Will Newark Ever Have Relief From Crackheads?

[5Reasons]

Can someone please tell me the exact date when I will be able to walk around Newark and NOT have to look at crackheads? I mean, what is this City's policy towards removing crackheads from the streets? I remember when there were no junkies littering the streets (the 70s); however, no Newarker that's less than 20 has EVER remembered when there weren't 95 pd junkies begging for change, as they wear dirty clothes and you fell like vomiting when they get too close to you.

What public official in Newark is going to finally propose a pro-active stance towards removing crackheads from the streets? We have loitering laws. We have littering laws. It seems as though we only want to deal with the supply side of the drug problem and yet, it is the demand side that goes unaddressed and unmolested UNTIL their drug habit spills over into criminal behavior. By that time, it is probably too friggin late to help them.

How can you raise any kid in the midst of crackheads? How do you expect to move this city forward without a vision statement? Unless this city gets proactive towards identifying the crackheads and aggressively getting them help, it will NEVER become the city that it wants.

Again, this isn't mission impossible. I firmly believe that for less than 2 million dollars per year, you could hire NEWARKERS as caseworkers-activist that can go out and roam the streets to make sure they identify these people. These people can be "tagged", entered into a datatbase, monitored and treated. Sadly, I doubt any of our "leaders" have either the fortitude or vision to deal with this issue.

[zodtee]

I know this isnt the main subject of your text but I HAD to respond...
I have never been a drug user...but have witnessed many friends, family, etc on various drugs my entire life....
There is a BIG difference between heroin addicts, crack addicts, alcoholics, etc and it is not very hard to look at an addict and know which is their drug of choice( for lack of a better term)




Back to the MAIN subject at hand....


The police or some other civic employee division should be required to do street sweeps....I dont live in newark anymore but I did when the Rt 280 ramp to Orange St was built....and I lived there when the last Gateway Bldg was built and even when the PAC.....Sad to say but it seems to me that when the powers that be dont want to insult the suburbanites, they make sure they dont see the despair( drug dealers, addicts, other loiterers) hanging around....for example, It is clean & clear down the North end of Broad St on the night the NSO plays....

The street sweeps.....no homeless, drugged out or otherwise, no loiterers, no street corner harmonizers, etc allowed at ANYTIME....if they linger, arrest em....take 1 of those abandoned buildings off Orange St( used to be the Flea Mkt..Are they still there?) and make it a holding cell of some sort....I dont claim to have the answers, Im just throwing out ideas.....Something has to give....

[ProSouth]

To me a crackhead is someone who you see lives and breathes for nothing but that crack. They will be out all day and night hustling, begging, stealing, robbing for that crack. They also visually look addicted. Many crack addicts are crackheads or eventually end up like a crackhead because of the enormous addictive power of crack cocaine. It does not take very long for someone who is addicted to crack to want more and more of the drug far above what they can afford. So in order to get that drug they will be out all day and night hustling and while they are hustling for that money they are getting "sick" from the withdrawl symptoms of the drug.

Now heroine addicts for the most part are different. There are many, many "working" heroine addicts. They work everyday for years without anyone ever knowing they have a heroine addiction especially if they snort the heroine. Even intravenous heroine addicts can keep their adictions hidden if they regulate and maintain their drug intake. Many heroine addicts only have a $20-30.00/day habit. Now those who have a $100.00 per day habit might have a harder time maintaining thir addiction so they aremore noticeable. But I know herione addicts that have been doing "dope" for 20 years or more and you would never know it by looking at them.

There are also working cocaine addicts. Most of those again snort the drug in it's powder form. Cocaine in it's powder form is less addictive than crack (which is also cocaine).

Chancellor & Leslie St., Lyons & Clinton Pl., Goodwin & Renner Ave., Osborne Terr. & Renner/Shephard Aves., Many parts of Hawthorne Ave., Clinton Ave., Clinton Place, etc. You can see crackheads almost any time of the day or night.

[John Sharpe James, J.D.]

On Lyons Ave :eek:

[5Reasons]

You're saying the following:

1. You can't tell who's a crackhead.

2. Everyone has this problem, therefore, Newark can really do nothing in this matter.

3. 2 million dollars would be far too expensive to promote this initiative to get the crackheads off the streets and out of the face of young Newarkers.

So, to sum up your position, you're saying that there's nothing you could do.

Thanks, for your enlightened response! (Somehow, I figured you would be "defensive" on this issue, rather than progressive.)

To paraphrase my greatest white relative, Strom Thurmond, "Crackheads now. Crackheads forever!"

[jazzyken]

Getting the "crackheads" off the street can and should be done. It should not take two million dollars to acheive. It should be done with the same tax dollars that have been taken for years and that was not used. Say you go to Linden, Roselle... if you stand in the street for too long they ask you to move and if you do not go anywhere you are arrested. No question of cost. It is a matter of caring about the look of the city.
I was walking along Broad Street last week and it was a man knodding against a wall. He was disgustingly filthy, he was scratching all parts of his body, his pants was almost to his knees which means all of his a** was showing. I asked a cop to have him moved because I was walking with my children and he replied "we are towing cars right now". What in the he** is that? The officials do not care what the city looks like.
If I was someone from out of the city looking to rent or buy in this city or heck what if I was going to see a Devils game :) do you think I would come back after seeing that site. NO

[rice2006]

It was said earlier and bears repeating, no one is going to come see the Devils or do anything downtown when crackheads are all around begging for change. Likewise, no one is going to buy homes and raise their families in places like Vailsburg where the homeowner community is barely hanging on when crackheads are walking up and down So. Orange Avenue all day and night.

The truth is that there needs to be a carrot and stick approach to the problem. The stick is that there must be a zero tolerance policy for loitering crack traffic in the neighbrhoods first. It must mirror the tactical drug squad from this summer that went after drug dens and witnessed many a good NPD officer getting shot. Going after the crackhead should be easier.

The carrot approach is where it gets tough. The city leadership should shut down Trenton and demand a commitment from Kerry now (once he becomes Prez) to get more beds for interdiction, drug treatment slots, and the wait to get in these new beds must be sped up. Dept. of Health says state is about 200,000 beds short of what it needs. I think that is a low estimate and the figure is closer to 280 to 300,000 short.

Lastly, a regional safety net and tracking system must be created for the newly cleaned up folks from these beds. Of course, all of this is easier said (and paid for) than done.

[Doofus1]

commitment from Kerry now (once he becomes Prez)

Don't count your chickens, Ron. Kerry hasn't been able to make a move on Bush.

Realistically, what federal social program are you going to cut to pay for your program? I think the state needs to pick up the tab for this problem. Considering that the Democrats effectively control Trenton, your focus on Trenton is the right approach. It can get done on the local level rather than at the federal level. Senators James and Rice need to use their courtesy to hold a few of Codey's appointments at bay if need be.

[5Reasons]

Newark = 27 square miles and 275,000 people.

Upper Pittsgrove Township = 43 square miles and 3,500 people.

Can someone tell me why we just can't ship the crackheads to Upper Pittsgove?

[sportyjoe]

"...pro-active stance towards removing crackheads from the streets"
"We have loitering laws"
"These people can be "tagged", entered into a database, monitored..."
"The police or some other civic employee division should be required to do street sweeps"

Although I hate crackheads and heroin, not heroine, users as much as the next person, they have rights too.

You can't just remove someone from the street because you suspect them to be a crackhead. If you have probable cause to believe they are under the influence then you can arrest them, but they will be out before the paperwork is completed because it's a minor offense.

There are no loitering laws as the US Supreme court struck them down years ago and if Newark has an ordinance I'm sure it violates a persons civil rights.

Tagged and monitored!! Talk about big brother. Not one of you criticized that. I can't believe it.

Street sweeps to get only drug users? I just want to be on the sidelines to watch that escapade.

Imagine yourself, ProSouth. Walking down the street passing some crackheads and you momentarily stop to converse as one of them asks you a question. Suddenly Newark PD swoops down and grabs all of you. You know you were just walking by but the officers don't see it that way and off you go to. Next thing you know you're being held in some old building to be processed and then here comes Dr. Spock to implant a monitoring device in your body.

Sounds like a good plan??

[jazzyken]

You can not say there is no way to have drug addicts removed off of the street. I understand everyone has rights and no one should be violated... but my children also have rights and their rights should not be violated from walking the street or playing in a playground without having someone nodding out, sniffin up or dealing drugs in public. If you want to do drugs that is your own business but keep it out of the eyes of the impressionable. I have three children and I maintain a drug free, alcohol free environment in my home and the last thing I need is someone sitting on my street high as a kite and I can not do anything about it. Or walking down the street and see drug addicts buying, using or selling drugs in front of my kids... in neighboring areas i.e. Bloomfield, Nutley, Belleville you do not see it. How can Newark defeat this problem without compromising someone's civil liberties????

[5Reasons]

NYC can "sweep the streets" of the homeless for the GOP Convention, then we can get the crackheads off the streets at all times of the day and night. Loitering is a public nuisance and we have a right and for the quality of life of ALL Newarkers, we must get them out of the way.

And let me tell you, if you can't tell the difference from a crackhead and an alcoholic, then you've been living in burbalandia for too long. I can tell your garden variety drunk from crackhead by the changes in their features from sustained long-term addiction.

Newark must act now.

[5Reasons]

John, we're just going to have to disagree. I don't think you should accept crackheads everywhere all the time. If that IS your PUBLIC position, then you might as well send a memo to the remaining middle class familes in the city so that they can pack their sh!t and bounce.

Newark needs a Comprehensive Street Crackhead Removal Strategy. I don't accept that MY city streets have been taken over by addicts.

[jazzyken]

agree with 5 on this one. I can not believe your stance on this issue. Just because other major cities have the same problem that does not mean we have to throw our hands up. We should be fighting a more aggessive fight against the problem. Not every section of Newark has the same problem. On Clinton Ave., South Orange Ave., Springfield Ave., it is horrible.
As a resident of this city, I drive through almost every section of Newark and these areas seems to be the worst. NPD should start picking these people up for quality of life issues... arrest them. Impose mandatory drug sentencing. It has to be a way.
There are so many programs and options. Look at route 78. Start picking up the outsiders coming into the city to buy drugs. Do a sweep on Friday and have drug dealers sit until Monday. They sell drugs because there is money in it. Stop the Money... you will Stop the Flow... and Stop the crackheads from plagueing the city. Any other ideas???

[5Reasons]

You're framing the question the wrong way. No one disputes that other cities don't have problems. What I think we're trying to say (and what you've all but conceded in your comments) is that Newark DOES NOT have a strategy for controlling and reducing this problem. We need to have a proactive strategy to get crackheads off the streets as much as possible. If the zombies want to kill themselves, they should do it in their own apartments. But the problem is bad and getting worse. These crackheads don't even try to make themselves up. What worse, of course, is that kids have to be exposed to these people every friggin day of the year.

John, as an outsider from Newark's political class, I'm trying to tell you. In fact, I'm trying to warn you. There's a growing disillusionment from even the most hardcore middle class Newarkers that have stayed through all of the crap. Newark has to come up with a coherent policy to move crackheads off the streets.

BTW - SportyJoe is WRONG. Loitering laws are NOT unconstitutional. Perhaps he may be citing a case in which there was a particular law that was administrated in a way that took down equal protection, but that's just germane to that law. Munis maintain the right to promote land-use and population control policies.

You know what gets me, is that if you go up SO Ave right next to the SO border, the crackheads KNOW the city limits. They will go right up to the city border, but they WON'T DARE cross that line to go into South Orange. They know that if they started walking around downtown SO, that someone would start asking them some hard questions.

John, you have some good ideas. And, I love the fact that you argue your point with wit, humor and facts. But this is one issue where you'e "in the bubble" and perhaps you don't see it from the street-level. Newark has to act fast.

As FDR said during the Great Depression, "Do something. Do ANYTHING."

Newark's leaders have got to begin to be proactive.

[John Sharpe James, J.D.]

AND REMEMBER I SAID A "CITY WITH A POPULATION OVER 300,000" NOT SOUTH ORANGE! :mad:

[Miss Tam-Tam]

Crackheads walk the streets because of crack. Eliminate the crack, then the "heads" will leave. Easier said then done. If such a thing as a crackhead roundup would happen, where would the authorities place them? Drug rehab? Jail? Availability of drug rehab beds are between zero and none. Jails are overcrowded. Besides, when it comes to addiction you have to want to beat it. Otherwise it's back out on the streets -- the only place left to go. Again: Eliminate the supply and the "heads" will follow.

[John Sharpe James, J.D.]

:D

[ProSouth]

Everyone has good points to me but the whole point here should be to reduce crime, clean up the street, and make the streets safe for law abiding, tax paying citizens. On this I am sure we all agree. Let's understand who commits the most crimes in Newark...usually a drug addict. Loitering is just one crime they commit. They are the ones most likely to steal the radio and the contents of your trunk at 3 am in the morning; they are the ones who will climb in your basement window when you are not home to burglarize your house. In addition, they are the ones most likely to murder you while robbing you, carjacking, etc. Despirate junkies do desperate crimes. I owned an investment property in Vailsburg some years back and the junkies on the block were out of control. Becuase the property I purchased was boraded up for a minute before we acquired it and renovated it the neighborhood junkies used it as a loitering base to drink and do their drugs all day and all night. Eventhough the other homeowners on the block hated them being there many of them after a while just accepted their presence because it wasn't in front of their house or calls to NPD got nowhere. All we did from day one is make it openly known that we were not going to tolerate loitering, drinking or anything else not only in front of the house but on the block. We made it clear that there were children on the block that did not need to see and play around junkies and criminality and that we would do what ever it took to ensure that. If that meant call the police on them everyday or confronting them personally everyday or whatever it took everyday we would do what it took. The word got around that that house and that block was not the house or block to chill anymore. The loitering in front of our property stopped completely within 1-3 days. The loitering on the block stopped within a week or so. They would see our cars coming up the street and jet. As simple as that. Now was that a plan...hell yea. Can Newark PD do the same...hell yea. Will they...hell no. And maybe not because they are being incompetent but because they can't possibly be in all these hotspots at the same time. However I do think a comprehensive plan to identify and remove junkies and get them help would go a long way in beginning the process. The citizens with the police need to step up to the plate to clean the neighborhoods and the system needs to step up to help the junkies clean themselves up.

[5Reasons]

Great way to sum up the post. Newarkers have learned to tolerate the intolerable. And I don't care if pi$$ off the pro-crackhead vote. I can live with it.

[jazzyken]

to continue to live in this city and live with the problems it has. I was born and raised in Newark. I went to public schools in Newark. I work in Newark. My husband works in Newark. My children are being raised in Newark. The reason why most individuals move out of Newark is the school system #1 and crime #2. I will be 30 next year and all my years of growing in this city it has gotten worse each year. Yes, it is a bunch of new houses and no police officer and fire fighters have been laid off. But look at all of the crime in the city... maybe cops should have been laid off. Start at the top and work your way down. What gets me about the city is that someone can kill, rob, steal, sell and buy drugs in this city and it is chalked up to being Newark. That is crazy and anyone who has common sense knows that this is not the way a city should be run. I have never said any other city over 300,000+ people has no vagrants and quite frankly I do not give a damn about any other city. I am concerned about Newark. And Just Newark. I am pissed at the fact our Administration does not have a plan in effect for these types of problems. The filth on the streets, the drugs, the assaults is out of control and all Mayor James seems to talk about is this arena. Honestly, if there is an arena or not would not make a big difference to me. Just get the crackheads off of my street and off of the streets of Newark. I am sure other cities have their own problems but it is not on the main streets. Newark Lets Get It Together!!!

[black4rob2]

You can't name one other major city which has ZERO vagrants and street people, but say Newark shouldn't throw its hands up?

AGAIN...NAME ONE OTHER CITY WITH A POPULATION OVER 300,000 WITH ANY MAYOR YOU CAN NAME WHICH DOESN'T HAVE STREET VAGRANTS....JUST NAME ONE AND THEN I'LL SAY ITS POSSIBLE.......

JAZZY...YOU SAY THERE ARE SO MANY OPTIONS SO YOU SHOULD EASILY BE ABLE TO NAME ONE METROPOLITAN CITY WITHOUT STREET PEOPLE OR DRUG ADDICTS!

NAME ONE METRO CITY AND THEN NEWARK CAN FOLLOW THEIR MODEL.

THE FACT THAT YOU CAN'T NAME ONE TELLS US REALITY....NOT SOMETHING OUT OF HOLLYWOOD! :cool:



John:

Why can't Newark be the leader in this issue and be the first metro city without vagrants or street people as you put it? Why must we follow suit? Imagine the kind of problem we would have if every other city waited for another to act on a particular issue...we would have no progress.

I think it is definitely possible to clean up the streets, but not overnight as it seems to me that most of you are implying. I'm in NYC and Newark all the time, and I must say that I encounter more beggers in newark than i do in NYC, and I think I have a valid reason for that...

Being that most crimes are connected in some way shape or form; I think that the elimination of several key factors can help curb the other remaining relative aspects of it..

For instance...With NYC the heavy police presence by foot makes it difficult for the drug trade to continue comfortably, therefore the "Street People" are forced to go elsewhere to get their drugs...

As I am sure there are other factors, I believe that if you can curb the drug problem in this city you can defintely affect the "Street People" problem as well.

[jazzyken]

right now... Why are you so concentrated on other cities, Mr. James. Forget about the other cities for a minute and focus on Newark. Newark has went further and further into the depths of Hell in the last twenty or so years and all you can say is look at other cities. How can you justify the problems of Newark with that response?

As far as prisons and drugs... obviousley the inmates are not under surveillance or they would not be able to get and use drugs in the system. Random drug testing and turnover of officers would be able to clear that problem up. We pay millions of dollars into the penal systems. That is truly unacceptable that someone in jail can get drugs. Hold the administration accountable. Someone in the penal system should be tracking and trending this problem.

Now as for this fair city... the city has tracked and trended until the cows have come home. As a resident of this city we need action not more running around the bush. This is ridiculous.

[John Sharpe James, J.D.]

Please don't bring up hiring more police to enforce anit-drug/loitering laws.

I've been getting CLOBBERED over the head with all the bad press about EXACTLY what you suggest. The fact that one cop protected her drug dealing boyfriend is WAAAAAY over the top :( :mad:

[black4rob2]

First of all, I'm not trying to clobber you, I know the feeling. But I have seen first hand the shaddiness that goes on with NPD.

This has been going on for years...

Look at what all those guys went through with Club Sights....

Ask Prosouth to explain why they needed cameras in every corner of that building!!!!

[myhomenewark]

All we can ever hope to do with crackheads is displace them. There is no money anywhere to meet these or other social needs, nor will there be. We need a Wolfowitz- or Rumsfeld-like spin on the war at home to address this and other social issues. I don't see it happening anytime soon.

NJ has got the perfect scenario--the richest state with some of the poorest cities. Newark is a "sink" for the un- and under-employed of this region. There's only so much nicing up that goes along with that. Home Rule helps the process along, artificially separating wealthier areas from the poor in more than just name and administration in 18th century-style town boundaries. Home Rule makes whatever is done to aid our tiny cities look like charitable resource allocation (and the attendant paternalistic oversight which goes hand in hand with such wrongheadedness). New Jersey is content to declare certain parts of the state No-Go areas a la Iraq, thereby allowing our collective social problems (byproduct of America's capitalist system) to find a more stark accumulation in percentage of a municipality's population than you will find most anywhere else. (If for nothing other than property value interest, American-style sprawling cities will do more for their cities simply because not to do so would distain their wonderful annexed neighborhoods). New Jerseyans believe that the good folks who still live in derelict areas of Newark (and other cities) deserve to live there and if they didn't they would've moved from such a godawful place--or get an education for a better job, etc., etc., without any understanding that it's not always that simple.

Anyway, it seems we do not need all of our cities to be scrubbed of crackheads and beggars yet. If middle-class New Jerseyans want to live in the city they already can move to Hoboken or Jersey City. The key is adding Newark to that gentry and export the crackheads to other locales.

When property values rise in Newark above and beyond the surrounding area to a level to make gentrifcation seem less like a pioneer spirit, watch the crackheads disappear.... unfortunately only to Irvington, East Orange, Orange, etc.

[jazzyken]

the record straight I do not bash the mayor... maybe other do but that is not my kick. It is the responsibility for all in administration including the Mayor.

Okay new houses, cleaner downtown (not clean). That is all that is heard in Newark. Get over it. The city is disgusting. The drugs are out of control.

I am one to admit that this problem will take time and a lot of effort by all people involved police, residents, council, mayor alike. But one with power holds his own. As a mayor of the city, he should take a firm stance against the crime and pollution of this city. The only problem I have with our mayor is that he has not tooken a firm stance. He has a reactive approach instead of a pro-active approach.

Now as far as the severity of these problems in this city. The administration of the city needs to put its foot down and the citizens will follow. I speak with residents of this city and all they really want is true leadership. As residents we can protest and fight and struggle but until the administration puts its foot down things will get worst.

Cities surrounding Newark have started the process of implementing laws and policies to remove the negative image of their cities. Irvington with its new mayor have implemented policies on quality of life issues. If you have noticed Irvington police presence is everywhere. They have the young thugs along the walls. "Crackheads" along the walls. And they are checking for drugs. Eventually the dealers will get tired of being shookdown and arrested. They will move on in time. But the process has begun. East Orange and Hillside are jumping on the band wagon. Now, Maplewood and South Orange, you still can not stand in one area for too long without being questioned. And they will continue to do it to maintain the area. That is why it is getting worse in Newark. Newark is refuge for drugs. We need to stop it now!!!

[5Reasons]

John, now you know I SURELY don't bash the Mayor. Heck, me and you stood up against the deluge of nitwit Bookerites two years ago when they were flooding the Nj.Com forum. Usually, I like the Mayor's ideas, but can't exactly go along with methods for achieving his objectives (And methodology is important).

John, there's a problem. The leaders of Newark (notice I don't just say the Mayor) have to make a decision. Do we have liberty for crackheads at the expense of liberty for everyone else? And yes, these are mutually exclusive categories.

When ANY KID has to lay eyes on ANY crackhead, it LOWERS their quality of life. We can and SHOULD make this city inhospitable for crackheads. In the crackhead community (if there is such a thing), they should learn the unwritten rules of socially acceptable behavior. Simply put, you can't hang on the streets at all times of the day and night. Go do your crackhead thang in the comforts of your rundown apartment.

My point is this - There are crackheads in Clifton, but you don't see them out on the street, do you? In fact, I bet you there are crackheads in just about EVERY muni in NJ and yet in only a few, do local officials allow for crackhead conventions to occur.

We need a coherent zombie control policy.

[black4rob2]

:D

[John Sharpe James, J.D.]

What happens when a kids sees drugs in their home or his or her PARENT is a junkie? Don't act as if the only drug abuse seen in Newark is a vagrant bumbling down the street.

[jazzyken]

DYFS will step in and arrest the parent/guardian. It does not make a difference. And if they do not arrest them DYFS are held responsible if something happens to that child. If they are in the eyes of impressionable children they should be removed from the streets, home or whatever.

It is hard enough trying to raise children with all of the sex and violence... add drugs and money and your are fighting a losing battle. I stay in prayer each and everyday for myself and my children and hope that everyone else does....

[5Reasons]

You said "even our CURRENT PRESIDENT was a coke junkie" Now you know the past tense WAS is just WRONG. ;) Unless, of course, you actually believed those "choking on pretzels" stories.

You have some valid points, but we SHOULD get anxious when we see crackhead conventions.

John Edwards will be in town tomorrow. You going?

[John Sharpe James, J.D.]

:D :eek: :D

He didn't "Inhale" either!

[John Sharpe James, J.D.]

Get your tickets early! :D

I'll get Prosouth, Black4rob and 5reasons some city comps :D

[jazzyken]

I have never said it was a cut and dry answer to this problem. Are you offended because dear daddy does not have a plan after 20 years? What is the real issue?
I live in Newark and it is not a few junkies on the street. The same ones walk the street day in and day out. They are all over the place in areas they can get away with. And NO I do not know every drug dealer or junkie on my street. I do not associate myself nor my family. I do know that my children walk to and from school and I pay taxes in this city as well as everyone else and the last thing anyone with senses and decency is a junkie nodding and scratching on the street.
If a Newark Police Officer can not tell the difference between a junkie and a drunk or just someone that is sleepy, then their training is not up to par. And yes Irvington has implemented programs within its police force... I am not sure of the success and again I really do not care. I just gave Irvington as an example. I do care that our mayor of 20+ years and administration that has "lived" in this city for over 200 years combined can not come up with any solutions to this problem. That in itself is a problem. Stop trying to justify and listen. Stop ranting and understand. I am not blaming anyone person just wondering why there are no solutions on the table.

[zodtee]

can give an example of any other large metropolitan city which doesn't have vagrants, drug addicts and/or street people.

Name ONE metropolitan east coast city which has a population over 300,000 and no vagrants/street people/or drug addicts and i will personally contact that Mayor and ask him how he does it.....SERIOUSLY!

Please respond


Baltimore has one of the highest heroin addiction rates in the country...high crime to go along with it...but ya WONT see those addicts hanging around at the Harbor....


DC....ya WONT see the homeless and addicts anywhere near Capitol Hill....


I couldnt go pay a parking tkt in Newark without stepping over the homeless near City Hall....Its only half way better around the corner on Federal Square only because the USPS doesnt play that anymore....


OK ya got examples, John....

[5Reasons]

There's no doubt in my mind that if you decide to run in '06, you'll easily win the crackhead vote. Now normally that wouldn't be a large constituency, but in Newark that might be worth 200 to 300 votes. The only down side is when they show up to your rallies it can be a real bummer.

[black4rob2]

That is my point! You cannot merely lock everyone up who you "Think" is a junkie or kick them over the city limits anymore than you can stop people from having sex. IT CAN'T BE DONE. Look at how many althletes got disqualified from the olympics. These folk were supposed to be the best physically fit people in the world yet it didn't stop them from DOPING!

:D

There is a solution for every problem, the trick is to find it....
I mean we have enough money to do everything else, why can't we invest some of those funds for something positive for a change. I'm tired of hearing all these Gov. Execs receiving these huge salaries and their huge spending habits on tangible items...MR.LUCAS. If the city better allocated its resources, the job could defintely get done.

Contrary to popular belief, I don't think that there is that many crackheads, homeless, streetpeople (however you want to call them). It doesn't matter where I go...ie..Penn Station, South Orange Ave, Clinton Ave...but I see the same people. Its got to the point now that when I am at those locations, I'm looking for them to see if they are still there.

At Penn Station, you see the same group every single day.

I think that when you have negative views such as we can't, it won't, it will never....you have already defeated yourself and lost the battle. That's for everything in life.

As far as getting rid of the drugs...we should start from the top and work our way down. We have got to attack the suppliers and distributors of these drugs. Let's face it people, but Newark doesn't have any cocaine or marijuana farms. If we can montitor and control our docks, airports, and stop all this trafficking of drugs into this city and county for that matter, we might drive the addicts out of town simply because they need their fix and can't get it in this city.

What I'm trying to say is we're already spending money to try and curb this problem, but we are just using the money in less effective way. We're spending millions trying to get the drugs and weapons out the hands of bloods and crips, when we should be spending that very same money on their suppliers.

Also, I think John James mentioned this before, we have got to set good values at home. We can't count on the school system to teach our children everything they need to know in order to positively function in this society.

We have to also realize is that the problem is not crackheads on the streets...it is a combination of many different problems which results in crackheads in the streets, and i firmly believe that we have to tackle all these problem simultaneously and we need everyone's help. Not just the police, not just the politicians, not just the church leaders, not just the activists, but EVERYONE. That includes you John James, you Prosouth, you 5reasons, tam tam, and jazzy. THAT INCLUDES ME TOO!!!

[John Sharpe James, J.D.]

Remember I'mholding your seat forthe first CH convention at the new Arena!

[John Sharpe James, J.D.]

If the SL can use them to sell papers and Cory could use them as poll workers last election then THEY MUST NOT BE FORGOTTEN!

REMEMBER OUR CURRENT PRESIDENT SNORTED! :eek: :eek: :eek:

[5Reasons]

John, BOTH sides employed crackheads during the election of 2002. I don't know what the official final count was, but I suspect the Mayor had a slight edge. :p

Again, the great thing about election day in 2002 was that unemployment in Newark dipped to 2% for that one day. I also suspect that a good portion of the poll worker cash ended up being smoked. Did you see the eyes of the crackheads when they were handing out checks at the end of the evening? Impages of filled crack pipes danced in their heads. :eek:

[John Sharpe James, J.D.]

:eek: :eek: :eek: