ANAHEIM : Residents to Protest Drug Deals in Park

A city police officer will step out of his role Sunday to lead a protest against drug dealers in Anaheim’s La Palma Park.

Harold Martin says he will be a civilian when he and nearby residents, tired of the drug dealing that allegedly occurs in the park, tell the dealers they are monitoring those who congregate there. Adopting the name Somebody, the group’s 11 a.m.-to-1 p.m. march will let the dealers know that they are no longer welcome in the neighborhood, Martin said.

“We came up with the name Somebody as we were talking about the problems at the park,” said Martin, a patrol officer who has been on the force for 12 years. “We were saying, ‘The cops can’t watch the park constantly, but somebody has to. The city can’t clean up the park, but somebody has to.’ We decided we are going to be that somebody.”

Martin said he is not criticizing his department or his fellow police officers by noting the presence of dealers in the park, at La Palma Avenue and Harbor Boulevard. He said the dealers’ method of operation makes it difficult to catch them with drugs in their possession.

He said a dealer will hire somebody to stand in the park and make contact with potential buyers. The contacts do not carry drugs. When a contact finds a buyer, he walks to a bank of telephones in the park, calls the dealer, who is waiting nearby. The dealer then comes to the park, makes his sale and then quickly leaves.

“It’s just like a pizza delivery,” Martin said. “That’s why it’s going to be up to the private citizens who live near the park to clean it up. We have the time to jot down the license plate numbers of cars that come and go and pass those on to the street narcotics unit.”