http://www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=2592872&nav=2CSfTMHK

Homeowners Ready for Drug Dealers to Move Out
By Gene Adams
gene@wlbt.net

Cars blasting loud music are bringing drug dealers onto a quiet Jackson street. But only six months ago, neighbors say they had little to complain about. Homeowners on Short Davis Street are ready for the drug dealers to move out as quickly as they came in.

Cars cruise down Short Davis Street, parking for a moment and leaving. The women who live here say they hear car stereos blasting from night until morning. They just want peace and quiet.

"Cars come, they pass something in the car, day in day out," says Vernell Jones.

Jones and her neighbor Virginia Perkins say the traffic isn't caused by the retirees who live on Short Davis. Much of the traffic they say is just passing through to sell drugs.

"Noise all night long, can't rest, can't sleep," Perkins says. "They get in the street, park in the street, you can't pass by."

Prostitutes and drug dealers have plagued the Farish Street area for years. In August, Melcenia Bell was stabbed in her home on Dreyfus Street, next door to an abandoned house said to be a haven for drug users before it was torn down. Police say drugs and prostitution are some of the

toughest crimes to weed out. Criminals leave when police are called, only to return when the sirens are turned off. Jones and Perkins say their street began to see traffic, litter, and open drug deals as recently as last May.

"I would like for this to be a drug-free street, and really the whole neighborhood. I want it quiet like it once were," adds Jones.

Jones and Perkins hope those making trouble in their neighborhood will find a new place to hang out. But if these transient criminals leave, they may just move their noise, trash and drugs to other unsuspecting streets in the city, just as they did here months ago. Residents say they would like to see more police patrols along Short Davis Street . Police say they regularly patrol the area and have responded every time they have been called to the street.