Gorman's Grab Bag

Kirwan's Concerns

Tuesday's roundup of people suspected of selling crack cocaine at the Kirwan Homes public housing project in Campbell is third time this decade authorities have broken up a drug ring there.

And something tells me it won't be the last.

Two previous raids netted about 24 people in 2002 and 2005, according to our files, and yet only two of those people -- one from each year -- were indicted again last week by a Mahoning County Common Pleas Court jury.

So that means there is always a new and willing crew to sell drugs. And selling drugs always leads to other crimes, such as robberies and shootings.

It's hard for Campbell PD to keep up. Strapped by fiscal concerns, I think they only have two guys on duty per shift to cover the whole city. They also have five homicides since the beginning of 2007.

A member of the task force who conducted the raid I spoke to said the clientele for the ring was from all around the tri-county area. As has happened in the past, they'll find somewhere else to get their fix.

Call me a cynic, but after the dust settles, don't be surprised if the pipeline in the projects continues. Thanks to a good location it is too enticing a proposition for an aspiring drug dealer to not want to set up shop there. They will not remember the three other roundups of members of past rings. Criminals almost never remember the past; that's why they always get arrested.