Santa Ana Day-Care Center : Children Play Inside as Drug Dealers Sell Outside

While children as young as 2 play with blocks and learn their ABCs inside the day-care center on South Sullivan Street in Santa Ana, drug dealers casually and openly hawk their wares in a parking lot across the street.

The dealers across from the Pride Development Council day-care center hand over their goods with a handshake and a wink. Some customers line up in their cars as early as 10 a.m. Others shuffle over by foot. Through a telescope set up by center officials to observe the activity, dealers were seen Tuesday morning exchanging small plastic bags full of white powder.

“It’s like a fast-food place. It’s in and out, in and out,” said Terence Davis, the administrator of Pride Development. “It’s awful.”

Dorothy Davis, Terence Davis’ mother and the founder of the center, has demanded action from Santa Ana police, saying that the center needs more police protection. In desperation, she appealed Monday night to the Santa Ana City Council.

Both the police and Santa Ana City Manager David N. Ream said Tuesday that the area is a hot spot of drug dealing. But police also said the problem has persisted despite their best efforts to roust the dealers. They point to 38 drug-related arrests there from June through August.

Tuesday morning’s scene illustrated the intractability of the problem. A police car suddenly appeared, and the crowd quickly dispersed. But within minutes after the squad car left, activity resumed.

Those at the center reject the idea that the activity cannot be stopped.

“We need more police help here,” Dorothy Davis said in an interview Tuesday. “They have taken only a small bite out of the problem. I want them to take a bigger bite to ensure that children will be protected.”

The neighborhood has always had problems with crime and drugs, she said. She founded the center 10 years ago to provide parents with affordable child care. But the drug dealing is making parents frightened of using the center, Davis said.

The whole neighborhood surrounding the subsidized day-care center has become “scandalous,” said the Rev. John McReynolds, a former board member of the Pride Council. The center, which is funded by United Way and grants from the city, serves children from 2 to 14 years old.

Last week, the pastor wanted to see what the dealers were selling. So he drove into the parking lot twice in his street clothes. The first time, he was offered a vial of what appeared to be crack cocaine, and the second time he was offered a packet of white powder, he said.

“I saw cars in front of me and cars in back of me,” McReynolds said. “They were being offered the same kind of things I was. I had no idea it was so bad.”

The circular parking lot is usually lined with cars, McReynolds said. And although a “no loitering” sign is posted on an empty security booth, nobody pays attention to it. People hang out on the lot.

Police do arrest the narcotics offenders, City Manager Ream said, but they are often released from jail because of overcrowding and are back on their drug turf within days.

The police, however, will re-evaluate whether to add more patrol officers to the area because of Davis’ pleas, said Lt. Robert Helton, a Santa Ana Police Department spokesman.

“We will do what is necessary to help them,” Helton said.

Meanwhile, some of the children watch the daily activity while center officials try their best to shield them from it.

In the past, all the children used to play in the front room, which faces the parking lot across the street. They would read their books and do their homework there. Now, children rarely use the room because of the blatant drug dealing, Davis said.

But many of the children see the activity anyway. They have also watched the police arrest dealers.

“I see so many cars drive by, and I see people there give them something. I think they sell a lot of drugs there,” said 12-year-old Norma.

Palmira, also 12, wishes the center were in another neighborhood.

“Pride is very nice and peaceful. But across the street it ain’t so nice,” Palmira said.

The center itself is safe, said Lorianne Hayes, a parent of a 2-year-old who is enrolled there. The windows and the doors are barred and there is constant adult supervision, Hayes said.

But she admits that she is worried about the neighborhood surrounding the center. Hayes said she has seen drug dealers outside the center when she drops her daughter off.

“I know my kid is happy here. I know she is secure. But it’s pretty sad what’s going on outside. This place needs help bad,” Hayes said.

Davis said the enrollment at the center has dropped from a high of 75 to 45. Parents are worried about bringing their children to the center because of the neighborhood, she said.

“This center has been my dream, and it’s been doing fine until now. It’s breaking my heart to see this drug thing hurt my center. I feel like my whole dream is going downhill,” Davis said.