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B'ball & Drug Deals in Billy Taylor Park
B'ball League -- who are these people?
Once again people from all over Providence converged on BTP for the b'ball league games. Most of the people in the park for these games are not from Mt. Hope.
Visitors parked up Camp Street on both sides so that it was almost unpassable.
Again, drug dealers set up shop in the park along Camp St. next to the house on the corner of Camp and Locust.
I got stopped in my car on Camp St., by the park, by two cars stopped side by side, both facing south, blocking what was left of both lanes. I had to lay on my horn strong to get them to move, or I would have sat there until they deigned to move. They were setting up a drug deal. I followed the cars around the Pleasant, Knowles, Camp quadrant and watched them consumate the deal. I wrote down their license plate numbers and a description. I watched them drop the dealer back in the park.
The descriptions: a new, grey sedan, RI plates IG 366, and a large, black suv, MA plates 41JW41.
I drove home and called in the info to the police at 272-1111 and spoke to dispatcher #83.
I gave my name, address, and phone number and explained that I was with the Mt. Hope Crime Watch and that we'd been instructed by our District 8 commander to call in information on drug dealing that we'd witnessed. I told him that he could send a car by my house and I'd be glad to point out the individual I saw doing the deal.
When I returned to the park 30 minutes later, no drug dealers were in sight.
Part of me resents having to do this kind of work. But if I want a better Mt. Hope, without drug dealers plying their trade next to my home, then this is what I have to do.
I'm not opposed to basketball games in the park, but I think it's a shame that the few ruin it for the many.
I also believe that the police owe it to Mt. Hope residents to do a better job of policing these games.
Two rookie foot patrolmen in the park will not cut it. They need patrol cars backing them up. They are overwhelmed. We need the parking situation policed, and the police need to occupy the spots where drug dealers like to set up shop.
The police should be making it inconvient for the dealers, not the dealers making life inconvient for Mt. Hope residents.
Let us all get our priorities straight.
John Twomey
Posted at August 7, 2005 11:59 PM
Nice one, John.
I'm not sure why it is this corner where they choose to do business but it baffles me.
Also, I saw a couple of bike cops cruising the streets the other day. Is this new? Is it permanent? That could be really effective because it has more of an impact than cops on foot.
I caught wind that there is going to be a new island at the intersection of camp and rochambeau. benches, trees, the person I spoke with was concerned that it was going to bring more drug dealing to that end of camp.
True? False?
Posted by: Kevin at August 11, 2005 05:24 PM