Police are trying a new strategy in neighborhoods where relations with residents seems most tense.

        Cincinnati police District 4 is planning a partnership with businesspeople and residents in the Burnet Area Business District in Avondale, where drug dealing and other crimes are running rampant.

        On-the-street drug dealing in broad daylight, street gambling and break-ins have become common in a quarter-mile stretch on Burnet Avenue, from Erkenbrecher to Forest avenues, the heart of the business district.

        Working with residents, two cruisers with two officers in each car patrol the area six days a week, eight hours a day for eight weeks.

        This has worked before.

        Eight years ago, 36 police officers on foot, in patrol cars and horseback joined residents in Walnut Hills in the Setty Kuhn Terrace housing project to launch a war with drug dealers, called Operation Take Back.

        It lasted three months and resulted in 13 drug-
       related arrests. After Operation Take Back, police records show crime in the area dropped 71 percent.

        In 1996, there were signs of drug dealing on side streets near the projects. The city sent in its Cincinnati Neighborhood Action Strategy team, which installed speed bumps and set up one-way streets to prevent the fast escape of the dealers through a back way.

        This year, CNAS, along with Habitat for Humanity, launched a program to rebuild the area with new housing and new residents.

        A week ago, police formed a partnership with residents in the Peebles Corner area of Walnut Hills to conduct a drug sweep. The results: 19 indictments on multiple drug charges.

        It seems the sophisticated surveillance and technical security systems have not been as effective, at least not on Burnet Avenue.

        On March 15, at 5 a.m., despite two surveillance cameras mounted near the corner of Burnet and Rockdale avenues, three police substations within a 100-foot radius, and a security system, a burglar broke into a video store.

        The security alarm alerted District 4.

        Capt. David Ratcliff, the district commander, said their response time is usually from two to four minutes.

        Some residents say it's much longer — 10, 15, 20 minutes — or never.

        Records show the police arrived at the break-in in 10 minutes.

        The burglar smashed a glass door and a counter, stole items and caused $6,000 in damage and lost goods at Mik Jallaq's video store. Nobody saw or heard a thing, and a mounted camera 25 feet away got nothing.

        It is not easy to coordinate efforts between police and residents because of a lot of misunderstanding on both sides.

        But a well-coordinated and dedicated partnership between police and residents might be the future for urban policing.
       • • •

        The Arc Hamilton County, an agency that promotes equal opportunities for people with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities, will start a new project, called Families Empowering Families.

        The first meeting of the group will be at 7 p.m. Thursday at the ARC office, 1821 Summit Road in Roselawn.

        Information: 821-2113, Ext. 113.

       Allen Howard's column runs Saturdays. Call: 768-8362. Mail: The Cincinnati Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati, OH 45202.

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