DRUG EVICTION EFFORTS GET PUSH

DURHAM -- Elected officials are urging Durham's Partners Against Crime
groups to expand their attempts to get people accused of drug dealing
evicted from rental units.

The effort, which involves civil-court proceedings and pressure on
landlords, is being pioneered by the PAC movement's District 2. During
a meeting Friday of the Durham Crime Cabinet, officials said the
city's other four PAC districts should get involved.

"It's exciting that PAC 2 is taking some ownership of this issue and
looking for a solution," said County Commissioner Ellen Reckhow, who
co-chairs the intergovernmental crime cabinet with City Councilman
Howard Clement. Clement was just as enthusiastic. "I'd like the other
PACs to share in this model," he said.

The encouraging words from Reckhow and Clement came after District 2
leaders Richard Mullinax and Ken Gasch briefed officials on what their
group has been up to over the past couple of months.

In that time, District 2 activists have followed up on nine Police
Department drug raids by checking whether the people arrested rented
or owned the targeted homes.

Seven of the raids targeted rentals, and each time the group contacted
the home's landlord to encourage an eviction. The group contends that
landlords and the community have the right to expect tenants to honor
leases that bar illegal drugs.

Tenants got the boot in five of the cases, and are on their way out in
the other two, according to a report Mullinax and Gasch presented to
the group. District 2 leaders say the use of civil eviction
proceedings -- which don't require the same burden of proof as a
criminal case -- is a faster way of closing down drug houses.

"The nine [cases] here are the serious dealers in the community,"
Mullinax said. "PAC 2 is not going to wait on a criminal conviction.
There's no reason to wait on a criminal conviction to bring evidence
to a judge for summary eviction."

The effort has, however, sparked dissent from some members of the
District 2 e-mail list precisely because it doesn't require the same
burden of proof as a criminal case.

It also drew criticism Friday from Victoria Peterson, a local activist
and unsuccessful City Council candidate who attends crime cabinet
meetings. "This community and country is losing the war on drugs," she
said. "I'd rather see [police] officers deal with the murderers in the
community. They're not going to go to Duke [University] and deal with
kids there selling it and smoking it; they're going to beat up on poor
black folks." But a crime cabinet member, the Rev. Melvin Whitley,
said pressure on landlords is appropriate.

In PAC District 1, which covers North-East Central Durham, drug
dealers and property managers in some cases have established working
relationships, he said. Every four to five months, when police
pressure gets too hot, the dealers will move from one unit to another
controlled by the same landlord. "I applaud PAC 2 for what they're doing,"
Whitley added.