WATCHFUL NEIGHBORS TAKE CONTROL:

LORAIN -- The porch light outside of 1857 E. 37th St. is on, but
nobody is home. A freshly placed "For Rent" sign is planted on the lawn.

And it's all thanks to several residents, who were not going to allow
drugs on their street.

As Kerwin Rios stands in front of his East 37th Street home, he
points to several neighboring houses, saying, "We watch out for them,
and them and them."

Kerwin, 43, and his wife, Laura, have lived on the street for more
than 15 years. They are two of several neighbors who said they were
not about to let drugs on their street.

The street is quiet -- birds can be heard chirping and squirrels can
be seen playing in front yards. Residents are outside raking leaves
and visiting neighbors.

On Nov. 8, two women moved in to the home at 1857 E. 37th St., which
started a week-long rash of what neighbors called out-of-the-ordinary activity.

After numerous phone calls to police and surveillance by neighbors,
by Nov. 11 the tenants were evicted, drugs were seized and one man
was arrested, according to Sgt. Albert Rivera of the Lorain Police
Department's narcotics bureau.

"We are trying to get other communities to take ownership of their
neighborhoods like this," Rivera said. "These people said, OWe're
taking back our neighborhood."'

When 30 to 40 cars started visiting the home daily, the longtime
residents knew something was up.

"The surrounding neighbors could tell something was going on the
first day with the amount of cars going up and down the driveway,"
Laura Rios said.

Neighbors worked together to monitor the activity. Several of the men
in the neighborhood got together and decided to have an obvious
presence near the house. One neighbor set up a video camera to
monitor the activity, while another man sat on his porch and created
a log of license plate numbers.

"They weren't going to hide," Laura Rios said. "They wanted them to
know they were being watched."

Kerwin Rios said they wanted the newcomers to know they were not
going to put up with the disruption.

"I spoke to (a neighbor) and he saw 20 cars come to the house within
an hour," he said. "We just stood out there and let them know we were
watching."

Meanwhile, many residents went to their neighbors and encouraged them
to call police about the activity. Laura Rios and neighbor Catalina
Soto described the individuals as very "thug-like."

"I didn't correlate it with drug activity at first," Laura Rios said.
"We just kept repeatedly calling the police, and we called the landlord."

The Lorain County Strike Force Team, the street crimes unit and
narcotics unit all responded to the numerous calls.

With the help of the residents, on Nov. 11, police arrested Cameron
Seymore, 23, at the house and found a half-ounce of crack cocaine, an
ounce of marijuana, a digital scale and $507 in cash, according to
Detective Tom Nimon. The former tenants of the house are not under
investigation, according to police.

"We had a lot of information from the neighborhood through e-mails
and calls," Nimon said. "We surveillanced the area for a couple of
days, and what we observed was consistent with drug trafficking."

Nimon said the tenants were not home at the time of the arrest, but
he believes Seymore was conducting a drug business out of the home.
After the arrest, the landlord immediately evicted the two tenants.

Laura Rios said the landlord has had a presence in the neighborhood
for 35 years and responded promptly to the neighbors' complaints. He
drove from Port Clinton after receiving several calls, she said.

"He likes to rent to responsible people," she said. "He thought they
were two responsible girls. He marched in there and told them he was
evicting them because the neighbors were reporting too much activity.
You can get some landlords who only care about collecting the rent
money, but he is a good landlord."

Laura Rios and her husband at one time lived in the now-vacant home.

"I raised three kids in that house," she said.

She said the neighbors know each others' schedules and in general
they trust each other.

"There's a level of awareness here," she said. "We know our
neighbors. I can name them all. We want to keep our neighborhood just
as you see it."

Rivera said that many people are scared to call police, but they can
do it anonymously. Laura Rios urged other concerned residents to do just that.

"Other neighborhoods who are scared will hopefully see that they can
count on the police and to not be afraid," she said. "South Lorain
has a bad name, but everyone has to work a little harder."

Nimon said the neighbors played a big part in the cleanup of the house.

"It's a help to us," Nimon said. "With us being short on manpower and
having only six guys, we need the assistance and are grateful to them."

Lorain police Chief Cel Rivera said the neighborhood sent a clear
message to drug dealers.

"This is a good example of what can be accomplished when
neighborhoods and police team up," he said. "We're thankful to those
citizens who said they were not going to tolerate drugs, because it
will discourage people from dealing drugs there in the future."