Published Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Expect drug crackdown like Coweta hasn't seen
The Times-Herald
Coweta County has a drug epidemic.
Law enforcement officials want the community to be forewarned -- "We're through playing," said Newnan Police Chief Douglas L. "Buster" Meadows.
Last week, according to Sheriff Mike Yeager, the Coweta County Sheriff's Office, the Coweta District Attorney's Office and the Newnan Police Department all met with the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia, and the end result is going to be a drug crackdown unlike this county has ever seen.
During the meeting, the group decided to implement stiffer penalties and utilize tools and programs for enforcing the war against drugs, according to Yeager. Much of the initiative will target property owners who knowingly house violators.
According to Meadows, the bulk of the criminal drug activity fluctuates between Newnan and areas outside the city in Coweta County depending on where enforcement is perceived to be tightest at the moment. Rather than sweeping the problem around, Coweta officials are ready to be rid of it once and for all.
Since the drug problem exists mainly with renters, Coweta officials are going to enact a top-down approach and focus efforts on the property owners through nuisance laws and condemnation procedures.
The county's Crime Suppression Unit Narcotics Task Force and the Newnan Drug Unit are going to focus on the areas that have become a drug nuisance. The city will be targeting problematic areas such as Kidd Street, Landers Street, Richard Allen Drive and the Westgate area, according to Meadows. Yeager says the county will target the west side of the county, particularly the Arnco area and the Blackjack area off Gordon Road in southeast Coweta.
"Our goal is to clean up these neighborhoods in the city and the county," said Meadows.
"We especially want landlords to be more proactive with their properties," said Senior Assistant District Attorney Ray Mayer.
"We're not targeting a person, we just want to provide law-abiding citizens with a peaceful and safe place to live," said Coweta Judicial Circuit District Attorney Pete Skandalakis. "Citizens are being put on notice, if you rent to known drug dealers, then you're in violation of the law."
Skandalakis added that, with the current situation, drug dealers operating in Coweta are bringing people into the community who don't have a stake in it and don't have a problem committing crimes -- especially violent crimes.
Meadows says that another tool of enforcement will be targeting those violators who reside in government subsidized housing -- which is funded by taxpayer money. Violators will be kicked out of the program, and participating property owners who knowingly rent to violators will also be kicked out of the program.
According to Skandalakis, Mayer and Assistant District Attorney Kevin McMurry will both be "point men" for the district attorney's office. As such, they will be sending notices to property owners and working alongside the sheriff's office and city police department to attempt to broker solutions with landlords, according to Mayer. Meanwhile, they continue to prosecute the growing number of drug cases.
According to McMurry, the county will crack down on the drug situation by enforcing various statutes.
The asset forfeiture statute says that if a landlord knowingly allows illegal activities to go on in their rental property, then the property can be seized by law enforcement, according to McMurry. A public nuisance statute allows the municipality the means to abate the problem without seizing the property. An alternate resolution could be demolishing the structure or turning the land into a park.
Other tools at the county's disposal include code enforcement of existing property standards and working with public assistance agencies to remove the violators from government programs, according to McMurry.
"We don't want to be property owners, we just want the properties cleaned up," said Meadows.
"We just want landlords to use due diligence with whom they're renting to," added Skandalakis.
The sheriff also stressed that these laws not only apply to residential property owners, but also to businesses such as hotels and apartments that become problematic.
"We're experiencing recurring events at some of the same places," said Meadows.
"And many times it's involving recurring people," added Yeager.
"We are coordinating efforts to work to rid the community of drugs using the tools at our disposal," said McMurry.
"This is going to be a joint effort -- that's what it's going to take," said Meadows.