Crime-Riddled Town Takes Debatable Action

(CBS)  Martha Coleman thinks her truck was set on fire because she spoke out against the criminals in her neighborhood. The gunfire outside was so bad she moved her family out of the corner bedrooms in the line of fire.

Now, six people sleep in the living room and five in the kitchen.

"They bring their mattress, every night we put them on the floor," she told CBS News correspondent Hari Sreenivasan. "It's safer here, because you got gunfire comin' from this way."

In Helena-West Helena, Ark., an impoverished town of 15,000 on the sunset side of the Mississippi River. Police are fighting to regain control of their town.

The mayor imposed a 24-hour curfew on a 10-block section of town. For three days, police checked the IDs of everyone in or out. They made 15 drug- and gun-related arrests and served another 18 outstanding warrants.

Some residents thought the tactics were too drastic.

"I feel like if you work and if you pay taxes you should have the right to walk anywhere you feel like, whenever you feel ready," said resident Jessica Johnson.

Others say they're tired of living in fear.

"I'm scared for my grandkids more than anything," resident Walter Vaughn said. "I'm gettin older ... but them children's got a life and I want 'em to have a good life. I think we doing the right thing by having the curfew."

With unanimous backing from the City Council, this week police expanded the curfew to the entire city. Now, on random nights, 18 police and sheriffs - three times the normal number - work 12- to 16-hour shifts enforcing the letter of the law.

While Sreenivasan was riding along with police, one car was pulled over for having a broken license plate light.

Police found open containers inside. A failed sobriety test led to a DUI arrest.

"They're deciding who to stop, they're enforcing the law depending on what the person looks like to them," said Rita Sklar, the executive director of the Arkansas ACLU. "That's what they do in dictatorships, that's what they do in China."

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Couric & Co.: Read more from Hari Sreenivasan's police ride-along.

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The ACLU says curfews like these are unconstitutional, violating the rights to assemble, due process and protections against unreasonable searches.

"I know they have problems there, and I'm very sympathetic but there are cities all over the country where there are hundreds of deaths and hundreds of violent crimes and they don't do this," Sklar said. "They do good policing."

"I've heard the critics, and they make an academic argument, but I invite them to come down here on the streets and deal with the problems we've been dealin' with," said Mayor James Valley.

Deciding between constitutional rights and a night of sleep is no contest for people like Martha Coleman.

"This is working," she said. "We can sleep now."

[marcpcbs]

Typical attitude: Can''''''''t see it from my house but I know they are doing it all WRONG!
Whatever happened to MYOB? These people are capable of self governing and its their problem let them fix it their way. No need for Intellectual Liberal Loons like the ACLU to but in.

Crush the bad guys and they will go away where it is easier to ply their trade.

Posted by mydiatribe at 02:06 PM : Aug 16, 2008

Typical uneducated doofus solution, violence.

If the greater problem that is fueling the violence is not solved, more will step in to replace your ''''bad guys''''.

Posted by curse914 at 04:15 PM : Aug 16, 2008

"marcpcbs"

curse914, I notice you don''t offer any solutions at all. Hitler served violence to the world and it took violence to get rid of him. These drug dealers are serving poisons and violence to mostly the kids of countless towns and cities in America and it going to take violence to reduce their number too.

At least this town now has the involvement of their law enforcement. Their problems most likely exist today because their cops weren%u2019t doing their jobs.

Police work is like a maintenance job. If a ship sinks because of rust than the maintenance crew is suspect.

[marcpcbs]

I live in a small town in Northern Calif. and our local police and sheriff%u2019s do absolutely nothing to stop the drug dealers from taking over our towns.

There are now around 25,000+ pot growers growing huge amounts of pot everywhere and collectively making about $35 billion, yes "billion" in profits per year. Over 70% of the pot that%u2019s grown ends up in the hands of kids under 18 years old all across the nation. Our local law enforcement is almost totally corrupted. Many locals have stated that it''s time for the citizens to handle things on their own. This place is a powder keg about to go off and all the police do is keep growing and selling pot them selves.

Many people say %u201CTax it%u201D. They don%u2019t seem to care that the money comes primarily from poisoning children.

It%u2019s destroying our county, our communities and our kids. Way over half of our kids are always wasted on pot or some other drug. All calls to the police are ignored.

When Ex-Pres Clinton put 100,000 more cops on the street, he didn''t increase security; he scraped the bottom of the barrel. Many of our small towns want to take action that going to make what%u2019s happening in Helena-West Helena, Ark. look like a walk in the park.

Americans are tired of lawlessness. Many of us went to war and fought to maintain peace and safety on our streets. We sure aren''t going to sit still much longer and watch this inaction by our authorities cause things to get much worse.

[mydiatribe]

Crush the bad guys and they will go away where it is easier to ply their trade.

Posted by curse914 at 04:15 PM : Aug 16, 2008
Maybe they will even move into your neighborhood! Maybe!

[mydiatribe]

Crush the bad guys and they will go away where it is easier to ply their trade.

Posted by curse914 at 04:15 PM : Aug 16, 2008
Maybe they will even move into your neighborhood! Maybe!

[actornaught]

OOPS.... anyway, Small town cops SOMETIMES just can''t handle the responsibility without being thugs themselves. They know just enough to be dangerous. Human nature is such that the people that want these jobs are too often the worst ones to do it. Sorry, no solutions to this one, unless you start drafting cops like they do in Italy.

[actornaught]

Small town cops SOMETIMES

[jankebenz]

work together if a workable solution is to be achieved. Our own people are suffering. May God help us all to act responsibly.

Posted by r9119111 at 12:41 PM : Aug 16, 2008

Why would God help us when we abandoned him in the first place? What did we expect when we turned our backs on him, that morals,ethics,and behavior would improve? you reap what you sow.

[kazoodan]

Posted by r9119111 at 02:29 PM : Aug 16, 2008


I agree.
It seems like the authorities in this town weren''t doing there job to begin with, allowing the situation to deteriorate to where it is now.

[r9119111]

dmw1167;

What I''m saying is, is that the problem the good people are facing is not just a local problem. It is a problem that must be addressed from the top down. Suppose we call it, trickle down justice. The lack of accountability starts right at the top. The lack of oversight starts right at the top. In recent years Washington has set a horrible example for all of us. I''m not choosing sides when I say this. I''m really just trying to be honest and face the truth. Americans have been suffering from a lack of truth for years now. Unless our moral integrity is restored, America is going to have a tough time of it. I hereby urge all Americans to stop lying to each other and seek only the truth for your own good.

[mydiatribe]

"Crime-Riddled Town Takes Debatable Action" == Now don''t you just love this CBS slanted Headline?

Ask yourself: Debatable for who? Los Angeles based ACLU attorneys who don''t live in the town?

Typical attitude: Can''t see it from my house but I know they are doing it all WRONG!
Whatever happened to MYOB? These people are capable of self governing and its their problem let them fix it their way. No need for Intellectual Liberal Loons like the ACLU to but in.

Crush the bad guys and they will go away where it is easier to ply their trade.