The drug business just relocates. It went from 3rd Ave. N. to 2nd Ave. and 22nd St.about a year ago. When the police announced the big drug bust in St. Pete the street was quiet - for two whole days. Then it was not only business as usual, but even increased. The landlords continue to not care about who they are renting to and the police are rarely seen - except when called for a domestic dispute in these houses. The police need to spend a couple of days at that corner and the nearby ones up and down the street/Ave. Are the owners of such properties notified by the police when they are called out to their properties? The owners of at least 5 properties were notified of the problem, but they just don't care. It seems they've even renewed leases. I thought that police presence would curtail activity, but I seldom see police when the area is most active. Friday eves. the ''pharmacies'' are very busy, yet no police. And before any suggest I ''do something'', I have and I do and nobody listens.

We have a drug problem?

Your neighborhood police officer hangs out on Central most of his beat now. And yes when the sales are going on you will never see the police. They like to show up later after its all over. Less paper work to fill out. What it takes is having neighbors who care and want to get involved. Best bet is to write to the mayors action line and tell what you see They would love to hear about your quest and they will help. What you might want to do is call Jill Smith or Sandy Ewing they are in charge of crime watch! Let them know what is going on they are the ones who can get the city to get an undercover cop out when the selling is going on. Maybe if you call the police they can call the land-lords of the rented property and inform them of the folks selling drugs in the property. But you need to ask the officer about that. Don't fret they still sell drugs all over Kenwood, but now if you look they are going to the buyers front door for a free drop off. That way they are safe and no one sees them. If they have become bold in selling in the open its because no one in Kenwood wants to get involved unless its in front of their house. You might want to talk to the folks on third about how they removed the drug problem.

try this

mayor@stpete.org try this email address I have passed alone what you wrote in this message

let's get involved...

I can hear your frustration! Let's get the address out so the neighborhood can start watching collectively! Let's get Zack to call the landlord(s)! We had a similar problem one block away about a month ago. A dealer moved into an apartment and all of a sudden we had all types of home and car vandalism along with a horrible element coming into our neighborhood. This dealer approached my husband and then followed him to our home trying to sell drugs. I can only tell you what I did....I called Sgt. Watts (spelling?), he is a night Sgt. here in St. Pete and also lives in the neighborhood. I called Zack and asked if he would get in touch with the landlord, (which he did). I called the landlord directly to inform him of the problem. I mentioned to the landlord that neighbors could take him to court because of the activity in his building. I also mentioned nuisance abatement and what would happen if his property became involoved in it. The landlord decided that it was in his best interest to evict this tenant. The dealer is now gone and the property has just gone on the market for sale. I know this won't happen in all cases but I think the key is neighborhood involvement whether we live close to these dealers or not. Perhaps if we knew the address we could ALL start driving by and we could ALL start calling the police. The squeaky wheel gets the grease! Feel free to email me. I'd be happy to call this landlord too! Please contact Jill Smith. These are the exact things she needs to be aware of.