who works on drug dealer's cars on a regular basis. Bystanders said that at least four men were arrested and one woman living three houses away was also taken into custody after police realized she had been lying to them. Drug dealers also work out of the house where she lives.
A neighbor reported that the man living in the house where the raid took place also rents or owns two other adjoining houses which are occupied by dealers.
The raid comes on the heels of repeated complaints to the Police Department about loud noise and boisterous activity in this block by drug dealers and street prostitutes over a long period.
Some of the police referred to a drug dealer known as "Cornbread" and one mentioned "Cornbread's gonna have a lot of work tonight." Several of the women heard this and thought it meant Cornbread had also been arrested. They were all disheartened. Not so...Cornbread was seen coming down the street on his bike just minutes after the police left. He was on the streets by 7:30 AM the next day (Sunday), going about his regular 'business'. Two days later, he was seen trying to make a sale to a middle-aged white woman. He offered his hand with several pills but apparently he didn't have the right kind for another dealer stepped up and offered a handful.
This raid cleared out only a small number of the total who work just these two blocks of 6th Avenue. By Monday and Tuesday, the street was full of dealers. The customers continue to pour into the area, such as the driver of a big diesel rig pulling a huge, silver open top trailer. If you see a druggie like him barreling down the road, you better get the hell out of the way!
This raid followed an earlier bust just down the street. On this same Saturday afternoon, a loud commotion began at a house at the south intersection of 6th Avenue and 32nd Street. Several women, men and children were at the home which was brightly decorated with balloons for a party. A police car came down 32nd Street, made a U turn and flew back down the street. A few minutes later, four police cars and two detective cars pulled up in front of the house and when they questioned a woman living there, they immediately arrested her.
The women in the house were planning a 'coming home' party for a brother who had just gotten out of prison Friday. The police had just arrested the brother on at least two warrants. Police had already been called to this house for noise and riotous behavior several times since a crowd moved in a month ago, including several women, men and a large number of infants and very young children. Drug dealers are seen going and coming from the house day and night since this crowd moved in.
What a way to mess up a party. And it was gonna be such a big, noisy party with lots of dope!
At least we had a fairly peaceful and quite night for a change!
The drug bust related above as well as the arrests just down the street of a released prisoner and his sister were not reported by the only daily newspaper here, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer as of one week later. The paper did report on the arrest of one man who had cocaine valued at $5,500 as well as the arrest of a ring of four dealing ecstasy, an illegal drug.
But after being told several years ago "that's not news anymore", we didn't really expect any news coverage of a drug raid on 6th Avenue (see other story on lack of news coverage by our local newspaper below).
Actually, the lack of coverage by the Ledger-Enquirer is no surprise. It has not been a locally owned newspaper for many years. Most of the writing staff are also not native to Columbus. When comprehensive local news coverage ceases to be the primary purpose of newspapers, then folks quit buying those papers.
Most newspapers in America are suffering sharply falling sales along with sharply declining advertising income. The problem isn't television, the Internet and faster news, etc. The problem is that so many newspapers have been bought up by chain corporations who have no ties to the communities other than what money they can drain out of them. If you are part of a community, then you must be a part of its welfare; if the community has major problems, then you must take part in helping solve them.
One of our spotters said he once subscribed to five daily newspapers and 21 weeklies. He no longer subscribes to any paper today. After all, folks can read more about the drug crime in Columbus on this website than they can in the local newspaper.
The drug dealers at the intersection of 6th Avenue and 32nd Street have 'adopted' two families living at the intersection. They now occupy the porches and front steps of two adjacent houses on the west side of 6th Avenue on a 24 hour basis. When they want to go anywhere, including to pick up other drugs, etc., they get chauffeured around by one of the two guys on their trucks -- or they 'borrow' the trucks and drive themselves. This free use of these men's trucks puts both of them in danger of having their trucks confiscated when police finally stop the druggies and discover illegal drugs in the vehicles. At least one dealer has begun parking his car in back of the guy's houses.
This arrangement has been going on for at least three months as of December 2006. Both men and some of their family members are heavy alcohol users and have become heavily with drugs. The drug dealers take refuge in the houses during bad weather. It is very obvious that these houses have now become the "center" of the drug trade on these two blocks of 6th Avenue.
T
he drug sales have gotten more open and more obnoxious. Street hoods operate within a three-block section of 6th Avenue and along 32nd Street crossing 6th and throughout nearby Wilson Homes. They sell crack cocaine, barbituates, marijuana, heroin, methamphetamine ('meth') and just about any kind of illegal drug customers want. Vacant houses in the area became full of used syringes, homemade pipes and condoms. Six or more young dealers work the 6th Avenue at the same time, especially on Thursday, Friday and Saturdays and before and during holiday, while others work nearby. Another nearby hotspot is at the corner of 4th Avenue and 34th Street. With a bright blue commercial building on the corner, you can't miss this drug spot. And the entire area of the Wilson Homes, a public housing project between Veteran's Parkway and 6th Avenue is rampant with drug dealers, according to police.The drug dealer at the corner of 6th Avenue and 32nd Street have gone 'high class', adding a beach cabana in the front of the house, complete with table, chairs and grill. For entertainment, rap noise is provided full blast from car stereos, even at 3:30 AM. No more standing in the hot sun for this dealer. He can now just sit in comfort listening to the noise while he waits on the next drug customer. Sadly, his fancy beach cabana was blown down twice in heavy storms (thank you God).
Most dealers and spotters usually carry cell telephones so they can take "orders" from customers and get warnings about police. They direct customers where to pick up. They also keep others nearby on side streets as "spotters" so they can give directions to customers as well as warn about an occasional police car. They shout "HEY!" and "Whoa!" at just about every car that comes by. The hollering is one of the most annoying aspects of the dealers and their customers who congregate around them. ...all day and all night.
A drug sale can be made without the customer even stopping his or her car. And you don't have to worry about the hours -- this "store" never closes! Want a quickie before going to work at 7:00 AM? Come right on, they're open! Run out of goodies at the party and it's 3:30 AM? Come on over, they're open for business!
Buyers range from every economic level and every type of occupation. You can see expensive foreign sporty cars and American luxury cars; expensive SUV's; pickup trucks with the large tool boxes; the beat-up junks of the poor folk and lots of company vehicles. Some are in suits while others are walking street derelicts dressed in rags. A large number during the daytime are in their company vehicles, including pickup trucks, vans and other vehicles plainly marked with their company names. Those really strung out on drugs make their early morning buy before going to work: 6 to 7:30 AM is a busy time. The noon hour brings another rush of activity, as the users take their dinner breaks to run for another fix. By 5 PM, the street is humming with the night traffic. On weekends, the traffic of buyers doesn't slow down until after 5 AM. Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights (paydays) are the busiest (worst) and few police cars are seen during this time.
The street dealers are constantly re-supplied by "rovers" on vehicles and foot. The street boys don't carry a large amount of drugs at any time. The rovers are a step higher on the ladder in the drug industry pecking order. They formerly drove older model cars, vans or pickup truck (in case they are caught and the vehicles impounded, then they don't lose much money on the junker cars). But lately, this has changed, probably due to the big number of vehicles confiscated by the Sheriff's Department roadblocks. The dealers are now driving much newer cars, SUVs and pickups, often with really wild custom paint jobs (purple, yellow and green for example). The people who moved into the neighborhood in the last year or so to work with them also have newer cars now (along with one family who has been here for years). Other suppliers now work out of homes along a two-block section of 6th Avenue. One white family living near the deadend of the street has men and women who carry supplies to the street boys in plastic bags as well as a backpack - often on a motor wheelchair.
Not even bitterly cold weather nor rain stops these purveyors of drugs. Rain or shine, sleet or freezing weather, it doesn't matter. If it pours rain, they simply don raincoats and grab umbrellas or hit the porches of houses. Bitter cold? They don heavy parkas, jumpsuits or overalls and keep right on selling. The money's way too good to shut down this store. On a few recent very wet and cold nights, the street boys abandoned the street for cars. They park in front of vacant lots a few feet across from a church on the corner of 6th Avenue and 32nd Street, at the dead end of 6th Avenue or drive around the block, over and over.
Modern mailmen could learn a lesson from these guys! These boys never give up.
At least one, usually teenagers, patrols the street, often on a kid's bicycle. He carries a phone to keep in touch with others. They discarded the use of a teenager with a radio tuned to police frequencies. They are getting much more sophisticated. They now apparently have some sort of 'control center' where all police radio is monitored. They know about calls to 911 BEFORE the police even get the calls. They know instantly when police have been called to their 'hood and quickly scatter into their houses or behind them. Those on cars leave the scene immediately.
T
his fact was illustrated in the wee hours of 2 May 2004 when, at about 2:25 AM, a member of our 'watch' group called 911. He suggested the drug task force be called in to check out a dealer who was operating out of his van on the corner of 6th Avenue and 32nd Street. Shockingly, the 911 operator replied "I have no way of getting ahold of them, sir." Within three minutes, a teenager living at the intersection who has worked with the dealers for more than two years was seen on his cell phone. He called the dealer over and warned him -- who then took off rapidly in his van.A citizen can't contact the Columbus Drug Task Force by calling the emergency number 911 !! What in the hell is going on here folks? This sounds worse than suspicious...it makes any responsible citizen start wondering is this kind of mess being done on purpose to help the drug dealers? It doesn't matter what the reason for this -- whatever the reason, it is OUTRAGEOUS that a citizen cannot file a complaint and get a direct response from our drug task force. Who's running the show, our city police -- or the drug bosses?
Such sloppy service isn't new however. There have been many times when calls to 911 went unanswered, such as one night the first week of July 2004 when shots were fired in the neighborhood (no, not firecrackers). An hour after the call was made, no police car had been seen. The next night however, one policeman gave chase and the suspect abandoned his car in the middle of 32nd Street. Within minutes, several officers were hunting the area for him. He managed to elude the officers, probably because he had left his car right in front of three known drug dealers' houses. Despite all the commotion, those folks didn't turn on their lights nor come out to see what was going on. Odd --
At about 10:30 AM 18 Mar 2005, two young black men who appeared to be stoned, decided the 'hood needed a little excitement. One brandished a large caliber pistol and began shooting (six or more shots were fired). He fired in the air, at the ground and at least two into a home in the 3100 block of 6th Avenue. This has happened frequently in the area since the druggies took over the hood eight years ago.
What was unusual this time was when a call was placed to 911: the first call got the weird electonic sound you get when a number no longer works. That often happens now when area neighborhood watchers call 911 for help...sometimes up to four times before the police can be reached. Fortunately the second call went through. However, the 911 operator (again) fiddled around way too much before being told that if anyone was injured because she did not send police immediately, we would 'have her job'.In the meantime, the two hoods went just down the street to a known drug house. Amazingly, withing five minutes from the call to 911, four squad cars pulled up at that very house. Two more arrived minutes later. They brought out two young black men but it could not be determined by onlookers if they were the two involved in the shooting. No one was seen handcuffed by the police.
On 16 Dec 2004 at 6 PM, a call was made to the Columbus 911 system seeking help in stopping LOUD noise coming from three vehicles parked on 32nd Street in front of a home where drug dealers are now living. They take great delight in turning their large 'boom boxes' full blast. Noise has been one of the ways the drug dealers use to drive residents out of an area. Their warning several years ago that "We own this hood now!" has just about succeeded...few old timers are left now. The operator was told that the last time a call for help in stopping the loud boom noise went unanswered. The operator was also told that if the call could not be answered in a reasonable time that the Sheriff's Department would be called instead. AND that action would be taken to get a grand jury investigation of the Columbus Police Department.
Within seconds after the caller hung up, the noise makers shut off all three car boomers. It is very clear that someone is warning the drug dealers -- just as they do when a police patrol car comes into the neighborhood. A patrol car, number 642, finally showed up at 6:30 PM. It simply drove down the street and did not even slow down. Within seconds, two of the noise makers drove off. Those in the house remained: they were busy arranging a housefull of rented furniture that arrived, along with a TV with a screen almost as big as one of the walls in the house. Tha biznes must be payin good, boyz!
Once again at the end of February, 2005, we decided to test the police's response with a call to 911 about very loud noise coming from the home of a teenager who started hanging with the drug dealers and dealing himself when he was about 12 or 13. His escapades with police are described below. After putting up with the noise for a long time, 911 was called and the past situation was described and a plea was made to get it stopped -- permanently. The time was noted -- 1:30 PM. No police car was observed for the next two hours. At 2:30 AM that night, the noise was still booming away. For more than 12 1/2 hours, the neighborhood had to put up with this mess with no response from the police. That prompted a message to the area's City Councilman, Jack Rodgers. Months later,no response had been received from him either. Mr. Rodgers, your LACK of response to pleas from your electorate to provide them with decent law enforcement WAS noted in the last election! Our city council is elected, unlike the Police Department. We don't have to put up with flagrant disregard for public safety and our laws from elected officials!This episode is typical of the Columbus police departments response to the drug crime epidemic in Columbus. It is past time to call a halt to this mess. Either the Columbus police must start doing their job, or we MUST change our law enforcement system altogether.
The workers for the Columbus 911 emergency response system need to be totally retrained. Too damn much time is WASTED by these operators during an emergency. They have 'caller ID' whereby they can detect the telephone number, home address and name of the phone's owner. Yet, when someone calles about many gunshots being fired and the location, why in the hell does the operators waste time gabbing instead of sending rapid response??!!
In March 2006, a call was placed to 911 (again) at 10:40 PM to complain about a car with its boom box blairing away at the intersection of 6th Avenue and 32nd Street. The car has been in the neighborhood for more than 4 months -- no tag. The owner loves the attention he gets with his boom box, even at 3 AM. This drug dealer is so blatantly confident that the cops won't bother him that he can drive his custom-painted Mercury around town with no tag for months. Guess that tells you who the cops work for. And when 911 is called about this guy, the woman on this occasion acted as if we were complaining about kids playing with their dolls on the front porch. The druggie and his pals just bitched and carried on bizness as usual -- knowing full well they weren't going to have any problems.
The first thing we need is a grand jury investigation of our police department AND our judicial system. We need to call in outside help from the GBI and FBI to find out the extent of corruption and drug payoffs that may have infected our law enforcement officials -- and perhaps even some of our elected officials, the ones charged with overseeing our police and our judges who are supposed to put the criminals in jail when they rarely get arrested.
Then, Columbus needs to move to a better system, one with an elected police official who is responsible directly to the people. If he doesn't do his job, we can turn him out of office. Either the Columbus police start doing their jobs or we need to abolish the department and let all law enforcement be turned over to the Sheriff's department. Once that is done, give every deputy a lie detector test every month to make sure they are not on the payroll of the drug gang. Then clean house with the 911 emergency response system. We pay their salaries but if we can't get better response from them, we just don't need them. When you tell the police that the drug dealers are raising hell, you expect quick and active response.
C
olumbus Police are well aware of the problem. But calls to the Columbus Police Dept. asking for police to be stationed on foot in high drug crime areas brought the eye-opening response: "That'll NEVER happen."Despite the volume of drug sales in the area, residents have not seen a single policeman patrolling the area on foot. It just isn't done...despite the obvious need. Police cars rarely cruise down 6th Avenue and when they do, they speed down the street (to get out of the neighborhood quickly?) like a streak of lightning.
The folks in this particular neighborhood have very little police protection. In one week alone, seven autos in a one block section of 6th Avenue had their windshields busted by the drug dealer hoodlums. Cars have been vandalized repeatedly in the area, costing hundreds of dollars in repairs for those who simply cannot afford such expenses.
One car on our street experienced the whole range of vandalism: side swipped (tire wheel dented and ruined, paint ruined, crome torn up); ignition destroyed; windshield busted twice; windshield wipers torn up three times; side window busted out; air conditioning and heater torn up; inside lights left on, killing a new battery; stomping on the car, ruining the paint; stolen gas cap; stolen gas; busted headlights; stolen fuses; three stolen batteries; ceiling liner cut up and MORE. But at least one of these hoods got caught. The druggie stole an auto tag--cut off just part of it--and put it on "his" car. A few days later, he was caught, driving a stolen auto, complete with the stolen part of the tag AND with drugs in the stolen car. Thank the good Lord for a few favors!! Hope that jackass gets a lot of time in jail. Chances are though he will be out and back on the "job" in three months or less.
On the night of 5 March, this car was once again broken into. The tag receipts for the last 11 years and auto registration were stolen, along with other items from the glove compartment. The glove door was left open and once again, the battery has been ruined. The thief also stole (for some ungodly reason) a very large piece of carpet cushion (placed under carpets for cushioning). Later, a car sitting beside it also had its tag stolen.
During that night...and every day and night for a month...the dealers who are operating out of an old mill house on 32nd Street just east of 6th Avenue, have kept the area awake with their loud rap noise booming so loudly that it rattles the house walls. This group was eventually run out of that house. It has since been completely remodled and is once again occupied by dealers.
Dealers rove the area in groups of two or more. When they and several of their customers come together, you can have from a dozen to 20 or more -- creating a loud, obnoxious group who throw their beer bottles, cans and other trash in everyone's yards. The beer bottles are often used as projectiles to throw at neighbor's cars or just to bust in the streets for "fun".
As of July 2006, they now have operations out of houses on both sides of 6th Avenue at the dead end (next to a park); at the intersection of 32nd Street; in four houses just north of the intersection; and six houses on 32nd between 6th and 7th Avenues. They also operate on 7th Avenue in front of the public housing project -- in violation of both state and federal law. Drug men who resupply the street boys run back and forth between 7th Avenue and an apartment complex on 32nd Street between 4th and 5th Avenues as well as a house near the deadend of 6th. Almost all of these suppliers love to annoy the hell out of the neighborhood with their booming car radios.
One dealer operates out of a house at the deadend of 6th, with another group across the street. A 'center' has opened up on 32nd Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in several houses. A one bedroom house, three young men and a female are seen there all the time. They apparently aren't operating sales out of the house but go to a different location on their 'shifts'. They do provide one service for the upper level bosses from this location though...such as washing the bosses' SUVs and cars. One has a souped up older model car -- bright jade, purple and yellow, with loud boom boxes in the trunk which they aggravate their neighbors with by opening the trunk lid and turning the radio on full blast for hours at a time. So far, calls to 911 have failed to get any response most of the time. On 14 Jan 2005, a call to 911 about another nearby house where three dealers' boom box was blasting away got the response two hours later with a call back asking "Do you still need someone to come out?" Typical 911 response in this drug infested area!
Talk about LACK of police protection -- on 20 May 2004 (Thursday, the third busiest day and night for drug dealing), the Sheriff's Department that has been hitting the area recently was off duty that night. That left us wide open to the dealers and crazy druggies. At 2:50 AM, as many as a dozen gunshots were heard coming from the area of 32nd Street between 6th and 7th Avenues. A call was made to 911 asking for help and they said someone would be there shortly. In the meantime, a dark SUV took off from the street at a fast clip. The fracas even brought out some folks who work with the dealers. After two hours, no police patrol car had yet been seen in the area. That is damned ridiculous! So much for police 'protection' in Columbus! If you can't get a response from the police when gunshots are being fired in your neighborhood, then what in the hell do we need them for??
Those youths on 32nd Avenue who have aggravated the hell out of the area with noise from their car's boom box finally got a little action from the police department. In the early morning of 20 Jan, officers in at least six vehicles raided the house. They even brought along a drug sniffing dog and spent some time in the house and that gaudily painted car out front. The youths were taken away...sure was quiter for a couple of months. That night, someone in an beatup old white truck was back in the house and a lot of furniture was moved around and stacked up in front of windows. Looking for the stash? Their car wasn't seen not long afterward. About two months later, at least one of the three guys was back in the house; but not all three, the one with the two-town blue and gray car does come around frequently, especially on weekends.
Apparently some judge let these guys off and back out on the streets. Wonder if he makes as much as a judge as he does from the druggies? Let's do something about electing some new judges in this town!
On one Wednesday night, an incident occured in front of his house when a officer in an unmarked car stopped a vehicle. The driver fled and must have dropped his "stash" because the plaincloths officer and later other plainclothesmen scoured the area looking for something. After they all left the scene, this teen and another one, as well as a white prostitute and addict next door were observed looking for the ditched stash. They then took up post on the teen's front porch. His partner was seen making several sales to druggies. When they knew they were being watched, they moved but came back in a few minutes. The teen ate his supper (at 2:30 AM) and changed clothes. They finally went down the street to another "safe house", unscrewed the porch light and took up post there. This teenager has now been in the "business" for five years. The youth's teenage partner recently warned a nearby resident "I'm gonna whup yo ass!" just for looking at him. Both of them and others now deal off the teenager's front porch on a regular basis -- every day. What a waste of a young life!
This teenager has been 'hanging' with the druggies for more than six years as of June 2006. He is now 17 years old. Since he can be seen working both the late night and day shifts (they change often), he no longer attends school; despite his age (you can't work the streets and go to school at the same time). On 7 May 2004, three police cars with policemen dressed in 'battle fatigues' (like those of the SWAT team) pulled up in front of the two houses occupied by the teenager's family. He was in handcuffs in the back of one of the patrol cars. Police got out of the cars and talked with members of his family for a long time. Lots of paperwork was filled out and more talking.
At 10:20 PM, the teenager was taken out of the car (car 830) and released. A white officer, wearing glasses and with a crewcut then told the teen "Go in the house and stay there." There was a lot more paperwork and talking and the officer went to the door and talked to the family again.
At 2:40 AM, another dealer was making a sale when guess who "came out of the house" -- you guessed it, the teen who had been told to 'stay in the house'. He was dressed very differently from his 'norm', with a black head scarf, three quarter length dark pants and a very long white tee shirt. After the drug sale and as the customer was leaving, he turned and saw that a neighbor was watching. He commented "I hate that sonbitch". Does anyone really care whether a two-bit, lowlife punk street drug dealer loves or hates them?
There is no way of knowing why this young drug dealer was brought home by three police cars in handcuffs. Nor in the stupid reasoning behind releasing him...just so he could be back on the street soon afterwards. Either arrest them and throw their tails in jail -- or find another job.
On 14 June 2004 at about 10:55 PM, this same teen dealer was AGAIN brought home by police officers. They were operating out of a plain van which is probably why they were able to catch the teener. However, once again, he was simply brought home, the handcuffs removed and left at home. Wanna bet your bottom dollar he won't be out there selling again tomorrow?? You'll lose if you do. This same teen was caught after he hit another car with a junker car he was driving; it was bad enough that he didn't have any insurance, no tag and no driving license but he decided to jump out and run. He still has not paid the costs of his wreck.
Does this tell you anything about our local judges and court system!? What in the hell is going on here?! If our judges can't keep the filth off our streets and out of our neighborhoods, then we can sure as heck keep these judges off their benches by god! Remember that come next election time...let's make a clean sweep and start afresh!
This teen moved his operations to another area -- but 'came back home' soon afterward. Both he and his dealer buddies still operate from houses in the same block and on surrounding streets on a daily/nightly basis. They often go inside (while moma is away at work) during the day to listen to his boom box...with the front door open and the boom box blasting away. In cold weather, the buddies go inside to get warm and close the door but the noise can still be heard a block away. The buddies and the teen love to taunt area residents. After all, the residents have been told often by the dealers "We own this hood!".
This teen has adopted the tactic of his buddies down the street -- turn up the sound on the stereo full blast in the hope it will finally drive all the 'non-druggies' out of the hood. When will your drug bosses learn? Loud noise just aggravates the hell out of folk and attracts attention to your drug dealing. Those tactics only make decent folk even madder!! If you drug bosses can't keep your street dealers in line, YOU lose business! Our neighborhood committee finally got a response from the police on 6 April when the teener had his stereo booming so loud other folks could barely hear their own TVs. The next time the booming noise sets in, a formal written complaint will be filed and it is going to cost...the noise ordinance calls for a fine of $200. The teen still hasn't learned his a lesson either. As of 2006, he is now a confirmed drug dealer, seen every day or night on the streets hawking his wares. His mama finally moved out of the area and the teen drug dealer has been seen only a few times since then.
A new drug freak is in the ole hood. This one goes on a daily and nightly rampage of hollering, cussing and raucuous behavior. A black man, he is constantly cussing "All you muther f..king niggers!" He rages at almost every female who he sees. One typical spectacle took place at 12:05 AM, 14 Sept. He was prancing around in the middle of the street at 6th Avenue and 32nd Street when he started a chant: "I done got me enough liquour and cocaine in my stomach. I'm gonna f..k me a ho all night. I'm gonna have a baby!. You hear that -- all you god damned niggers!" Then his one of his little jigs. Before he left the intersection, he hollered "I OWN this hood!"
This freak has been raging in the area now for several weeks. He rarely speaks a full sentence without cussing like hell. Although black himself, most his rantings are always aimed at other blacks. He seems to be angry at the whole world and in need of psycho therapy. In fact, this freak belongs in either jail or the nut house. He is short but very burly, weighing close to 200 pounds with a shaved head. He leaves the area quickly when police are seen coming.
At 11:50 PM, 3 Jul 2002, a very overweight black male was observed at the intersection of 6th Avenue and 32nd Street, selling drugs of unknown type to two white teenagers who appeared to be not older than 14 and the other not older than 16. The youngest looking buyer was riding a bicycle. The older buyer was walking and wearing a red tee shirt and large baggy black shorts (well below his knees).
The dealer roamed 6th Street and 32nd Avenue (between 6th and 7th) since well before dark, along with several other dealers. After the sale to the two minors, he then walked down the street counting his money.
The sale of drugs to such young minors is nothing new but nonetheless a monstrosity that should not be allowed to be flaunted so openly in Columbus nor any other community. If the Columbus Police Department were allowed -- REQUIRED to patrol such high crime areas continuously and non-stop, this horrible mess could be slowed if not stopped.
C
ars driven by both "middle men" drug dealers as well as customers race along 6th Avenue and side streets all night. Some barrel down the street at up to 60 miles per hour and screech to a halt at the dead end (next to a public park). When the partying gets heavy (every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night), several car radios and portable "boom boxes" play noisy music (?) so loudly, the hullabaloo can be heard blocks away.With the new tactic of renting out a couple of the old millhouses in the neighborhood and using them to deal out of, these houses have also become a source of outrageously loud noise, 24 hours a day. One house on 32nd Street, just east of 6th Avenue, usually has two or three guys hanging around, even in the middle of the night. They park cars in front, either on the street or in their yard; turn on the car radio with its huge speakers full blast -- and I do mean BLAST -- so the constant BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!! of the bass drum of the rap noise shakes and rattles dishes in nearby kitchens. We have been told that this is just one more tactic to try and drive the remaining residents out of the area. Ain't gonna happen punks!
Fortunately, that house was recently torn down. The dealers now have three other "safe houses" in this block of 32nd Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues) across the street. These are combined with the seven or more houses along 6th Avenue between the dead end and 33rd Street. The street boys are supplied by older dealers either on foot, bicycles and cars, almost always carrying the goods in plastic grocery bags. They dispense only limited amounts of drugs to the street dealers at a time. That way, if the dealer is caught, they don't have much on them (if they can't toss it). The dealers have gotten bold enough to start dealing off the front porches of at least five of these houses.
As if these houses were not enough, we also must endure the druggie dealers, their "resuppliers" and buyers who always seem to have the biggest boom boxes drug money can buy in their cars. They just have to play their radios as loud as possible. The hearing aid companies are going to have a field day in a few years! They are probably trying to tell us "we own your hood --and there ain't a damn thing you can do about it!"
There is no such thing as a restful night (or day) of sleep for residents of the area. Insomnia and headaches are the norm as a result of the constant disturbance.
T
hese punk drug dealers kept the neighorhood awake all night on the night of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. They shot off sky rockets, roman candles, whole packs of small firecrackers and huge and very loud fireworks through the night.Not even New Years has ever brought out such a display of fireworks in this area. They continued this vulgar activity every night for the next two weeks. They shot hand-held rockets at the roofs of houses along 6th Avenue for several nights. While the rest of the nation mourned, these low-life scum clearly had no respect for the thousands of Americans who lost their lives in these vicious attacks, nor for their relatives. And guess what...on the second anniversary of this tragedy, there were firecrackers set off in the neighborhood once again. Those little ones (about a foot long or so and some nuts actually hold them in their hands to shoot them) were even shot at our cars. They let the rest of the world know just what kind of low-life trash they are.
Thank you lord. After complaining for years to our Police Department and being told that they would never put men on foot in this drug infested neighborhood, we finally asked for help from the Sheriff's office. During Novemeber 2003, we are seeing real changes, thanks to the Sheriff's deputies now patrolling the area. They made a major bust on Sixth Avenue recently. And at 2:30 AM 26 Nov, the Police department stopped a truck. Don't know the details but he may have been a user who had just made a 'buy'. He was taken away by the police. Another police car came and was quickly joined by four Sheriff's deputies.
One of the deputies said the department had been asked to join the battle against drug dealing in this neighborhood. Willing and able. That's what we need. Our pleas to the police department just don't seem to work. These deputies didn't just settle for one buyer (?). Although the temperature was near freezing, they got out of their warm cars and went into to several empty houses in the area, looking for possible dealers. Even one blonde (I know her fingers were freezing).
Since then, we have seen our Sheriff's patrol become very active. We appreciate your help. Keep up the good work.
The voters will remember your efforts at the next election. As well as the ineffectiveness of the city folks. Perhaps it might be a good idea for Columbus voters to seriously consider putting ALL law enforcement in our consolidated government under an elected official... such as the sheriff. Take heed, Mr. mayor!
Maybe it does help for citizens to complain. Our Sheriff's Department seems to care much more about our drug problems than our police department and we have gotten some real action from these guys. At 1:20 AM in the early morning hours of 11 May, three sheriff's patrol cars pulled up to the intersection of 6th Avenue and 32nd Street and set up a road block, harkening back to the days of seven years ago when the police department did that three blocks away. They were later joined by another patrol car (a blond again). The good guys (and girl) made three arrests and had three vehicles picked up (insurance and driver's licenses problems). Unfortunately, most of the druggies in the area spread the word rapidly and the dealers stayed in their 'safe houses' and off the streets. One 'supplier' (?) was seen arriving in a white car at his home down the street and leaving soon afterward in an old pickup (with the 'goods'?). Those around the corner stayed quite and inside also. But this roadblock did the job -- just as we had suggested. See our tips for police below.
What these sheriff's deputies did on this night NEEDS to be done every Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from at least 6 PM to 6 AM on a permanent basis. That is the busiest time and the busiest nights for the drug trade. The buyers know where to come and they won't expect roadblocks on those three busiest nights in a row, much less for at least a month. That would put a real dent in the drug trade. Course, the druggies will be climbing the walls folks! And the steet boys will be whining about no sales! We have been pleading for seven years to get try and get the city police to take just this kind of action. We have always gotten the same ole slop -- "lack of manpower" and funds. That pore excuse just won't wash anymore boys. The Sheriff's Department has proven this CAN be done. More and more folks are being heard talking about the idea of making the department the sole law enforcement agency for the metropolitan government and the Sheriff the head of that organization. If they can do the job better, then by god, let them!! If 'tried and tested' is the qualification for such a task, then these boys earn the awards! Good work and PLEASE keep it up boys! We appreciate you!
Lawdy mussy! We thought that roadblock might be just another one-night stand but surprise...they showed up again the next night. Busted at least three more and hauled off at least another three vehicles, including at least one which has been a 'regular' for a druggie in the area for months. This tactic of hitting them two nights in a row seemed to take the druggies by surprise.
Here are some more tips that will help the battle against the dealers: watch out for ALL those who pass through or near your checkpoint, including and especially those on foot. When word got out about you boys coming, the street dealers on foot scattered quickly. They got rid of their stash of drugs by simply tossing them on the street or along the sides. Later, while you were busy ticketing several folk on cars, a middle aged black man went around the area -- within full view of you boys -- picking up the small plastic packets of drugs from the street and sides of the road, including 6th Avenue and 32nd Street. He made the rounds twice and once he had gathered all that he could find, he then walked down the street to a 'safe house' and apparently delivered the goods there. The previous night, a tall, slim white man who frequently makes deliveries from one safe house to others in the area to resupply the street dealers was seen with his back pack walking right through the road block.
You need to figure out a way to stop those on foot and be able to frisk them for drugs. If nothing else, try 'suspicion of loitering'. Once they have been arrested for something, then you should be able to search them. Then if you find drugs, it is worth the effort.
Truck loads of thanks to these Sheriff's Department officers for their efforts to help control crime in Columbus. If our city police are unable or unwilling to do the job, then at least we can depend upon you folks for protection. The decent folk of Columbus will remember you at the next election. And if you were to consider running for mayor, we will remember your campaign to clean up the drug cesspool! Keep up the good work. And Sheriff Johnson, give these guys and gal some rewards for their hard work. They deserve it!
In the early morning hours of 18 May, the four Sheriff's Deputies returned again and once again set up a 'road check' at the intersection of 6th Avenue and 32nd Street. They had already hit three other drug areas in town before coming here. These guys and girl don't spend our tax dollars by sitting in coffee shops -- they get out there and work! Once again, they lucked up and confiscated several more vehicles and made arrests. This time, they confiscated a vehicle which they had taken in the week before for several violations (no insurance, etc.). The driver had somehow managed to get his car out of impoundment and back on the streets even though he was still in violation of several laws.
As things were beginning to quiet down, everyone heard a vehicle approaching down 32nd Street with a loud muffler. The driver, a teenage black youth, hit the gas when he saw the patrol cars and turned right onto 6th and then a sharp left onto 31st Street. In trying to avoid the deputies, one of whom had stood in the middle of the intersection, flagging his arms and ordering the driver to stop. He was lucky he wasn't hit by this rampaging driver.
The teenager only barely made the second turn before ramming into the rear of a Columbus city truck parked in front of a unit of a public housing project. The city truck was struck so hard that it in turn rammed into a small black car, which in turn was rammed underneath the bumper of a Jeep wagon. All the vehicles suffered severe damage, especially the truck the teen was driving and the small car.The teen jumped out the window of the truck and took off running -- with deputies in hot pursuit on foot and another in a patrol car. He managed to get away, at least for the time being. The deputies began a thorough investigation of the truck he was driving, taking finger prints and examining the contents carefully. It turned out to be stolen. The deputies were able to identify the teen (probably from his fingerprints) and the next night (Wednesday), the deputies were able to arrest him on several charges.
That was one heck of a spectacular wreck and chase... one which could very well have cost the life of the teen driver as well as others. He was hell-bent on not getting caught because for one thing -- he was driving a stolen truck. Unfortunately for Columbus, this fight against drugs is the type stuff that the newspaper and TV stations here (NOT a locally owned paper) says "isn't news anymore."
By the way boys, that gray Lincoln that ran the roadblock can be seen often in the neighborhood, at a house on 6th Avenue between 32nd and 33rd Streets.
These deputies have taken it upon themselves to help their community by trying to clean up some of this drug mess that is draining millions of dollars out of our community every year and corrupting our folk's lives and destroying health. Since our police department has been either unable or unwilling to take on this kind of effort on a fulltime basis, we suggest that our city leaders start looking at other alternatives. One might be to cut back on the number of personnel in the police department and ADD deputies to the Sheriff's Department. If one organization can't do the job and another can ... the answer is simple. If I were these deputies' boss, I would give them all commendations and a pay raise. They have the initiative and good ole fashioned gumption to go out and do the job and do it well! That's what this city needs -- and more of it! Keep this work up; it is sorely needed.
It's high time we get rid of the guys who just won't do anything to stop the drug crime in our city and put some new boys on the job who CAN and WILL do the work. Eight years is long enough time to prove that the ones who are supposed to be doing the job just aren't. Let's turn the job over to the Sheriff's Department. The sheriff is an elected official and much more responsive to the electorate than the police department. If he doesn't do his job, we can kick him out of office. For a while there before the last election, we got some good response from the Department in this particular area. But we need it on a daily basis. Start contacting your state representative and state senator and demand a bill before the next legislature to change the sorry system we have now. One way or the other, things are going to change. If we have to vote out the mayor and enire city council, then let's do it. Let's hope it is for the better.
All three Columbus network television stations and the only major daily newspaper (all owned by out of state corporations) refuse to send reporters to cover the drug sales. News editors at two of the TV stations and the newspaper all said "that's not news anymore".
Whatever happened to good old-fashioned journalism in the good ole days when news media was locally owned and operated? When our nation's news media was locally owned, they cared about and looked after their own community. Now, the three network television stations and the daily newspaper of Columbus are all owned by out-of-state corporations. That says it all. Perhaps if they cared more and covered more of real news in our city, they just might be able to get more subscriptions and advertising. I hear tell the subscriptions are dropping like dead flies though.
Does the fact that our local newspapers have lost so much circulation that they had to combine the two papers into one and are still losing circulation tell you something about their lack of interest in and coverage of one of the most important social and economic problems in our city? If you chose not to cover the news in the community you are supposed to serve -- then we just don't need you anymore.
On 3 August 2002, a parade of several city busses with civilians, decorated with signs proclaiming "Peabody Apartments Against Drugs" passed through the neighborhood, coming down 32nd Street and a few feet on 6th Avenue before proceeding again onto 32nd. The busses looked like a real parade, with streamers and other decorations. They were accompanied by several Columbus Police Department vehicles and a few Columbus Fire Department fire trucks and vehicles and emergency vehicles.
Several residents along 6th Avenue stood on their porches and one guy even stood there clapping (alone). He got a toot from the fire engine and a good response from a fireman on his bullhorn. But the policemen just stared ahead blandly.
The drug dealers left the scene during the parade. As soon as the "parade" passed on however, the drug dealers were back in action. Five minutes after the parade, one young dealer was observed picking up his "stash" in a plastic bag from the front porch of a vacant house at 3217 6th Avenue. Before he could get across the street, his first customers arrived, driving a beat-up black 1983 Ford with a tag number ending in ABB, containing a black driver and a white male passenger. The dealer was a young black male wearing a black tee shirt and black shorts.
The parade would be a good idea -- IF it were accompanied by some REAL action on the part of the Columbus Police Department. But parades are for show--and parades will NEVER stop the sales of illegal drugs, in Columbus or anywhere else. This parade is typical of this drug-infested area. It is the first such show in almost four years. Nothing like it has been seen by residents since the totally ineffective roadblocks of almost five years ago.
The only police "protection" are a few "drive-bys" and mostly during the daylight hours.
The night before this parade, on Friday night (Saturday morning) at 2:50 AM, six gunshots were fired at the intersection of 6th Avenue and 32nd Street. One dealer, a black male in his early 20's, with shaved head and wearing a Jordan (High School) number "32" tee shirt and baggy long black shorts, spent most of the early evening and all night selling drugs at this intersection. All the while, he hooped and hollered loud enough to be heard two blocks away. He hollered at almost every vehicle passing by.
And the drugs and crime goes on...
NOTHING is going to stop this crime until the city of Columbus posts at least one policeman at this intersection 24 hours a day, accompanied by at least one more patrolling the general area by car. And make arrests! There are enough drug dealers (and buyers) in Columbus, Georgia to make at least one arrest every night. "We have to have 'probable cause' one policeman said." He was told that the police should start arresting the drug dealers for anything, including loitering, littering, driving with no safety belt on, loud noise (from car radios), loud mufflers or anything you can think of -- and do it every day. That would quickly thin the ranks. As long as the Columbus Police Department fails to make these arrests, they are failing in their duty.
O
n the night of Friday 19 Oct, a police officer was observed driving south on Sixth Ave. at abt 12:10 AM (Saturday morning). At the time of his sighting, there were at least seven young drug dealers in sight of him. Some ran between three vacant houses just north of 32nd St., while others stood on the street watching him. Two dealers were standing beside a car just a few feet south of the policeman. They had just made a sale and the buyers (a woman driving and a male friend got into the car with her) appeared to be consuming their buy.The officer spent at least 15 minutes looking over a large stack of trash in garbage bags stacked beside a feeble-minded woman's home. In spite of repeated attempts to get his attention with a flashlight, he continued using his flashlight to look at the trash. He finally roused the old woman and spent several minutes talking to her. All this time, the drug dealers were laughing, giving the policeman the "finger" and taunting him (needless to say, from a block away).
A call to 911 asking that the officer quit his fiddling around and take some action to arrest some of the drug dealers watching him brought little response. He left the area a few minutes later. The "action" resumed with no delay. In fact, a group of seven dealers flocked around a red utility vehicle a few minutes later just a few car lengths from where the officer had parked. A white man was driving but he stopped the car at the intersection of 6th and 32nd and insisted upon his woman driving. She was raising hell with him to start, cussing loudly, then cussing while she bought drugs. WHERE was that police officer?? Probably in a coffee shop by then.
On this particular night, 6th Avenue was packed with dealers and "watchers", from the dead end of the street up to 32nd St. and along that steet east for a block. They hide between houses and whistle or holler at every car or truck going by since most of them are buyers.
Is THIS what we are paying our taxes for?? While drug sales were being made in his sight, this officer just wasted a night's pay by harassing an elderly mentally retarded woman about her trash! Give this guy a BIG commendation!
If this is Columbus' finest, then it is time to call in the ATF and the FBI. Lordy mercy folks, this is just too damn much!
If this is our only "police protection", then let's see if we can't find something better. Let's have a referendum in Muscogee County to abolish our police department and hire the Sheriff of Harris County to come in and clean house. From what we hear, he simply won't tolerate this mess out there. Either that, or pay him to move into town and elect him as mayor.
Don't know what is going on, but the drug and prostitute activity in the area of 6th Avenue and 32nd Street has picked up alarmingly in the last couple of weeks as of 12 September. There is much more traffic -- all night long -- than for quite some time. And the prostitutes have returned in droves -- even white ones, who haven't been seen in these numbers before. One really big mama, with a huge rear (the size of a barn) is now seen most nights and into the daylight hours.
And there are far more whites roaming the neighborhood, both on foot and in vehicles than ever before. Three nights ago for instance, there was a small white pickup (front and back seater) with two white men who repeatedly circled the area, time after time, all night long. In addition, a small red pickup also roamed the area, constantly squalling his tires and racing the motor.
If they are new 'roamers' (guys who look out for police and warn the street dealers), somebody should warn them that we do NOT like that crap in our neighborhood!Two of us on this street sat on our front porches for more than two hours each this week. We saw a lot of drug dealers and a lot drug dealing and whores. But one thing for certain, we didn't see a single police car patrol the area in that time, nor for the rest of the night either. So we guess that the taxes we paid for police protection that day went to waste.
Why all the new activity? Have the dealers and others gotten word that things are going to 'quiet down'? Have they paid off some more politicians??
Maybe we should start thinking about what those folk in California are doing...a recall election. If you cannot do the job fellas, step aside and let somebody else take a bat. This mess is out of hand and we want some confounded action or else find a new job!
As of June 2006, there are now more 'safe houses' and houses where drugs are being dealt out of on 6th Avenue and around the corner on 32nd Street between 6th and 7th. 6th Avenue between 32nd and 33rd Streets, is a VERY busy place, as well as the end of the street near the park, all day and all night -- every day. Police went into the back yard recently while searching the area of a man who escaped from a police chase on 32nd Street. That house and three others on 32nd became the centers of drug activity in the area. Dealers are also working out of the four houses on 32nd as well as in front of the public housing project a few feet away on 7th Avenue. They are dealing off the front porch of apartments in the housing project at the corner of 7th Avenue and 32nd Street as well as others in the project...in direct violation of both federal and state law. Dealer's cars run back and forth between the 'sales area' on 7th and 32nd and an apartment complex on 32nd between 4th and 5th Avenues where many have lived and dealed for several years.
Numerous homes in the area have been vandalized repeatedly. Windows have been broken out again and again. Doors of vacant homes have been kicked in so they can be used by the prostitutes who work with the drug dealers.
It is a frustrating situation for the police. Even when they do make an occasional drug arrest, the dealer is back at his "job" on the street within hours, continuing his drug sales. This was observed by residents when a young dealer was arrested (after dumping his drugs between two houses) about 3 AM. He was seen at the same site at 9:30 AM -- picking up his bag of goodies and back in business.
The drug industry is one of the most powerful forces in America today. They have enough money and political connections to stay in business and keep their key personnel out of jail. They can hire the best criminal lawyers available. Police often complain that the criminals are back on the street "before I can finish my paper work".
Perhaps if the dealers were arrested EVERY day -- day after day, it might slow them down some. And America's drug problems might just get improved. Isn't a little more paper work worth it? But of couse that would cut out the payoffs to politicians and police alike.
Finally, some attention and action is being shown to this neighborhood. A call from an officer on the Metro Drug Task Force (right name?) revealed that the Police Department has made raids in the area; two sizeable busts in "safe houses" and the confiscation of a goodly amount of drugs. They also made several arrests. This comes after our little "street committee" began making contacts with several City Councilmen. Haven't seen this much action since the last election!
Unfortunately, these kind of actions are only spotty at the least. The drug traffic just keeps rolling along. The hottest spot in the neighborhood at the moment is on 32nd Street just east of 6th Avenue. Once again, they have rented houses (at least three at the deadend of 6th Avenue) to operate out of and business is thriving. Police patrols have slowed down and things are returning to "normal" -- drugs 24 hours a day. You got the money, they got the stuff.
Unfortunately, these forays are rare and far between. It's the "between" that is hell. If the city refuses to put police in the known high crime areas full time, such activity will continue and only get worse. Only trouble is...the 'safe houses' are still in action and the drug trade is still wide open.
On 14 September, police were called to the intersection of 6th Avenue and 32nd Street to help quieten down the noise from two black teenagers who had been dealing there for several hours. Teenagers -- even drug dealers -- get bored and these two managed to create a lot of noise in their attempts to combat the boredom (fights with tree limbs, etc.), along with the hollering at most of the cars passing. The two youths appeared to be aged 15 to 17, dressed in tee shirts and long shorts.
Two police cars arrived quickly. The two dealers scooted down the street, one disappearing around the corner. The other, moving too slow, stood in the middle of the street. However, the police hardly stopped their cars, only long enough to barely say howdy and then drove away. Neither policeman got out of their vehicle, much less thoroughly questioned or frisked the teenagers.
This came on the heels of a puzzling escapade the previous night when two police parked on 32nd Street about four car lengths from the intersection of 6th Avenue. While they sat there for almost half an hour, the drug dealers at the end of 6th decided to leave. One drove his car backward for two blocks before spotting the police and then turning around. Another drove down the street without any lights on until seeing the police. Within seconds, all the dealer cars at the end of the street left the area.
That was the only time police were seen in the area all Saturday night. Yet it was one of the busiest nights of the week for drug dealing.
After the "drive by" Sunday, one of these cars was later seen driving down the street very slowly. A police car was also seen about an hour after that.
At 3:30 AM of the same night, three drug workers were seen riding bicycles within a three block section of 6th Avenue. For the first time in about four years, one of these was what appeared to be a very young white boy (wearing a black tee shirt with the number 51 (?) on the back). The other two were both black, one appearing to be middle aged who works the area regularly on a bike, working out of a "safe house" near the dead end of 6th Avenue.
One of the more recent moves by the dealers is to use the dead end of 6th Avenue. They pull to the end of the street and park their vehicles there (cars and SUVs). They have three "safe houses" on the west side of the street near the dead end and a quick exit through brush and trees into an adjoining park. Dealers have been seen going and coming from the "safe houses" for many months. Police chasing suspects have "lost" them in that area several times. Very likely, they run into the back of these particular houses. One policeman reported that a woman had been shot at a "drug party" there. That house has since been demolished. The older bicyclist tonight was seen riding out from the house and returning later on several occasions; last time tonight at 3:30 AM. The bicycle riders go to 31st or 32nd Street and turn east. Perhaps a drug house there used to resupply or resupplying other street walkers? Another recent addition is the use of a large pouch (like a woman's purse) on a long arm leash. Even some of those walking are now using these, such as one working the intersction at 5:05 AM and others use backpacks.
In addition to these houses at the end of 6th Ave., there are at several more "safe houses" on the street, one at the intersection of 32nd and at least two others in the middle of the block between 32 and 33, one on the east side hosts loud parties every weekend, often in the backyard. Dealers and buyers both go to this house day and night. A recently renovated house on 32nd Street has been occupied recently and is now another 'safe house' along with another one nearby. That makes at least five houses on 32nd between 6th and 7th Avenues.
The concentration of druggies in this area needs attention. A patrol car parked in the area all night would do the trick. Remember...the best way to break up the drug action is to run off the customers -- as well as the dealers. Put a different patrolman there every night, night after night and the action will cool mighty fast. OR put someone in the woods at the end of the street to observe and then make some arrests.
Hip Hip hooray~! In the wee hours of the night of 17 Sept, activity in the area was very heavy with a number of whores walking the streets as well as the druggies. When our man 'on watch' tonight went outside for the first time, there were four 'streetwalkers' ('ladies' of the night) on the block (three white and one black) and several dealers within sight, including one standing in the yard of an empty house (trespassing).
A dark burgandy SUV was spotted several times during the night. At about 3:00 AM, our watchman on duty tonight went out again after hearing a commotion. A man on foot was spotted running around the corner and heard getting into a vehicle (out of sight) and then speeding off. In a few minutes, a vehicle came around the corner. Our watchman stepped out of the shadows. The vehicle stopped and flashed a light in his direction; he spotted them with his flashlight in return. The car backed up and a confrontation almost ensued before the passengers identified themselves as police. They were chasing the burgandy (maroon) SUV. Darned glad to see some action around here. Sorry to be a bother.
About 3:15 AM, they stopped a loiterer and within minutes, there were three unmarked cars and a marked patrol car on the scene. Unfortuntely, they weren�t aware of the druggies at the end of the street a block and a half away. That area has become a 'safe haven' for them. They now have at least one house on the west side of 6th Avenue near the dead end and another on the east side. Dealers are seen going and coming from these houses every night, as well as numerous vehicles which park in the area.
In the early hours of one chilly morning in early February 2005 (or the end of January?), a task force of police raided a renovated house on 32nd Street which had been occupied by drug dealers for several weeks. They made themselves very noticeable with their damnable loud noise every day, enough to shake dishes in houses down the street. Three of them were taken away and the house quitened down. A visit to the house by the driver of the burgandy SUV mentioned above was made that night and he went through the house for some time as if looking for something; along with another guy the next day. Those guys left the lights on but there has been no sign of activity around the house for more than a month until the Friday and Saturday nights, 4 and 5 Mar 2005.
The peace the area had while those guys were 'gone' for a few weeks has once again been shattered. They are back -- with their loud noise! Once again, their booming car stereos are shaking up the 'hood. The two cars -- with the loud customized paint jobs (purple, green and yellow on one, bright blue and black on the other) and their gaudy wheel covers (which continue turning even after the cars stop) mark this site as a haven for trouble. Calls about the noise have thuse far gotten little response from 911.
Suddenly, things really came alive around the area. The burdandy SUV was among them, along with a black car(Buick?) and a red car (another Buick?) and several other cars and another SUV. Hot rides for this 'hood -- within talking distance of a low income public housing project. It you were watching this in a movie, you would think you were watching a gathering of the mid-level drug bosses. Another big gathering was held at the house the following Saturday night, lasting until 4:30 AM. The house got a lot of repairs and renovations a few days before the second meeting. Then the week after the second gathering, another druggie moved in (driving a familiar and very loudly painted car). These 'gatherings' have become a regular Friday and Saturday night thing. Up to nine carloads were counted on Friday, 29 April. They sure aren't wild parties. Not one sound can be heard coming from the house. Guys their age don't hold parties without a lot of booming noise. That means something else: maybe 'planning sessions' or briefings on strategy? Whatever, it is sure attracting a number of dealers.
It's hard to tell who is 'hosting' such gatherings -- because there is so much drug activity and 'safe houses' in the one block of 32nd Street between 6th and 7th Avenues. Some dealers just occupied a rebuilt house in the block as of the first week of March 2005 -- right across the street from the one raided a month ago. A gray car parked at the house is the same one which evaded a Sheriff's Department road block in the area a few months ago.
If drug dealers and users can return to their normal routine so quickly, then maybe a big part of the problem is not in lack of law enforcment but in our local judges. Certainly, crooked judges are nothing new...not even in Columbus. Perhaps it is time not only to totally re-do our law enforcement here but also to make them more accountable to the public and the law. We need to have public knowledge of their financial assets -- and where their money comes from to ensure that they are not being bribed. We need strict guidelines as to what they can do with criminals -- so they aren't back on the streets in a blink of the eye. If the 'tools' we use to fight crime don't work -- then we get new ones. It's time for a complete overhaul. It you are an elected official -- take heed. Either you are against the drug trade -- or you are out of office.
Sorry Mess Has Gone on Long Enough !!
The same old stuff hasn't worked so far. There hasn't been any dent in the dangerous drugs being sold on our streets. So, either we keep right on wasting our taxpayer's money or we start DOING someing right. Columbus NEEDS to get real with a campaign to fight the drug trade. Here are some tips that will help improve protection of our community, your children and at least slow down the drug crime:
Surveillance cameras are needed at key points in the high crime areas and have these monitored 24 hours a day -- and taped. This is already being done in numerous towns all over the nation as well as European nations. With video tapes, it makes it much easier to prosecute criminals.
Use the videos to help identify not only the dealers but their customers as well. We should do the same thing that Wilmington, Delaware is now doing...go after them as soon as we see a drug purchase. Stop the buyer, make an arrest -- preferably before they have a chance to use the cocaine. Drug buyers such as the big truck rig seen making a buy at about 2 AM 10 December should NOT be on the road.
Columbus needs to set up a system whereby computers identify high crime areas with a code name/number; change the codes every shift...so that when a call goes out over the police radio, the drug dealers and other criminals are not aware of it long BEFORE police get to the site. Each shift could be given a printed sheet with the codes of high crime areas in their patrol area.
By using computer codes suggested above, folks in the neighborhood could also get more rapid response. It is hard to get officers here faster than the druggies can change their appearance or leave the area. They always wear more than one outfit. For instance, even when it is 90 degrees outside, you can see them wearing at least two different colored tee shirts (or even long sleeved shirts). When a call goes out over the police radio, the drug centers warn their dealers by cell phones--who then quickly switch their shirts and appearance and toss their drugs aside (they come back for it as soon as the cops leave). Ditto for the winter garb.
Street dealers have become much more sophisticated with the use of cell phones. Formerly, they had one guy with a radio tuned to the police band radio. He would warn street dealers simply by hollering. Now, they all have phones and as soon as something is up, such as an approaching police car, they are warned immediately by phone. When one of our street committee goes out on the porch, they know it in seconds. At least three policemen have also told us that 'hired hands' in the police department may be warning the dealers.
Put a patrol car (preferably unmarked) in these high crime areas 24 hours a day. The complaints until now against this has been that Columbus has a "shortage of manpower". HOGWASH !! If high crime areas are KNOWN, then by god, keep the police in those areas only ...until the high crime comes down. It is a known fact that simply driving through a neighborhood has NO effect whatsoever upon the drug trade anywhere in the United States: the solution is to post someone in these high crime areas at all times. When the dealers move -- move the police. Forget traffic tickets and other petty offenses. Let's concentrate upon REAL criminals and real CRIMES. As reported above--don't worry about the trash around the home of some little ole lady in the middle of the night -- who just happens to be mentally retarded -- worry about the gang of drug dealers in the same block who are laughing at and giving the policemen the finger. That is a waste of "manpower" and our tax money! Fire such officers and retrain the rest! If our president wants to 'outsource' American jobs -- this is a darn good excuse to do so!.
When you see people on the streets at 3 AM in a high crime area -- throw the book at them. Arrest them for loitering, suspicion of (ANYTHING), no seat belt, possession of drugs, blaring their car radios loudly, loud (or no) muffler, no (or stolen) tag, driver's license, insurance or whatever. Stop anyone walking the streets between 11 PM and 6AM. If you see the same folk loitering on the streets in the wee hours of the night, they don't belong there. Either they are dealers or buyers. No one 'takes a walk' in these 'hoods in the middle of the night without being in on the action. Take names and addresses so you can double check the same folk again. Do this every darn day and every night. Sooner or later, the street dealers are going to run out of money to post bonds on so many charges. They will either have to cave in and quit the business or leave town. Stop cars in these high crime areas in the middle of the night and give them tickets, especially for loud mufflers and loud radios. If drug buyers know they might get stopped and ticketed, they might avoid buying the drugs.
If Columbus doesn't already have a curfew for teenagers, then PASS one and then make the police department ENFORCE it. There is absolutely no reason for 12 year olds or even 17 year olds to be on the streets at 3 AM or for that matter, after 11 PM.
Use unmarked vehicles as much as possible. Keep them tuned so they can't be heard coming by the druggies.
Use plainclothes officers in unmarked vehicles to hit the known drug areas every half hour at least. The tactic of going in once a week just hasn't worked. They are back in business faster than the police can get back to the donut shop. There is no confounded excuse for not making one or more arrests in the high drug crime areas every night. If you see folk on the street late at night, stop and question them. Take names and addresses. The next time you stop the same person in the middle of the night -- arrest them for loitering if nothing else. They have no business on the street night after night at 2 AM if they don't live in the neighborhood.
You know the heavy drug dealing areas. If you know where the criminals are, then just do the obvious and hit them where it hurts the most: "occupy" the area on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, the biggest drug trade is on Thursday, Friday and Saturdays. Set up shop by mid afternoon and keep at least one officer in the crime areas all night on these nights and during the day on Saturday. Right now, it is Friday, 6:15 PM and 'business' is hotter'n hell! Lots of buyers come by right after they get off work to get their stuff for the whole weekend or a party. You can't bust up this action if you aren't here; and this is when the heaviest real action is. Show the druggies that they don't 'own the hood'. If you only work a crime area once a month, you will never make a dent in the drug cesspool. But...maybe that's the whole idea anyway.
Locate and identify so-called "safe houses", or houses that are occupied by folk who are in cahoots with the druggies. Some of these aren't actual dealers but are users or folk who cooperate for money. There are now at least six such houses in the Sixth Avenue area alone between the deadend and 33rd Street, with more nearby; there are at least three at the dead end of the street. Some are just addicts who cooperate for a few 'hits' while others are working closely with the dealers as 'resuppliers'. At least two of these houses keep the night's supply for the area. When the street dealers run low, a bicyclist takes out a new supply, usually in a plastic bag that is very visible; sometimes a walker carries it. Around the corner on 32nd Street between 6th and 7th Avenues, there are at least six more such 'safe houses' that dealers work out of. Keep an eye on these houses and that alone will slow the trade. Two police cars at these areas on the busy weekends could hurt the hell out of the illegal and dangerous drug market.
Start raiding the 'safe houses' and drug dealers homes. Do it on a regular basis. In neighborhoods where there are more than one such house, raid two or three on the same night. Do NOT inform officers of the raids prior to the event. For instance, you could raid one of the houses on 32nd Street and another on 6th Avenue, all at the same time. That would confuse the hell out of the druggies and cost them a pretty bit of 'business' for at least one night. Send officers to the backs of the houses at the same time.
Give (loan, actually) video cell phones to volunteer spotters in all the high crime areas. They in turn can transmit live video of the drug crime as it is happening...complete with video and sound of the dealers and the buyers -- including live pictures of both as well as their auto tags. This will provide legal evidence and will sure as heck cut down on the drug sales and other drug crime. The cost would be tiny in comparison with the cost of the drug crime. When the crime moves from one area to another, the cell phones can then be reurned by the spotters to be used in the new areas. The phones could be rigged for calling only the police. ALL broadcasts should be recorded and monitored 24 hours a day.
What better way to curb crime than to have an officer standing on the corner of a high crime area? Take more men off the day shift who work little more than traffic control and put them to WORK patroling the high crime areas at night. Put a marked police car in the known drug areas. Park it in the center of where the dealers usually operate. Have one police officer walk around a one block area and one at the car. Be VISABLE -- that will sure as heck put a dent in drug sales. Change their shifts weekly, so the chance of association with the druggies is less and possible bribery goes down. Move them from area to area often.
But, as the police have stated, "That'll NEVER happen!" If it won't then why in hell should we pay taxes for your salaries!! And especially the salaries of those who give you the orders -- our City Council and mayor??Continued excuses about "shortages of manpower" no longer hold water, boys. The suggestions above are reasonable and logical. They wouldn't cost more money and they would certainly get results. Either you hand out traffic tickets or you start arresting hard core drug dealers. Either you serve honestly and with integrity or you take bribes and look the other way. Either you clean it up or the voters are going to clean you up. The public loses respect for their police AND elected officials when they see this kind of mess go on day after day after day.
Put an officer -- or deputy -- in these areas after dark for the rest of the night -- especially on the biggest sales days and nights of Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The buyers will get the hell out of there if they see a squad car. OR--put a plain car in the area and observe the buys -- calling in the tag numbers for the buyers to be picked up down the road by other officers.
PHOTOGRAPH the druggies making sales, along with customers and their tag numbers. What better evidence can you get?
If officers aren't around during the busiest drug sales, then something is wrong down at city hall. Either put them to work when and where they are NEEDED or put them on permanent vacation!
Put ALL policemen into special classes at Columbus State University on drug use, drug dealing, drug-related crimes and every other aspect of illegal drugs.
Put at least two cars in the drug areas during the busiest sales times. During the weekdays, this starts about 3 PM -- when folks start getting off work and contunies to about 8 PM. If the buyers drive through and see police cars, then they will run for the hills and do without. Keep an eye on the dealers and if they move around the corner, let one of the officers join them.
On Saturdays, the sales are busy all day but especially from about 5 PM until after midnight. No officer should be wasting tax money out on the expressway looking for speeders when dealers are selling dangerous hard drugs on our streets. Let's put our police to work and clean up this damn mess!
It is time for Columbus to take drastic steps to revamp our court system. Drug dealers have taken over the city -- when one is rarely arrested, they are usually out on the streets before you can bat your eye! If this was a rare incident that happened years ago, no one would question it. But when it happens all the time, then the public can only assume that our judges have been bribed by the drug rings. Over the years, several police have told us this is true. After several years of studying and experiencing this crime wave, our group is convinced of it.
When both old time and present police tell you that cops and judges aren't the only ones in Columbus who have been corrupted by big-time drug money, then you know something is rotten at City Hall! A good example are the shenanigans of our Columbus "Special Enforcement Department". When one resident had his auto tag stolen in the middle of the night, he discovered that wasn't the only way drug lords have for intimidating a neighborhood...he found a notice from a city inspector on his door the next day, ordering the 'junk vehicle' be removed: reason, no tag.
Add insult to insult: several months later, after the above car had been so vandalized that it was no longer worthy of further repairs, another auto was obtained and that very night, the tag of that auto was also stolen. Once again, a city inspector left a notice on his door, ordering the 'junk vehicle' be removed immediately: reason, no tag!!
What makes these shenaigans so brazenly open is the fact that a drug dealer parked a car around the corner for more than 13 months. The car could not be cranked and had no tag. It was never ordered moved by a city inspector in all that time. Could it be because it was in a drug dealer's yard?
Numerous drug dealer's cars have been seen since then on 6th Avenue without tags. Yet none have gotten citations from an inspector for removal. In other words, all a drug boss (or even a street dealer?) has to do to harrass honest citizens is to slip a little in the pocket of a city official. Works every time!
For you drug customers who like to shop the 6th Avenue and 32nd Street area of Columbus, you might want to start looking for another "store". When cars cruise through this neighborhood and are seen stopping and talking with known drug dealers, your car tag number and description will be taken down and turned over to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. Any contact with the drug dealers in the middle of the night will be considered to be a "buy" and your tag number will be taken.
On the advice of three Columbus policemen, it seems there will never be an end to the rampant drug business in Columbus without federal law enforcement intervention. So a neighborhood committee has contacted both the DEA and FBI and appealed for an investigation of the drug dealers, the police department and elected officials, including the Columbus judiciary.
We are going to get the druggies out of our faces, come hell or high water! And we just might get a few elected officials and "prominent" citizens in the same bust. Wouldn't it be nice to see a high muckety-muck sitting in a jail cell alongside one of the foul-mouthed street dealers!!
If our current elected officials refuse to take the reigns and get the job done, we can elect others to take your place.
The current members of the Columbus, Georgia City Council have FAILED the folks who elected them...as well as those who forgot to vote! These council members have repeatedly ignored the rampant drug trade in Columbus and by doing so, have turned many parts of our city into cesspools of drug crime, theft, shootings and many wrecked lives by allowing these dangerous drugs to be sold so freely.
A case in hand is the councilman who represents northwest Columbus that covers the Bibb City area and the area east of there to Veteran's Parkway. Thus far, he has ignored pleas to take some positive action. One of our watchers said he didn't even bother to answer emails detailing the problem and begging for help. You can better bet that in future elections, he WILL have opposition and his stance on fighting drug crime WILL be exposed!.
We have a new mayor now. If he wants a second term, Mayor Wetherington had better take heed and some darn earnest action. This drug crime is costing our city millions of dollars every year. Millions are being bled away to South American drug lords. Folk's lives are being ruined; businesses and homes are being robbed; folks killed; our schools are rotting away -- WHEN are we going to see some REAL action to stop this confounded mess!?
We are NOT going to take this any more! The American Civil Liberties Union will be glad to take our case to federal court and perhaps the federal court can get some of this mess cleaned up.
If you want a cleaner, healthier, safer Columbus, Georgia and are sick of the rampant drug problem in your city, then send an email to Mayor Bob Poydasheff and your city council and let them know your feelings. We'll never see any action unless the public raises HELL!!
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