Effort to Involve Community : Inglewood Residents to March Against Drug Use

City officials are sponsoring a march against drugs this weekend to enlist the community’s help in the battle against narcotics.

“We’ve made a lot of headway in chasing drug dealers out of this city, but we’ll never get rid of them for good without help from our residents,” said Deputy City Manager Norman Cravens. “Unfortunately, the police can’t be everywhere at once so it helps if the community acts as their eyes and ears.”

A massive undercover police crackdown has dramatically reduced drug sales in the Dixon-Darby/Lockhaven and Hyde Park neighborhoods and resulted in the arrest of about 1,000 suspects. Police said most of the suspects could not have been arrested without help from residents who tipped off police or offered their homes for surveillance.

“If we could get more residents involved it sure would make our jobs a lot easier,” said Lt. James Butts, who heads the undercover narcotics task force.

Coordinate Efforts

City officials said they hope the rally will help coordinate anti-drug efforts in churches, schools and among community groups like Parents Against Drugs and the Inglewood Against Drugs Committee.

The march will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday at Sentinel Field, 401 S. Inglewood Ave. Marchers will proceed east on Hillcrest Boulevard and north on Grevillea Avenue to City Hall, where a rally will be held. Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young are among the scheduled speakers.

The Centinela Hospital Medical Center is providing free T-shirts to the first 1,500 participants in the march and free refreshments will be served after the rally.