Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2003 | 11:05 a.m.
Downtown Las Vegas has long been known as the city's marketplace for illegal drugs.
Activist Earl White is trying to change that with a "Take Back Our Streets" campaign that kicked off with a march Monday night.
"We're trying to help start a revolution," said White, a member of the Downtown Central Development Committee. "This is an example of people taking matters into their own hands. The police can't do it all. City officials can't do it all."
"We want to send a message that this area will no longer tolerate people thinking this is a fashionable area to come to buy drugs."
So White, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and City Council members led about roughly 100 people, including children carrying signs that said, "We are the children who live downtown, help us," symbolically took back the streets, from Fremont and 15th streets to Maryland Parkway, one step at a time.
The Rev. Stephen Smith of the Downtown Community Church said after Monday's march people from area churches, businesspeople and families will continue to walk the streets on Friday nights until drugs and prostitution are gone from the area, which is marked by cinder block motel rooms.
"We would like to have a park down here," Smith said, noting that parks are often built in affluent neighborhoods.
Where do downtown's children play?
"They don't play, or they play in the street," Smith said, wiping sweat from his forehead after the march.
Insurance executive Arthur Wade said the city is trying to get some funds from the Bureau of Land Management's land sales fund to build a park in this part of the city.
"There is a way to bring a park here," Wade said, adding that Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., secured millions of dollars for a park in Reno. "What's wrong with Las Vegas?"
Goodman applauded the effort.
"This is great," he said. "This is what we have to do to make any progress."
But improving the area is a step by step process, the mayor said.
"First, we clean up the drugs, then we get a park, one step at a time," Goodman said.
Las Vegas City Councilwoman Janet Moncrief told the crowd: "You guys are the eyes and ears of the community,"
Las Vegas City Councilman Lawrence Weekly also had encouraging words.
"There are more of you than there is of them," he said.
Metro Police Sgt. Eric Fricker said he has seen some improvement -- some blocks of Fremont Street haven't had any robberies in more than a month and residents have said they feel safer. But police are engaged in a constant battle against drug dealers, he said.
There is more drug activity in the downtown area than in any other section of the city, according to police statistics.
Police have nabbed dealers by saturating certain areas, which drives the dealers indoors. The officers "take out the spots they hide in," Fricker said.
"The criminals are in a constant state of confusion but drug sales are still very high," Fricker said.
Goodman took note of those not participating in the march.
"I saw it in their eyes, just like cockroaches," Goodman said. "They know that after what took place tonight people are going to be the eyes and ears for Metro."
White pointed out that a Utah tourist in May asked a cab driver to take her where she could buy crack cocaine. He took her downtown, where she was killed.
And he said the murder and beating in a downtown jewelry store earlier this month was "unfortunate ... there's another business person who invested in downtown and look what happened."
James Morris, a co-captain of Neighborhood Watch at the Fremont Villas apartment complex, said that he feels vulnerable when he is downtown in his wheelchair.
A resident since 1986, Morris said, "I believe in taking our streets back. I don't feel safe at the bus stop."
The Downtown Central Development Committee, a volunteer group of local residents and business people who seek to improve the quality of life downtown, has some immediate plans to help ease the problem.
The committee's faith-based subcommittee plans to walk in downtown's known drug areas every other Friday and "put people on notice" that their activities won't be tolerated. The committee also hopes to expand their neighborhood watch program.
A member of the committee, Jay Hiner, vice president of community development for Nevada State Bank, said that a $2,700 grant from the City Council will start to help homeowners in the area who need "curb appeal." Many of the residents have lived in their homes for years but don't have the extra cash to paint a fence or replace grass in their medians, he said.
Risa Rodriguez, who arrived in Las Vegas on Aug. 1 from the Philippines and is working as a missionary at Smith's church, said she sees signs of revival in downtown.
"I think there is hope," Rodriguez said.
Fricker said a larger plan is needed to combat the crime problem. A possible solution is for the city to adopt so-called quality-of-life initiatives, as New York City did.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani aggressively went after misdemeanors such as prostitution, graffiti and playing music on the street, which was meant to send a message that any unlawful act will get punished. Crime was reduced by 57 percent under Giuliani's plan, but his actions also drew criticism from advocates of civil liberties.
"If New York City can do it, anyone can," Fricker said. "I've been fighting tooth and nail to get a broader strategy. ... We're at a turning point right now. One day I'm optimistic and the next day I'm not. We could fix Fremont Street, but it would take 100 percent participation" from area residents and business people.
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