- 7 months ago
Bob Ray Sanders explores how one Dallas neighborhood is struggling to combat the drugs and violence plaguing its community.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Funding for Frontline is provided by this station and other public television stations nationwide,
00:07and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
00:12Behind the gleaming face of Dallas lies a war zone.
00:17Police spend half a billion dollars a year fighting drugs, but they're losing the war.
00:22I believe I could do a better job.
00:23So the black community, at odds with the mostly white police force, is taking matters into its own hands.
00:30But what we're doing, no one else is there to do.
00:34We're challenging the pushers and the drug houses directly.
00:40Tonight on Frontline, the Dallas Drug War.
00:52From the network of public television stations,
00:55a presentation of KCTS Seattle,
00:57WNET New York,
00:59WPBT Miami,
01:01WTVS Detroit,
01:03and WGBH Boston,
01:06this is Frontline,
01:08with Judy Woodruff.
01:10Good evening.
01:14The Bush administration has made its first target in the war on drugs the streets of Washington, D.C.
01:22There have been more than 120 murders here so far this year,
01:26most of them drug-related.
01:28And drug czar William Bennett has declared Washington a test case of the government's ability to control drug crime.
01:36But cities across America are finding that fighting the drug war is more than fighting crime.
01:43They must also confront the social, economic, and political problems that plagued the community before drugs did.
01:52Tonight, Frontline examines the drug war in one neighborhood in one American city.
01:58Our program is called The Dallas Drug War.
02:02It was produced by Hector Galan.
02:05The correspondent is Bob Ray Sanders of Dallas Public Television Station, KERA.
02:11Dallas, Texas, March, 1988.
02:19Get your hands off!
02:20Get your hands off!
02:22Get your hands off the window!
02:24Get your hands off the window!
02:26Get them back off to me.
02:27Get them on the ground.
02:31The Dallas Police Tactical Unit confronts two suspected drug dealers in a supermarket parking lot.
02:37Last year, the Dallas police made over 10,000 drug arrests in a city that has quickly become a major drug trafficking center.
02:48Here, in America's seventh largest city, drugs are everywhere.
02:54Former car salesman Steve Gherkin was part of a $6 million a year cocaine ring
02:59that allegedly included a Dallas businessman and a lawyer.
03:02Last year, in a battle over Terp, Gherkin killed another drug dealer with a car bomb.
03:10In the city's fashionable West End, police raided the Trendy Star Club,
03:14arresting 37 people for buying and selling cocaine.
03:18Some of them were allegedly snorting it straight off the club's bar.
03:23And last fall, at W.T. White High School in North Dallas,
03:27an undercover officer posing as a student conducted a four-month drug investigation.
03:31The police then arrested 28 people, including nine students,
03:36for selling marijuana, cocaine, and LSD.
03:39I want to send them to the pen, where they belong.
03:42It's a really serious matter about, you know, inside the school.
03:45People up here selling joints and stuff, smoking in the bathroom all the time.
03:48It's just terrible. It is, really.
03:51Like all American cities, Dallas is trying to fight a war against drugs.
03:55But this is a city that is also at war with itself.
03:58Dallas is a divided city, divided by politics, by class, and by race.
04:05Demographically, half of the city's one million residents are black or Hispanic.
04:09Geographically, the city is split by the Trinity River and the interstate highway system.
04:14Most whites live north of the line.
04:16Almost all the blacks live here, on the black side of town.
04:19South Dallas is home to more than 100,000 people.
04:30Traditionally, it has been a stable and close-knit community.
04:35South Dallas has some of the city's oldest neighborhoods,
04:38and roots here are deep.
04:40In the 40s, many black families began moving to Dallas from farms in East Texas.
04:50Many of their children were raised here in South Dallas.
04:54And today, this is a community full of people who don't want to live anywhere else.
04:59We bought here because this house was built in 1895,
05:10and my husband and I have enjoyed redecorating it and painting it and making it look like a home.
05:18Dorothy Davis and her husband, Theodore, are both schoolteachers.
05:22They have lived in this house in South Dallas for 15 years.
05:26When you hear bullets all night, you're afraid for your life.
05:32You're just afraid.
05:36The Davis family has seen serious changes in their once peaceful neighborhood.
05:42When oil prices plummeted in the 80s,
05:45the recession hit Dallas hard and South Dallas even harder.
05:49The unemployment rate here is now twice as high as North Dallas.
05:52And as city leaders continue to neglect South Dallas,
05:56it became an inevitable breeding ground for drugs.
06:00Today, the police call it the war zone.
06:02They told me what to expect when I came home for the summer.
06:06They're like, Julie, the neighborhood has changed.
06:09And I thought, well, it can't be that bad.
06:12Maybe a few minor changes here and there.
06:14But I worry, I value their safety.
06:18I really do worry about their, you know, are they going to be safe at night?
06:23Is someone just going to break in and maybe, you know, take their lives?
06:30The Davises have two daughters in college.
06:32Last summer, Jackie was away studying in Los Angeles.
06:36But Julie was home on break from Atlanta.
06:38It hasn't been peaceful since I've been home for the summer.
06:42Not one night.
06:44It hasn't been peaceful.
06:46There's gunshots every night, every single night.
06:50The Davises family invited Frontline to spend a couple of nights with them to see for ourselves.
06:57Through their living room window, we watched,
07:00using a camera equipped with a night viewing device.
07:03As night fell, activity picked up on the streets outside.
07:10Inside, Dorothy turned to a fresh page in her notebook,
07:14where she keeps a log of the shootings each night.
07:26As the camera continued to roll,
07:28the Davises and our crew huddled on the living room floor in the dark.
07:33Nobody really believes that this goes on in your neighborhood.
07:41This is almost like being at war.
07:47It has come to the point that, as a family, we need to do something about it.
07:53Because this is just getting to be ridiculous.
08:03A lot of people probably say, you know,
08:12well, I don't just get out and move out.
08:15But, uh,
08:16I didn't, uh,
08:18the environment came to me.
08:19The thing that bothers me about the crack houses and the drugs being sold in my neighborhood
08:32is the shooting of the guns.
08:36Now, that bothers me.
08:37It's frightening because you're like,
08:39oh my goodness, are they shooting toward our house?
08:41Is it going to hit our house?
08:43Are the bullets going to come through the window?
08:44Well, and it's very, it's just very nerve-wracking.
08:47I think about my family, you know, true enough, number one.
08:51But I also think about, uh, just the innocent people around.
08:55The 12-year-old innocent girl that was in the I Have a Dream program
08:59and had planned to go to college was innocently killed
09:02just because someone was walking around with a high, powerful gun.
09:08Last summer, just half a block from Dorothy's home,
09:126th grader Macheta Mourns was shot to death
09:14as she stood on the steps of her friend's house.
09:17There have been more than 20 drug-related murders in the Davises' neighborhood.
09:20No, man, I said, you get out of my yard.
09:23Reverend Tom Thompson has lived in the same house in this neighborhood for 32 years.
09:27So somebody, I didn't see the man, come up the alley.
09:31And then he made two shots.
09:33He shot one first time out there.
09:35And the man ran up here on my porch.
09:36This is when he tried to get him coming up on my porch.
09:39You see, but I never did see the man
09:40because I'm sitting here on my porch.
09:42But I can't get up and go no running or nothing like that.
09:44He might shoot me.
09:45It's terrible in South Dallas.
09:47It's a threat to the whole black community.
09:52I teach my child, uh, drugs is not the way out.
09:56But he has no chance when he come into the community.
09:58You can teach truth in the home,
10:00but if you don't come together in the streets, it's all useless.
10:03You don't have enough people who want to stop it.
10:07It's too much money.
10:08It's so much money involved until the people that can actually handle it
10:13don't want to stop it.
10:14And a little man can't do nothing about it.
10:17It's wide open.
10:19Wide open.
10:21It's all in this community.
10:23Every corner you turn, there it is.
10:27Turn to me!
10:27I thought I was moving to a better location,
10:31better atmosphere for my children,
10:32but didn't really know what I was getting myself into.
10:36Like, several times I have been standing on my porch waiting for my ride,
10:40and a couple of people have asked me
10:44if I know where to get some cocaine.
10:49You can't ride down the street without somebody
10:52almost getting hit by your car
10:54trying to stop, you know, sell you drugs.
11:00I've gotten calls from the police chief
11:02that said we're doing something about it.
11:04I'll be out there in the next two weeks.
11:07And things go on as they have normally gone.
11:10They should be more concerned about it.
11:13And this is, this is, uh, the, the, the firing of weapons
11:16is not only, uh, in this neighborhood.
11:19Uh, it's, it's round about the city.
11:21The police know what's going on up here.
11:25When this shot, when they're right here,
11:26you say, you have to be careful.
11:28You see what's going on?
11:29I say, yeah.
11:30I say, how come y'all can't do something about it?
11:32No answer.
11:33I am angry.
11:35Because I feel like that,
11:36that if you care for all of the citizens
11:38in a city,
11:41then you would do something about it.
11:47Dallas police officer Chris Hackbarth
11:49has patrolled South Dallas for more than a year.
11:52It's still pretty bad down here.
11:54They're going through the alleys here,
11:56and they're,
11:57all they do is back and forth, back and forth.
11:59And these drug dealers are taking the lifeblood
12:01right out of South Dallas.
12:07All those people sitting up there,
12:08a bunch of them are good eyes for the crack house.
12:12They see a cop coming,
12:13and they yell a code word,
12:14and by the time anybody gets there,
12:17their crack's already gone.
12:20They've got one good eye
12:22in the front of the apartment complex,
12:24one good eye in the back.
12:25You drive up,
12:26and there's no way that you'll,
12:27you'll be able to, uh,
12:29surprise them.
12:29A lot of the owners put up fences
12:39around their apartment complexes,
12:41but it takes a day or two,
12:43and they rip holes through them,
12:45tear them down.
12:46Top floor there is a crack house.
12:50They might not operate in it today
12:52because there's no lookouts.
12:55The city's primary response
12:57to the drug problem in South Dallas
12:59has been a show-up force.
13:00Last year, the police staged
13:10well over 1,000 drug raids
13:12in South Dallas.
13:14They estimate that there are now
13:15more than 400 major drug houses
13:17in this community,
13:19almost all of them selling crack.
13:21You've got some little rocks here,
13:23but it's crack.
13:25They just squeeze it up real good.
13:26What you can do is,
13:27if you feel it,
13:29it's real mushy.
13:31You take it,
13:31roll it into a ball,
13:32and smoke it real easily.
13:34It's cheap.
13:35It's highly addictive.
13:37It is, uh,
13:37the primary factor
13:38in a great portion
13:40of all the crimes
13:41that are occurring in this division.
13:43The man the Dallas Police Department
13:45assigned to protect South Dallas
13:46was Deputy Chief Ray Hawkins.
13:48There's tremendous amounts
13:50of profit to be made
13:51by the sale of crack.
13:53I've never seen any drug
13:55that had that kind of an impact
13:56on the community.
13:58The police estimate
13:59that the crack houses
14:00in South Dallas
14:01take in more than
14:02half a million dollars a day.
14:04The drug trade here
14:05is controlled by Jamaican
14:06and Cuban gangs
14:07who moved in
14:08from New York and Miami.
14:11Police believe these gangs
14:12are responsible
14:13for 70 murders
14:14in the past two years.
14:16But despite the thousands
14:17of arrests,
14:18the police admit
14:19that they rarely
14:19captured the kingpins
14:21who control drugs
14:22in Dallas.
14:31City Hall.
14:339 a.m.
14:34Last August,
14:36Dorothy Davis
14:36brought her frustrations
14:37to Mayor Annette Strauss
14:39and the rest
14:40of the city council.
14:42It was the second time
14:43she had been here.
14:44I don't understand
14:46why Mayor Annette Strauss
14:47has not come out.
14:48I don't understand
14:49why all of the city council
14:51members don't walk
14:52these streets
14:52so they'll know.
14:54Come out and spend the night
14:55and you'll see
14:56what's going on.
14:57The city council
14:59has 11 members
15:00representing Dallas's
15:02one million residents.
15:04But while half
15:05the city's population
15:06is black or Hispanic,
15:08the city council
15:08has only three
15:09minority members.
15:11Council members
15:11Al Lipscomb
15:12and Diane Ragsdale
15:13represent South Dallas.
15:15You know,
15:15this city has been,
15:16it's a very strange place
15:18because usually
15:19the elite
15:20business leadership,
15:22primarily white men,
15:24dictate the direction
15:25of this given city.
15:27And now what's taking place
15:28is that people are,
15:31people are trying to
15:34force those very people
15:36to share some
15:37of the economic power
15:38and to share some
15:39of the political power.
15:43Dorothy had expected
15:44to speak to the council
15:45in the morning.
15:46But by noon,
15:48she was still waiting.
15:50They don't make
15:51decisions like that.
15:54These two council persons
15:55only have two votes
15:56out of 11 members
15:57in the city council.
15:59That doesn't give them
16:00what you would call
16:00a significant amount
16:01of power.
16:02Dr. Paul Geisel
16:03is director of urban studies
16:05at the University of Texas
16:06at Arlington.
16:07For almost 20 years,
16:08he has advised Dallas leaders
16:10on racial problems
16:11in the city.
16:12In Dallas,
16:13we've historically
16:13had a business community
16:15that has brought forth
16:16most of the proposals
16:17for change and development
16:18in the city.
16:19If you wanted to get
16:20something done,
16:21you went to that oligarchy.
16:22We want to make Dallas
16:24whatever is necessary
16:26to attract the next
16:27big company.
16:28That does not mean
16:29improving inner-city
16:30neighborhoods.
16:31That means improving
16:32upper-income neighborhoods
16:33and making them
16:34ever so much more pleasant
16:35and protected.
16:37Gee, I'm tired.
16:39I've been here all day.
16:40Good afternoon.
16:41My name is Dorothy Davis.
16:42I live at 1421 St.
16:44At 545,
16:45Dorothy got her
16:46three minutes
16:47in front of the council.
16:49Just this morning,
16:50while speaking to a neighbor
16:51who was sweeping glass,
16:53I looked down
16:54and to my amazement,
16:56I found this shiny bullet
16:58that I hold before you.
17:00I have constantly
17:01called the police department,
17:03I've called several
17:04council members,
17:05and I have constantly
17:06reported the shooting
17:08that goes on
17:08in my neighborhood.
17:09Miss Davis,
17:11two weeks ago,
17:12you came and you
17:13showed me an envelope.
17:14I still have them
17:15with the new one.
17:16Well, and I know
17:18Miss Hart spoke to you
17:19and someone was supposed
17:20to meet with you
17:20to try to help you.
17:21Whatever happened?
17:23They spoke,
17:24they came,
17:24they talked to me,
17:25but the shooting
17:26still goes on.
17:28Constantly,
17:28all night,
17:29just two days ago,
17:30two men have been shot.
17:32Thank you,
17:33Vera County,
17:33Miss Davis.
17:34I hope we'll be able
17:35to help you.
17:36This type of environment
17:38can create a sense
17:39of powerlessness.
17:41This type of environment
17:42can create a sense
17:44of hopelessness.
17:46People ask me
17:47the question all the time,
17:48why is it that
17:49we hire these officers
17:51and they don't even
17:52reduce the crime
17:53in our community?
17:53This is how
17:57the Dallas police
17:58are fighting drugs
17:59in their city.
18:01These officers
18:02are on their way
18:02to a crack house
18:03where earlier
18:04an undercover agent
18:06had made a drug buy.
18:08Now all that remains
18:09is to make the arrest
18:11and seize the drugs.
18:17Police!
18:18Police!
18:19Police!
18:20In South Dallas,
18:41police make as many
18:42as 10 raids
18:43like this a day.
18:44More than 40%
18:52of the drug raids
18:53in Dallas
18:53end up like this one.
18:55No dealers.
18:57No drugs.
19:01Increasingly,
19:02the police are confronted
19:03by heavily fortified
19:04crack houses.
19:10And sometimes,
19:11they are simply
19:11outsmarted
19:12by the dealers.
19:13We make a tremendous
19:14amount of arrests
19:15in that area.
19:16We seize an awful
19:16lot of weapons.
19:18We seize an awful
19:19lot of drugs
19:19and money.
19:20But as you can see,
19:22that has not arrested
19:22that particular problem.
19:24And the people
19:25of South Dallas
19:26are left wondering
19:27if the police
19:28have already lost
19:29the war on drugs.
19:31If they are going
19:32to do something,
19:33I have not seen
19:34evidence of that.
19:36It could be
19:37that I'm naive
19:38and I don't know
19:38how the police
19:39department fights crime.
19:41But I believe
19:42I could do
19:42a better job.
19:44She has a right
19:44to expect
19:46a better quality
19:47of life
19:47than what she's got
19:48in her neighborhood.
19:52She's one of those
19:52individuals
19:53that this is her home.
19:54She doesn't want
19:54to move.
19:55She wants the criminals
19:56to move.
19:56And we're going
19:57to do everything
19:58that we can
19:59to help her.
20:00You don't know
20:01the community.
20:03So that's another
20:04factor of stopping
20:05crime is getting
20:06to know the people
20:07in the community.
20:08Know the people
20:09on your beat.
20:11Chief Hawkins
20:12has never come
20:13to meet me.
20:14Because I was
20:14talking to you,
20:15I was giving you
20:16information anyway
20:17based upon what
20:18was going on.
20:19The man the police
20:20do send to talk
20:21to the people
20:21of South Dallas
20:22is Levi Williams,
20:23the department
20:24civilian director
20:25of community affairs.
20:26I can think
20:28of this one
20:28incident where
20:29we had a crack
20:30house.
20:32And because
20:32the people
20:34in the area
20:34said, well,
20:35these people
20:35have never
20:36been busted.
20:37And because
20:38we go in,
20:39there's a crack
20:39deal going on.
20:41And the vice
20:42makes the bar,
20:43they bust them,
20:44and then we
20:44check the records,
20:45they've been
20:45busted four times.
20:47Now, they're
20:48not in the same
20:49house, but they
20:50just move down
20:51the street.
20:52Or they just
20:53send in other
20:53people to work
20:55the area.
20:55So the people
20:56are frustrated.
20:57And what you
20:58get to hear
20:58at that point,
20:59what are the
21:00police doing?
21:01And then you
21:01get the people
21:02that's just fed
21:03up.
21:04And don't see
21:05the type of
21:06environment that
21:07I've been looking
21:07at for some
21:08time.
21:09I try to stay
21:10away from telling
21:11people, where
21:12are we busting
21:13this guy six or
21:14seven times?
21:15They don't want
21:15to hear that.
21:16They want to see
21:17the police department
21:18doing something
21:19that's going to
21:19make a tremendous
21:20difference in that
21:21area.
21:25can you tell
21:29me why these
21:29people would be
21:30out here on
21:31the street,
21:31especially right
21:32down here,
21:32without no
21:33lights?
21:34No reason
21:37other than to
21:38sell and buy
21:38drugs.
21:41Another major
21:42police drug
21:43enforcement strategy
21:44in South
21:45Dallas is to
21:45stop and
21:46question anyone
21:47who looks
21:48suspicious.
21:49But that's a
21:50problem, because
21:51in this almost
21:52entirely black
21:53community, nearly
21:5480% of the
21:55officers patrolling
21:56it are white.
21:58Get your hand
21:58out of your
21:58pocket.
21:59Get your hand
21:59out of your
21:59pocket.
22:00There's a lot
22:01of people in
22:01the area that
22:02do not trust
22:02the police.
22:03What are you
22:04doing back
22:04here?
22:04Just sitting
22:05here talking
22:05to my old
22:05friends.
22:06You live
22:06here?
22:06No, sir.
22:07I'm in the
22:07service, sir.
22:08What business
22:08you got staying
22:09out here in
22:09back of an
22:10apartment complex?
22:11I thought he
22:11knew somebody.
22:12You thought
22:12he knew
22:12somebody?
22:13What are you
22:14doing back
22:15here?
22:15Just sitting
22:15here talking to
22:16my old
22:16car is this?
22:17My mother.
22:17Can you all
22:18stuff out,
22:19please?
22:20Put everything
22:20on the trunk.
22:21No, thanks.
22:22Get your hands
22:22on your pockets.
22:23After a thorough
22:23search of the
22:24car and its
22:25occupants,
22:26Officer Hackbarth
22:26would find no
22:27drugs and make
22:28no arrests.
22:30Any drugs or
22:30anything on you?
22:31No.
22:32Okay, okay.
22:33Last year, the
22:34city received
22:35almost a thousand
22:36complaints about
22:37police harassment,
22:38abuse, and
22:39brutality from the
22:40citizens of
22:40South Dallas.
22:41Okay, now in
22:42terms of the
22:42complaint, the
22:44officer has the
22:45right to pat you
22:45down when you
22:46got out of the
22:46car.
22:47Anytime that
22:48you have
22:48someone that's
22:49complaining about
22:50excessive force
22:51or not
22:53communicated with
22:54an officer that
22:55well, you
22:56usually store
22:57that in your
22:57memory bank.
22:59People see
22:59the police as
23:00a suppressor
23:01because the
23:02police has to
23:03carry out the
23:04order, so to
23:04speak.
23:06But the most
23:07serious complaints
23:08against the
23:08police involve
23:09their use of
23:10deadly force.
23:12Get up!
23:14Get up,
23:15police!
23:16Get up!
23:17Get your
23:22hands out
23:22from under
23:23that blanket
23:23now.
23:24Now!
23:25In the last
23:26three years
23:26alone, Dallas
23:27police shot
23:2867 people.
23:29Who else is
23:30in here?
23:3022 of them
23:31died.
23:32One of the
23:33most shocking
23:34police killings
23:34happened in
23:351973 when a
23:37young burglary
23:37suspect was
23:38shot in the
23:39head while he
23:39sat handcuffed
23:40in a police
23:41car.
23:42His name was
23:42Santos Rodriguez.
23:43He was 12
23:44years old.
23:46Since that
23:47time, Dallas
23:48has fought a
23:48series of
23:49racial and
23:50political battles
23:50over an
23:51unending string
23:52of police
23:52shootings.
23:54Santos Rodriguez
23:55was clearly a
23:56watershed.
23:56It was an
23:57opportunity for
23:58change.
23:59What we didn't
23:59get here was an
24:00accountable system.
24:02And I think
24:02there were those
24:03who thought they
24:04would.
24:05City didn't take
24:05that opportunity
24:06because it
24:07didn't have to.
24:08Other kinds of
24:09priorities took on.
24:10We're growing
24:11right now.
24:11We're booming.
24:12Things are good.
24:14Don't rock the
24:15boat.
24:15So in the final
24:16analysis, minority
24:17members were told,
24:18we'll get to that
24:19later.
24:21The officer who
24:22killed Santos
24:23Rodriguez was
24:24eventually sentenced
24:25to five years.
24:27Daryl Kane served
24:2818 months.
24:30But over the next
24:3115 years, the
24:33Dallas police would
24:33shoot and kill
24:34more than 100
24:35citizens, most of
24:36them black or
24:37Hispanic.
24:39A routine
24:40investigation appeared
24:41anything but
24:42routine.
24:43In 1986, the
24:44black community
24:45was outraged
24:46when police
24:46killed 70-year-old
24:48Etta Collins,
24:49who had called
24:49to report a
24:50burglary in
24:51progress.
24:52We declare an
24:53official day of
24:54mourning in the
24:55city of Dallas.
24:56It is just what
24:56everyone had feared.
24:58In Dallas, once
24:58again, a black
24:59victim is dead.
25:01Then, less than
25:02a year later, 81-year-old
25:03crime watch
25:04volunteer David
25:05Horton was shot
25:06to death by the
25:07police as he chased
25:08a burglary
25:08suspect.
25:12After these
25:12killings, the
25:13black community
25:14demanded help from
25:15the federal
25:15government.
25:16And in 1987, they
25:18got a congressional
25:18hearing to examine
25:20whether the Dallas
25:20police were using
25:21excessive force
25:22against minority
25:23citizens.
25:24Or does the
25:24police department
25:25contradict this
25:26set of facts?
25:27Where do we
25:28stand?
25:29As far as the
25:29details of the
25:31investigation and
25:35how those things
25:35came to light...
25:36After 18 hours of
25:37testimony, the
25:38committee strongly
25:39criticized the
25:40department's record
25:41and its policies,
25:42but never issued a
25:43formal report.
25:48The two black
25:49members of the
25:50city council,
25:51Diane Ragsdale and
25:52Al Lipscomb, have
25:53been the most
25:53vocal critics of
25:54the police.
25:56It just doesn't
25:57make sense for us
25:57to keep on killing
25:58these people with
25:59some of these racist
26:00white policemen in
26:01these areas when
26:02they have been
26:03sensitized to deal
26:05with the cultural
26:05differences.
26:06Let's say, for
26:07instance, that you
26:08have a team of
26:09officers and we
26:10say, well, we
26:11know in this
26:12block, two blocks
26:13that there's nothing
26:14but crack houses.
26:15So we're going to
26:16go down there and
26:16crack heads and
26:18kick butts, right?
26:19If they make one
26:20mistake and you're
26:22already talking
26:23about a problem
26:24between police and
26:25community, a city
26:26that have already
26:27had a congressional
26:28hearing because of
26:29deadly force, they
26:30made one mistake.
26:31That one mistake is
26:33magnified ten times.
26:35So the police have to
26:36handle this with
26:37kid gloves.
26:37The climate in Dallas
26:41right now, as far as
26:43the things that really
26:43scare me the most is
26:44if I ever have to use
26:45deadly force, I don't
26:46want to be crucified by
26:48some people, some
26:50powers to be in city
26:51leadership, you know,
26:53because there's always
26:54going to be 20-20
26:54hindsight and people are
26:55going to second guess
26:56you, but I don't want
26:57to have that affect my
26:59judgment that, you
27:00know, I don't act the
27:01way I should.
27:02I don't protect my
27:03partner.
27:03I don't protect myself
27:04as far as using deadly
27:06force or using a
27:06different type of force.
27:07You know, I don't
27:08want to have somebody
27:09get hurt because I
27:10hesitated that split
27:11second because I was
27:13unsure if I'm going to
27:14get crucified in the
27:15press or get brought
27:16up on civil charges or
27:17lose my job.
27:18When you criticize a
27:19given officer's behavior,
27:21it's amazing to me how
27:22most of those officers
27:25will take that
27:26personally and how,
27:28you know, this whole
27:29fraternity and
27:30brotherhood, you know,
27:32is this really, yeah,
27:34it starts circulating
27:36in, you know, the
27:36brotherhood and
27:37fraternity makes it
27:39very difficult to
27:41isolate the bad
27:42apples, the sense of
27:43brotherhood, you know.
27:45You know, and so that's
27:46the problem, it's the
27:46bad apples.
27:47Some of those guys are
27:48rotten.
27:49In 1986, the police
27:51struck back at their
27:52critics.
27:53Angered by what they saw
27:54as a continued lack of
27:55support for the officers
27:56in the field, the
27:57predominantly white
27:58Dallas Police
27:59Association marched on
28:01City Hall to demand
28:02action against council
28:03members Ragsdale and
28:04Lipscomb.
28:05We feel that the city
28:06council should, at the
28:07very least, censure these
28:08two council members in
28:09order that both Mr. Lipscomb
28:11and Ms. Ragsdale publicly
28:13apologize to the citizens
28:15of Dallas and to the
28:16officers of the Dallas
28:17Police.
28:17The most proper action for
28:19Mr. Lipscomb and Ms.
28:20Ragsdale to take after
28:21their apology would be for
28:23both to resign from the
28:24city council of Dallas.
28:25Racial tensions reached a
28:32new peak in Dallas early
28:33last year, but this time
28:35the trigger was the murder
28:36of two police officers.
28:39In January, Officer James
28:41Joe was shot and killed as
28:43he confronted two burglars.
28:46Less than two weeks later,
28:48Officer John Chase was
28:49killed by a mentally
28:49disturbed black man in a
28:51downtown parking lot.
28:52An angry police chief,
28:56Billy Prince, placed part
28:57of the blame on council
28:59members Ragsdale and
29:00Lipscomb.
29:01The atmosphere that's
29:02been created by numerous
29:04critics, I think, has
29:05certainly contributed to a
29:06person who might be on
29:08the edge of something like
29:09this going forward with
29:11it.
29:12Can I give you this
29:13bumper sticker?
29:14The friends and families
29:15of the predominantly white
29:16Dallas Police Association
29:17quickly organized a massive
29:19show of support for the
29:21police.
29:21The marchers urged every
29:22driver in Dallas to turn
29:24on his headlights, and many
29:25did.
29:26Police officers are your
29:28friends.
29:28But the black community
29:29saw these demonstrations
29:31as sympathy only for the
29:32slain white officer, and
29:34those feelings balled over
29:35at a dramatic city council
29:37meeting as Diane Ragsdale
29:38accused the organizers of
29:40treating the black
29:41officer's death as an
29:42afterthought.
29:43And you are an afterthought.
29:44An afterthought.
29:45An afterthought.
29:46Racist.
29:47Racist you are.
29:48Racist that you are.
29:50You are a racist, my child.
29:52An afterthought.
29:53You are a racist, ma'am.
29:57You are a racist.
29:58You're a bigot.
29:59You're a bigot.
29:59You're a bigot.
30:00You're a bigot.
30:00You're a bigot.
30:01That's why you're
30:02going to turn your legs on.
30:04Get out of here.
30:04Because he was an afterthought.
30:06You are a racist.
30:08You practice racism.
30:10Joe was an afterthought, ma'am.
30:12You're insane.
30:13You're insane.
30:13You're insane.
30:14That painful confrontation
30:17last year seemed to sum up
30:18all that separated the two
30:20groups who have most at stake
30:21in the Dallas drug war.
30:23The murder of five police
30:24officers split the white and
30:25black communities even
30:26further.
30:27And the racial tensions in
30:28this city have kept leaders
30:29of both sides away from the
30:31most pressing needs.
30:32The deep social and economic
30:34problems that sustain the
30:35drug crisis in South Dallas.
30:40In the war zone, Dorothy
30:41Davis continued her nightly
30:43vigil, discouraged by the
30:44response from the police
30:46and city hall.
30:50Outside her living room
30:51window, for the drug
30:52pushers, it was business
30:54as usual.
30:56Yeah.
30:57That gives my goosebumps
30:58goosebumps just thinking
30:59about it.
30:59I'm going to give that away
31:00to caller number eight.
31:05Nobody sleeps.
31:08Everybody be out, the
31:09crackheads, the
31:10prostitutes, the drug
31:12dealers.
31:13This big money is fast,
31:16easy to get, very easy.
31:19Very easy.
31:28If they have $50,000 worth of
31:30dope, then that's what they'll
31:32make back, plus a little
31:33interest.
31:34This young mother of three
31:36grew up in South Dallas.
31:38For the past three years, she
31:39has also been a crack dealer.
31:40Sometimes, she says, making over
31:42$100,000 a year while working
31:45for one of the drug gangs.
31:46I have workers that
31:48are bodyguarding me,
31:52watching me.
31:53I have workers that are
31:55sitting in apartments and
31:56selling drugs.
31:57I have workers that will
31:58bring customers to the place.
32:00I have workers that are
32:01watching for cops.
32:02Some places can make $1,000 a
32:06day.
32:07Some could make $5,000.
32:10Some can make $50,000 a
32:11week.
32:12It all depends on the
32:13quantity and if it's good.
32:19If it's 98 or 99% pure, it'll
32:23go quick.
32:23It's like a jack-in-the-box.
32:28You pop in with your money,
32:30give your money, you get
32:31what you want to go.
32:34Most older men get involved
32:37in drugs because they can't
32:38find a job.
32:40They can't find no work,
32:41no work.
32:41Don't nobody want to hire them.
32:45But the young kids get in it
32:47for the gold, the money, the
32:49cars, the guns.
32:50I had a lot of kids where
32:53they would tell me they'd be
32:5518, 19 years old.
32:58Come to find out those kids
32:59be 14 years old, most of them
33:02I'd fire.
33:03Most of them made me good
33:04money.
33:05But I just get tired of
33:06looking at them and I'd fire
33:07them.
33:07Go on home, go to school.
33:09Where you going, boy?
33:10Go ahead.
33:11Go ahead.
33:14Most of the crack workers in
33:15South Dallas are teenagers,
33:17recruited by gang leaders to
33:19serve as lookouts,
33:20runners, and street dealers.
33:26Over half the children in the
33:27war zone live below the
33:29poverty line, and teenage
33:30unemployment in South Dallas
33:32has climbed to more than 40%.
33:34No jobs, and they ain't got
33:37nothing else to do, so somebody
33:38come up to an ass on the sale,
33:40so they start selling.
33:42And they come addicted to all
33:44that money they be making,
33:45and they can't stop.
33:46It's just, if they get a job
33:48making $3.35, and somebody
33:49offering $100 a day, which
33:50one do you think they gonna
33:51take?
33:52I just think it's something
33:53that they want to try for
33:53themselves, you know.
33:55Because, you know, to tell you
33:56the truth, can't nobody make up
33:57your own mind.
33:58It's, you know, it's what you
33:58want to do.
33:59One kid was pretending he was
34:01the, uh, crack man.
34:03One kid was pretending he was
34:04buying crack, and I said,
34:05Lord, have mercy.
34:07What a loss.
34:10You're living a big life,
34:12in the fast lane.
34:13That's what it's all about.
34:15Tyrone is 15 years old.
34:17Last year, he finally decided
34:19to stop dealing drugs and go
34:21back to school.
34:22He says he had been selling
34:24crack since he was 11.
34:25The thing that you learn when
34:27you're young, it takes over
34:29as you get older, you know.
34:32And seeing the stuff that was
34:34around me, it just took over,
34:37you know, as I got older, and
34:38I just thought that I wanted
34:43to sell dope, you know.
34:46When I was working for someone,
34:49we would make from, like,
34:50$1,000 to $1,200 a week,
34:53you know, working for them.
34:54Hey, hey, hey, listen.
34:57You want some major?
34:59But then when you get into the
35:00business for yourself, you set
35:02your goal to how much money
35:03you want to make.
35:03Look, look, look.
35:07Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays,
35:10you're making well from $900
35:12to about $1,500.
35:14But then on Thursdays, Fridays,
35:16Fridays, and Sundays, you can
35:18make $10,000, $11,000.
35:21You know, it's fast.
35:23Payday, you know.
35:24The business must have been
35:25pretty good tonight, huh?
35:26The fastest you make it,
35:27you spin it.
35:28It's just spin, spin, spin.
35:30You know, you know what's
35:32going to happen, so you just
35:33live it up while you can.
35:36It'll take a real cool person
35:37out to sit and think,
35:39who the drugs go to?
35:41My mother could be getting this.
35:42My father could be buying this.
35:46For God's sakes, my child could've
35:47sit and bought a rock,
35:49and I don't know.
35:50You don't know who get it.
35:51It start eating at your
35:52conscience after a while, you know.
35:54You know, seeing all these
35:56fiends and stuff, how they just
35:57killing themselves with this
35:59dope, you know.
36:00So, everywhere you look,
36:04it's dope piles, you know.
36:07Drugs.
36:08That's what it's all about,
36:10you know, in the South Dallas.
36:11The drug pushers came into
36:12the community in a vacuum.
36:14They came in with no
36:15competition.
36:15They captured our youth
36:17without any competition.
36:19Fahim Minka has lived in
36:23South Dallas for 30 years.
36:27He and his wife, Marilyn,
36:29are trying to raise their
36:30four children in the middle
36:31of the war zone.
36:34Communities are held on a
36:35siege, and this is a form
36:37of terrorism.
36:38The people are terrorized.
36:41Even if they're not directly
36:42face-to-face threatened by
36:44the pushers, just the
36:46shooting and automatic weapons
36:47and the knowledge of what they
36:49do to one another,
36:50psychologically, places the
36:53people in a state of fear.
36:59Twenty years ago, when he
37:00was known as Fred Bell,
37:02Fahim was a member of the
37:03Black Panther Party and headed
37:05the Texas chapter.
37:07Since 1968, I fought for
37:10the freedom of African-American
37:11people.
37:13I fought for freedom and
37:14justice for all people, all
37:16oppressed people.
37:17And I didn't fight to look
37:22around in the same
37:23neighborhoods where I
37:24waged battle to be taken
37:26over by crooks and
37:28hulums and drug lords.
37:33My resolve is even stronger
37:35now since I'm a Muslim.
37:36Fahim now attends a mosque
37:42located in the heart of the
37:44war zone.
37:47The Muslim community has
37:48historically been able to
37:50take that element of people
37:52and instill in them a sense of
37:53confidence, a sense of pride,
37:55a sense of real faith and
37:57belief in God.
37:58Imam Yaqia Abdullah is the
38:02spiritual leader of this mosque
38:04where the drug problem has
38:05become the critical issue.
38:08We're talking about the
38:09situation in Dallas, but we
38:10know it's pervasive in the
38:11whole American society.
38:13And it's almost a reverse kind
38:15of situation where the
38:16criminals are at liberty to
38:19roam free.
38:20And the good people are locking
38:22themselves up behind bars in
38:24their own homes.
38:24And I think that what we
38:26have to do as good
38:28conscientious American
38:29citizens, we have to say
38:30no, no more.
38:32That we are not going to
38:33lock ourselves up.
38:34The criminals should be
38:35locked up.
38:36The criminals should have
38:37fear on them.
38:40Last summer, the Muslims
38:43organized a new group called
38:45A-Man, African American Men
38:47Against Narcotics.
38:49Their goal was to harass the
38:50drug dealers and force them to
38:52leave South Dallas.
38:53In the shadow of the crack
38:55houses, they began by warning
38:57the dealers they were being
38:58watched.
38:59Say anyone sitting or buying
39:01drugs in this neighborhood,
39:02they have your picture taken
39:04and your license number
39:05recorded.
39:06The information will be
39:07circulated in the community
39:08and also made available to
39:10the police.
39:11They'll actually sell those
39:12right down the stairs.
39:13So this is a good start.
39:15A-Man also began taking
39:16surveillance photos of
39:18suspected crack dealers,
39:19identifying them to the
39:21police and spreading their
39:22names throughout the
39:23community.
39:24He's definitely a drug
39:26flunky.
39:27Nobody has a right to push
39:29poison to other people.
39:32The drug pusher has no more
39:34right doing what he's doing
39:36than someone would putting
39:37strychnine in the community
39:39drinking water.
39:40that is not a right.
39:46We're the ones who are in the
39:47right and we're doing what we
39:48have a right to do.
39:50Mobile One, how do you read?
39:52Mobile One, do you read us?
39:53We're just a group of citizens
39:55exercising our First Amendment
39:56right to organize and engage
39:58him, as I call, civil harassment
40:00of the pusher to expose him,
40:02make it uncomfortable for him,
40:04hopefully to drive him out of that
40:05area and keep him moving and
40:07running until finally he seeks some
40:09of the enterprise.
40:11After they identified a drug
40:13hotspot, A-man's strategy was
40:15to begin intensive patrols in
40:17that one area several days a
40:19week.
40:19It's quite dangerous, to be honest
40:28with you, it's quite dangerous and
40:42we never know what to expect, but
40:44we're not naive and we don't take
40:46these people for granted.
40:48We're very watchful and careful
40:49in what we're doing.
40:54I want those regulars to do a couple
40:56of rocks at us.
40:58When we're out there on the
40:59streets, our alertness, our instincts
41:02are all geared up to fight.
41:04Ask me if you want to walk back
41:05through there.
41:06We have to worry about who's in
41:07that window, who's in that doorway,
41:09who's in this car coming down the
41:12street, who's sitting in that car
41:14that's sitting beside the street.
41:18I'm just praying, you know, that
41:19he don't walk out there and some of
41:22the head men's, or what you call
41:25them, the leaders, you know, be out
41:28there waiting on him, you know, to
41:30just prove that he can't stop it,
41:33you know, or try to gun him down or
41:35something, you know, I just wear
41:37everybody.
41:38As Fahim and the other members of
41:41AMAN patrol the war zone, they see
41:43themselves as a symbol for the rest
41:45of the community that something can
41:47be done.
41:47I look at it as an organizing
41:49project and not a bodyguard thing,
41:52even if we have to patrol three days
41:54a week for the next year or longer
41:57in various areas to keep the example
42:00out there.
42:03I'm willing and feel obligated to do
42:05it.
42:07J&J, may I help you?
42:08Joe Johnson has been a landlord in
42:10South Dallas for the last five years.
42:13Tell me you need to check them real
42:14close so they don't take our
42:15refrigerator and stove.
42:17I'm highly against drugs.
42:20I don't like drugs on my property,
42:21period.
42:22Johnson owns several apartment
42:24buildings and every day faces the
42:25threat they will be overrun by crack.
42:28So he fights back by immediately
42:29evicting any users or dealers who do
42:32move in.
42:32We check all indications for drugs
42:34being used.
42:37Most of the time when we put someone
42:39out, you can tell whether they own
42:41drugs or they're selling drugs.
42:43You see these bags here?
42:44These packages in when they package
42:46crack in.
42:47When a guy gets on this and he gets on it
42:52real heavy, it's cheaper to move him
42:55out real quick because you're going to
42:56create a problem for everybody.
43:01People go to work, can't see.
43:04Police officers that drive down through
43:06here, they can't see.
43:08So anybody can hide in this Ohio.
43:10I didn't want to go in, but I'm here.
43:11Johnson has also begun to lobby the city
43:14to tear down the vacant buildings that
43:16surround his properties before they
43:18too become drug houses.
43:28As Johnson and Levi Williams
43:30inspected this abandoned house,
43:32they suddenly stumbled upon a man with a
43:35needle in his arm.
43:36This is one of the reasons that we don't
43:56want to leave a building in this
43:57neighborhood unboarded.
44:00Well, there's something that needs to be
44:02done about it.
44:02And Johnson has also begun to buy and
44:07rehab other abandoned buildings in
44:09South Dallas, hoping to create drug
44:11free housing for the people who live
44:13here.
44:14We're not going to ever be able to say
44:16there's no more drugs.
44:18There's no way.
44:19The only thing we do is just slow it
44:21down.
44:24There's all these clean up days
44:25South Dallas.
44:26Because see, this is stop crime in your
44:28neighborhood, so we ought to say, let's
44:31see, clean up days South Dallas.
44:32Why don't you put neighborhood right up?
44:34After months of effort, Dorothy Davis
44:37was finally able to organize the first
44:39crime watch meeting ever in her
44:41neighborhood.
44:41You've got to have someone that's going
44:43to have to have contact with the police
44:46department.
44:47Levi Williams conducted the meeting and
44:49brought several police officers to meet
44:50with the residents.
44:52But most of Dorothy's neighbors were
44:53afraid to attend.
44:54They are unsure who to trust.
44:58Simply because if someone finds out that's
45:01in the drug arena, so to speak, you can end
45:05up getting hurt.
45:06So people are pretty hesitant.
45:07that you've got to get at least 50 or more people
45:11that's going to gather.
45:12I doubt it very seriously if the police
45:14department along is going to make a tremendous
45:16impact on a community without the community's
45:19support.
45:20It is time that we reclaim our right for
45:24role as the leaders in the protection of our
45:27women and children.
45:28Over the summer, community support for A-Man
45:37grew.
45:39Now with over 70 active members, they stepped
45:41up their direct confrontations with the crack
45:43dealers in the war zone.
45:50But what we're doing, no one else is there to do.
45:53We're challenging the pushers and the drug
45:56houses directly.
45:58We're going to make an example out of them.
46:07We're going to make an example out of
46:12somebody's dope out of them.
46:13Why should the community help someone that's
46:16hurting them?
46:17Who's hurting them?
46:18The dope ain't hurting them.
46:18Your laws do it.
46:19I ain't got nothing to do it the law.
46:21I don't have anything to do it the law, brother.
46:22I don't have to do it the law.
46:23You working, fool?
46:24If that's what you believe.
46:26I'm not going to say I'm going to quit doing
46:27what I'm doing.
46:28Well, you know that's against the law, though.
46:30You know what, mister?
46:31You know they taking pictures, though.
46:32I've been breaking the law ever since the day off.
46:35Well, don't let it up.
46:3618-year-old Gerald Gladd is the youngest member of A-Man.
46:52The enemy, I can say, is silence among the black people.
46:59Silence by ignoring the problems.
47:02Silence by not working as a unit to rid of the problem.
47:06We can see the government is not going to do it.
47:08Police force is not going to do it.
47:10So we need to actively, as an African-American community,
47:13to join together.
47:14Gerald was born in Dallas and has lived here all of his life.
47:27Growing up in South Dallas, you're usually going to be touched
47:33in some way by someone who's using drugs.
47:39I've seen the effects of a lot of my friends.
47:43The majority of young blacks do engage in some type of drug usage,
47:47and, you know, people do it as an escape.
47:51I've seen some do it as a boredom, you know,
47:53not really aware of its effects of getting you hooked, you know.
47:57I had a lot of friends whose moms were on heroin.
48:01If their mom went on heroin, it was drugs they called T's and Blue's.
48:06I don't know what they are, but they were real popular then.
48:10And we used to sit around and talk about what we want to be when we grow up
48:18and how we're not going to be like this.
48:20And some of us made it, some of us didn't.
48:24That's perfect.
48:25Even during high school, I hear things from coaches, from teachers.
48:29I just hear everything, you know.
48:33He's a good student. He's excellent.
48:35You know, he's an excellent ball player.
48:37But they never knew Chris, really.
48:39They never knew who Chris really was.
48:43Chris was an addict.
48:45All your values change, you know, everything that you really love
48:47doesn't matter anymore.
48:49Because when you take that first hit,
48:52your mind is, like, programmed just to keep feeding yourself more drugs.
48:57It's like something that tells you you need another hit.
49:00It's just the high, the taste, the high smell.
49:05It's just the rush that the high that it gives you.
49:18No other drug gives you that kind of, you know, instant hit.
49:22Everything they say about crack is the truth.
49:24Some things they just don't even know because the average person who's,
49:29if they're not a user and haven't been through it before,
49:31they really can't tell you actually, you know, what's happening.
49:35But I'm a, you know, I'm a recovering addict, you know, drug user,
49:37and I know, you know, I've been there.
49:39I've seen it with my own eyes.
49:41Because crack is cheap, it is especially attractive to young people,
49:47and it has proven to be one of the toughest addictions to treat.
49:52Chris and Wayne are among an estimated 4,000 drug users in South Dallas,
49:56but few of them get the help they need
49:58because in South Dallas, there is only one treatment facility.
50:02It's capacity, 55.
50:05I saw one of my best friends die behind drugs, you know.
50:14Just to sit there and then see somebody die behind a drug.
50:27But it's hard, you know.
50:32It'll actually change your life.
50:36It'll change your life.
50:40Having a parent on heroin was hell.
50:45Gerald's experience with drugs began at home,
50:49with his mother's heroin addiction.
50:51Occasionally, I would walk in the room unannounced
50:54and see a heroin needle in her fixing the heroin.
51:00The one time I recall at a very young age,
51:04she called me to the bathroom
51:06and asked me to inject the heroin in her
51:12because she was too shaky to do it herself.
51:18With drug users, drug abusive families,
51:21there's a lot of things a normal child would expect
51:24we were deprived of.
51:27Maybe coming home to some dinner,
51:29maybe being able to go to school
51:31with some pencil and paper.
51:34You always crave for a normal childhood.
51:38Gerald's childhood was lost to drugs,
51:41and so he says he has never used them
51:43and never will.
51:45Better run!
51:46Better run, drug!
51:47Push about a run!
51:48Better run!
51:48Better run, drug!
51:49Push about a run!
51:50Better run!
51:50Someone has to take the role
51:54of leading their people,
51:56organizing their people,
51:58serving their people.
51:59It's time to take action.
52:01In the few months A-Man has patrolled South Dallas,
52:04drug activity has decreased
52:05in the neighborhoods
52:06where the group has focused its efforts.
52:08It is also clear that the dealers
52:10have not left town.
52:12They have just moved.
52:13We applaud their efforts
52:14in that they want a drug-free community
52:16for themselves,
52:18and that's certainly what we want for them.
52:20But everything is not real clear-cut.
52:22If it began to edge towards vigilantism,
52:26I think our attitudes might shift dramatically.
52:29Push out!
52:30You're watching you!
52:31We're watching you!
52:32Nobody would be permitted to stand
52:33out on the street corners
52:35and flagged down cars
52:36and sell drugs
52:37in the white community.
52:39An atmosphere
52:40that would justify
52:42law enforcement officials themselves
52:44calling the area
52:45quote-unquote
52:46the war zone
52:46would not be permitted
52:48in the white community.
52:53It would not be permitted.
52:55It would not be tolerated.
52:57That's my argument.
52:59That's, I feel, a fact.
53:02I have no evidence
53:03to the contrary.
53:04Amen!
53:06It's coming!
53:06It's coming!
53:07Better run!
53:10In recent months,
53:11there are signs that voices
53:12of South Dallas
53:13are beginning to be heard.
53:15The government of law enforcement
53:16in the United States,
53:17is that of a Dallas police office.
53:19Thank you so much.
53:19City Hall responded
53:20to the increased racial tensions
53:21by hiring a new police chief,
53:23Mac Vines,
53:24an outsider from Florida,
53:26and gave him the mission
53:27of regaining the trust
53:29of the minority community.
53:31Vines moved quickly.
53:33He reassigned Ray Hawkins
53:34to another division
53:35and then promoted
53:36Sergeant Robert Jackson
53:38to deputy chief
53:39and put him in charge
53:40of South Dallas.
53:43But many of the old problems persist.
53:45Vines recently fired
53:48two officers
53:49for beating a black man
53:50and the shootings continue.
53:54And South Dallas
53:55is still waiting
53:56for the city
53:57to begin to take action
53:58to correct its deep
53:59economic and social problems.
54:02We're going to get this place
54:03back to where it should be.
54:04God bless you all.
54:06But a man continues
54:08to celebrate
54:09its small victories.
54:10In this one apartment complex,
54:13a man patrolled,
54:15the residents organized,
54:16and together
54:17they pushed the pushers out.
54:20Collectively,
54:21we can solve this problem.
54:24Step by step,
54:26we're determined.
54:27At the Davis home,
54:30it's quieter now.
54:31The crack dealers
54:32who shot up this neighborhood
54:33have moved on
54:34to another part
54:35of South Dallas.
54:36It's a beautiful neighborhood.
54:37It just needs
54:38a little nurturing
54:41and a little care.
54:42But if it comes
54:43to the point
54:44that we're fighting
54:45a losing battle,
54:47then I guess
54:47we'll do like
54:48other people have done.
54:49But I intend
54:50to give it
54:51my last shot.
54:58Every American city
54:59has its stories
55:00of courageous citizens
55:02battling drugs,
55:03but also constant reminders
55:05of how deadly
55:06the drug war really is.
55:09Two weeks ago,
55:10in Miami,
55:11Lee Arthur Lawrence,
55:12a grocer,
55:13an activist
55:14against drug trafficking,
55:16was murdered
55:16in front of his store,
55:18in all likelihood
55:19by the pushers
55:20he had tried
55:21to keep out
55:22of his neighborhood.
55:23Police knew
55:24of the threats
55:25to his life,
55:26but were unable
55:27to provide him
55:27with 24-hour protection.
55:30The lesson,
55:31his neighbors
55:31told reporters,
55:33is how lonely
55:34and dangerous
55:35one citizen's fight
55:36against drugs can be.
55:40Thank you for joining us.
55:41I'm Judy Woodruff.
55:42Good night.
55:45The Amazon rainforest
55:47in Brazil
55:47is the world's
55:48last great frontier,
55:50and it is being destroyed
55:51acre by acre,
55:53bulldozed and burned.
55:55But one man,
55:56Chico Mendez,
55:57devoted his life
55:58to saving the forest
55:59from destruction
56:00by cattle ranchers
56:01and land speculators.
56:03Chico Mendez
56:04lost his life
56:05to the struggle,
56:05and his murder
56:06last December
56:07made headlines
56:07around the world.
56:09Murder in the Amazon,
56:10next time on Frontline.
56:12rance clest strings.
56:25Keep your contractors
56:25who are still protected
56:26from the war
56:26to the whales
56:28to the transform
56:29again safe.
56:29Their plats
56:30will
56:33adapt
56:33to the
56:34moon
56:35into the
56:36world's
56:36and
56:37there
56:38may not be
56:39the
56:40illusion
56:40Frontline is produced for the Documentary Consortium
57:09by WGBH Boston, which is solely responsible for its content.
57:15Funding for Frontline is provided by this station
57:18and other public television stations nationwide
57:21and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
57:27For videocassette information about this program,
57:31please write to this address.
57:39For a transcript of this program,
57:44please send $5 to Frontline, Box 322,
57:48Boston, Massachusetts, 02134.
Comments