Groups fighting drug traffickers on Avondale's Burnet Avenue have collected nearly enough money to hire off-duty officers to patrol the street for a month.

        The officers will start Feb. 22, working a stretch between Erkenbrecker Avenue near the Cincinnati Zoo to Forest Avenue, said Tom Jones, president of the Avondale Public Safety Task Force. The strip has been a drug-trafficking site for years.

        “This is going to work this time,” Mr. Jones said. “People are tired.”

        His group of residents, business owners and large neighborhood institutions such as the zoo, Children's Hospital Medical Center and the Ronald McDonald House raised $8,500 as of Monday night, he said. They need $300 more to cover the officers' pay for 30 days. Supporters will walk the neighborhood daily, Mr. Jones said, collecting more.

        “We want our neighborhood back,” he said.

        Avondale is the city's fourth-largest neighborhood, with nearly 19,000 residents, according to the latest census data.

        More than 40 percent of residents have income levels at or below the poverty level, according to the Avondale Community Council.

        Sgt. Tony Carter, who will oversee the project for the police department, said details were not final Monday. But he said Corryville businesses found similar privately-paid details on short Vine Street were successful in curbing crime.

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