Cincinnatians who used to hop off the streetcar at Peebles Corner in Walnut Hills to shop or see a movie wouldn't recognize the place now. Buildings are boarded up. Storefronts are vacant. Drug dealers loiter on the street.

Police officers, including Norm Lutrell (foreground) and Justin Nickel (right), force a suspect to spit out the crack cocaine he was trying to swallow (Glenn Hartong photos) | ZOOM |

        Friday, Cincinnati police officers took another stab at curbing the broad-daylight crack selling around the historic intersection. At the corner of McMillan street and Gilbert avenue, police staged a sweep for dealers and users they said they'd been watching for six weeks.

        “They've just dominated this area,” said Lt. Mark Hildebrand. “Our captain wanted to show that we're trying to do something up here to help this neighborhood.”

        In six hours, officers found 11 of 19 suspects. Another six people were arrested in the sweep. Two of the suspects tried to swallow crack they were holding in their mouths, Officer Brett Gleckler said.

        Those arrested — 13 adults and four juveniles — face charges of drug possession or trafficking. Thirteen of the charges are felonies. Officers seized one gun and more than 10 grams of crack.

About eight grams of crack cocaine were seized from a suspect during Friday's drug sweep

        Neighborhood boosters, working to build housing in the area and attract more small businesses, appreciate the police crackdown efforts. Officers can focus on crime while residents work on fixing broader things that make the neighborhood ripe for crime, such as finding new tenants for vacant buildings, said Jim King, executive director of the Walnut Hills Development Corp.

        “Our goal is to wake up one day and have someone say, "You're not going to do that in front of my business or in front of my house,'” he said. “But for that, we have to bring more people here to live.”

        Plans include renovating a huge apartment building burned out by fire, a comprehensive safety plan and trying to get the city to make McMillan a two-way street again. The ideas came from a survey of business owners.
       

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