Neighbors on Mean Streets Fight Back : * Group Effort by City, Residents and YWCA Is Driving Drug Dealers Out of Santa Ana

Santa Ana residents of the troubled Willard neighborhood are fighting back. Their resolve and strategies, as well as the coordinated efforts they have inspired between the city government and local agencies, ought to prompt others on the mean streets of Orange County’s poorer neighborhoods--and those new to the threat of drug trafficking in their midst--to endeavor to take control.

The souring of a neighborhood can happen fast, as one Huntington Beach area recently discovered, or it can happen gradually. In the case of the Willard section of Santa Ana it was the latter, but when residents discovered intruders breaking through their windows, they knew it was time to act. Since last spring, the neighborhood has been engaged in a major initiative to take back the quarter-mile area near the Civic Center from drug dealers operating right in the heart of Santa Ana.

The campaign is the product of good working relationships between City Hall, the YWCA and neighborhood activists. The effort includes stepped-up police patrols, both on foot and in cars in an attempt to drive out drug dealers. Flyers have enlisted neighborhood cooperation. Innovations include the use of a cellular telephone number that permits residents to stay on the line and direct officers to dealers on the street.

Moreover, there have been considerable public works improvements made--more than $1.3 million spent on planting new trees, building new sidewalks, streets and alleys. And the City Council has put in place street parking restrictions. The YWCA, meanwhile, is offering self-defense courses. Preschoolers are getting instruction too, a sign of how bad things have become.

But already, police say, they notice that drug dealers are not hawking their wares as openly as they did, even six months ago. Some reasons: Prosecutors were given tours of the neighborhood, and stiffer sentences were sought for those convicted of crimes. Building inspectors stepped up inspections and police patrols were posted in the neighborhood.

It will take a long time for residents to realize a lasting change. There remains a cat-and-mouse game with drug dealers. There have been difficulties encountered with absentee landlords and getting the attention of apathetic tenants. Fear remains a big factor in neighborhood life.

So there is still a way to go. But when the neighbors said they would not give up and would not be driven back, they made an important statement.

There’s a message there for all.