Police diligence pays off

Monday, Oct. 10, 2005 | 8:58 a.m.

It is disturbing to think that an 82-year-old man fears his neighborhood to the point of sleeping with a 3-foot stick and a loaded shotgun next to his bed. It is more so when his neighborhood is here in Las Vegas.

But the resident, who lives near Owens Avenue and D Street, told the Las Vegas Sun last week he has begun to feel safer in the two years since authorities rounded up and charged 21 alleged members of the Rolling 60s street gang.

Thanks to the cooperation of federal agents and Metro Police officers the violence and drug dealing that has terrorized the central-city neighborhood for years has been dismantled. The 24-hour drug-dealing at a house on Gregory Place pretty much stopped with the August 2003 arrests.

Five alleged members of the gang appeared in federal court Tuesday for a hearing regarding multiple counts lodged against them, which include racketeering. Seventeen members already have pleaded guilty in federal court on charges ranging from operating drug houses and selling crack cocaine to murder. Most also pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges and face prison sentences of 57 months to 14 years.

It has required additional diligence by officers assigned to Metro's special gang detail to keep a new group of thugs from picking up where the Rolling 60s left off. Despite the success of that effort, more than 100 assaults and 68 narcotics crimes have been reported in the area in the past two months. Whether or not gang-related, these crimes show much work remains.

But those responsible for unraveling the Rolling 60s and their deeds deserve the community's thanks. The list of charges doesn't begin to illustrate how daily drug-dealing and violence strangles a community and holds decent, hard-working residents hostage in their own homes.