A Tampa City Council hearing Jan. 16 brought out citizens and community activists who want to see the city do more to get drug dealers off the street.While everyone seems to agree that street-level drug dealing is a real problem in some areas of the city, there was disagreement about a proposed solution. The council is considering an ordinance making "precursor acts" to drug dealing an offense that could result in arrest.
To some residents frustrated by dealers who make simply going to the corner store a harrowing experience, the ordinance will help police get some of the menacing dealers off the streets. To others, the ordinance unfairly targets blacks in poor communities and makes police harassment a city-sanctioned activity.
City Councilman Bob Buckhorn, a mayoral candidate, proposed the ordinance in December. His proposal has gained the support of the entire council.
The ordinance defines precursor acts as acts committed repeatedly over a period of time that are usually connected with drug activity. Some of the acts include a person standing in the same spot for more than an hour and repeatedly getting into passing vehicles for a brief time before returning to his or her spot. A person whom police observe repeatedly exchanging small packages for money over a period of time would also be targeted by the ordinance.
According to Tampa police spokesperson Katie Hughes, the ordinance will give officers another tool in their arsenal against drug dealers, and show communities that police are responding to their concerns.
"We get complaints all the time," said Hughes. "There are many good people who are in those areas just trying to raise our kids. Drugs are one of their biggest problems."
But wouldn't a trained police officer who observed someone standing on a corner and repeatedly entering cars already be able to make an arrest?
Not necessarily, said Hughes.
Because of the presumption of innocence, savvy drug dealers know that there is not a lot that police can do without hard evidence or a long-term investigation. Cops can approach suspected drug dealers and ask what they're doing, but citizens are not required to respond, said Hughes.
"We can stop and talk to anybody if they're doing something you don't feel is right," said Hughes. "But we have no right to detain them. They can walk away if they want to."
The proposed ordinance would stop them in their tracks. Instead of an inquiry, officers would be able to warn suspected dealers that the activity they are engaged in is illegal and issue a written warning, even without the hard evidence of drugs. If a suspect was caught engaging in that activity a second time, the suspected dealer would be arrested.
In the neighborhood that surrounds 15th Street, south of Hillsborough Avenue, residents and visitors have mixed feelings about the ordinance. While they concede that drug activity can usually be spotted by observing a dealer's behavior, there is room for error.
"Sometimes you can smell what's going on," said Corey Coley, who was visiting the area. "Sometimes, but not all the time."
In a country with a justice system based on the presumption of innocence, it's that lack of certainty that concerns Coley. "This is a free country, isn't it?" he asks. "That's [the ordinance] something you would see in Cuba or Afghanistan."
Kevin Grossman, a senior at King High School, echoed Coley's concern.
At the city council meeting, southeast Seminole Heights resident Sherry Simons pointed at youths riding their bikes as an indicator of drug dealing in her neighborhood. She told the council that drug runners were the only ones riding bikes in her neighborhood, not people looking for recreation.
Grossman rides his bike for a reason Simons failed to mention: He doesn't own a car. If he wants to visit his girlfriend or go anywhere else for that matter, he has to ride his bike.
"That's bullshit," Grossman said of the ordinance.
His friend Manny Torrez agreed.
"Not all of us are out here selling drugs. If I know there's a corner where a lot of women pass by, I'm going to stand out there and get as many phone numbers as I can," he said with a laugh.
Torrez considers himself to be quite the Don Juan, but both he and Grossman acknowledge that some of their contemporaries are more interested in being like John Gotti. The young men think that's where the police should come in.
"They need to step up their own investigation instead of passing some ordinance," Torrez said. "I think it would just cause more friction in the neighborhood."
In essence, stepping up their own investigations is what the police would be doing with the new ordinance, said Hughes.
"They're not going to target the kid that's riding up and down the street and visiting his friends," she said. "If they're just hanging out, this ordinance is not targeting that population."
But when an officer testifies in court against a suspected drug dealer, excuses about how he or she was just getting in and out of cars trying to get a ride from friends won't fly anymore. When an officer goes to court, precursor acts are already established by the city as legitimate, Hughes said.
"It could have been the officer's interpretation," she said. "Now it's in writing."
Although city council members unanimously support the proposal, the vote to pass it has been postponed while the members consider whether it should be enforced citywide or only in areas with a high rate of drug activity.
Contact Staff Writer Rochelle Renford at 813-248-8888, ext. 163, or rochelle.renford@weeklyplanet.com.
This article appears in Jan 22-28, 2003.