Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 16 March 1995 — Page 2

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Muncie police need your help to rid city of drug dealers, other criminals

Earlier this month, the Muncie Police Department launched a major crackdown against drug dealers and other criminal elements. At a City Hall news conference, new Police Chief Ralph McGairk declared that it was time to reclaim the streets from the criminal elements. That was accompanied by the creation of a uniform strike force which immediately made its intentions clear through raids and sweeps in suspected drug areas. It was a good beginning, one that we all applaud. We realize that the problem did not mushroom overnight. Therefore there will be no overnight solutions to what ails the city. It is going to take time, resources (human, financial and material) for

this campaign to achieve its laudable goals of cleaning up Muncie’s streets. It will take time for the message to percolate that Muncie’s finest mean business when they say they will expel drug dealers, drug users, prostitutes and other criminal elements from our cities. Chief McGairk and his men deserve our unstinting support in this quest. Criminal activity affects all of us, one way or another. It will take our combined efforts to make ours a clean, safe and drug-free city. We can make our contributions by lining up behind the police and Mayor David Dominick's administration. We have to be willing and ready to call the police whenever we see a drug transaction in progress or about to occur.

Letters to The Editor The Muncie Times accepts and publishes “Letters to the Editor” under the following conditions: The letter must include the writer’s name, address and phone number where the writer can be reached during the day. Addresses and phone numbers will not be published. If the writer wants the letter to be published under a pseudonym, that wish will be honored. However, the writer’s full particulars must still be included in the letter, along with the suggested pseudonym. Letters must be brief, preferably no more than 300 words long and should, if possible, be typed and double-spaced. Hand-written letters will also be accepted. The editor reserved the right to edit all letters for brevity, accuracy, taste, grammar and libel. All correspondence should be addressed to: THE EDITOR, The Muncie Times, 1304 N. Broadway, Muncie, IN 47303. Unsolicited manuscripts will not be returned UNLESS the writer includes a pre-addressed envelope and the correct postage.

Publisher Bea Moten-Foster Editor John T. Lambkun Contributors Deborah Banks, Farrell

Downey Jr., Dr. W.J. Duncan, Bea Moten-Foster, Bernice Powell Jackson, Dr. T.S. Kumbula, John Lambkun, Judy Mays Advertising Bea Moten-Foster, Monty Brooks Typesetting and Production Jama Bigger Pasteup/Layout Christi Harrison The Muncie Times is published twice monthly at 1304 N. Broadway, Muncie, IN 47303. It covers the communities of Anderson, Marion, New Castle, Richmond and Muncie. All editorial correspondence should be addressed to: The Editor, The Muncie Times, 1304 N. Broadway, Muncie, IN 47303. Telephone (317) 741-0037, Fax (317) 741-0037.

The menace of drug abuse has been brought hope to us in the violence and shootings that have recently shaken our city. Unless these can be curbed, we will all be losers. We have to make a stand. That time is now. It will take the combined energies of the Coalition of Concerned Clergy, state and local politicians, community activists, business people, local people coming together in a concerted and relentless campaign to support Mayor Dominick and his administration. It is time to stand up and be counted. If we are serious about ridding Muncie of the drug menace, then it can be done and will be done. This problem cuts across ethnic, color, economic, social and political lines. It affects us all, whether we live in fancy houses away from the projects or we Find ourselves in Whitely, Industry and other afflicted neighborhoods. As long as some of Muncie’s neighborhoods are at risk, no neighborhood is a safe haven. Drugs are poisonous. As they course through the bodies of users, they are putting poison in the blood streams of their victims. They are mind altering. They cause people to change their behaviors, to engage in criminal behavior so as to get money for that next high. Drug addicts will do virtually anything to get the money necessary for that next fix, so they can be high again. We are all at risk when drug abuse and addiction are rampant in Muncie. We know what has happened in the big cities, where drug abuse has become an epidemic. People are locked

in their homes, afraid to go out because they will be accosted or harassed by drug peddlers. We do not want that to happen in MunCie. We can stop that if effective measures are taken now to deal with this threatening menace. Munsonians must be willing to stand up for what is right—that includes the right to raise our families and our children in neighborhoods that are free and safe from drug dealers and drug abusers. It means the freedom for Munsonians to walk freely and safely in their neighborhoods, to sleep without worrying about burglaries and robberies, to let our children and older people sit in their yards or porches without fear. This does not mean that

Muncie should keep out strangers, simply because they are strangers. But it does mean that we will no longer tolerate those who bring drugs or sell drugs in our communities. It means sending out an unambiguous message to all and sundry that drug dealers, drug abusers and other assorted criminal elements are not welcome in Muncie. It means letting the law breakers, regardless of who they are, know that if they sell or deal drugs in Muncie, they can expect no mercy. They will be arrested, tried and, if convicted, they will “enjoy” the hospitality of the Indiana correctional system. There should be no doubt about that. ❖

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