TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/070692/0706unk.000

Text File | 1993-04-04 | 5.1 KB | 104 lines

                                                                                THE POLITICAL INTEREST, Page 33

Smart Idea

By Michael Kramer


    Ross Perot, who often talks before he thinks, is currently
in his denial mode. According to Perot, the well-sourced stories
of his bizarre behavior and shoot-from-the-lip policy
pronouncements are either gross distortions or outright lies,
the product of Republican "dirty tricksters" and their
running-dog co-conspirator, the toady press, which just
"doesn't get it." Of the many tales Perot disputes, one in
particular is troubling because the nub of the idea he denies
advocating isn't so bad at all.

    During his chairmanship of the Texas War on Drugs Committee,
Perot supported several unorthodox police procedures. None has
generated more heat than his call for a "civil war" against
crime and drugs. In 1988 two different journalists wrote that
Perot encouraged Dallas cops to "go in [to high-crime
neighborhoods], cordon off the whole area, going block by block,
looking for guns and drugs." When the stories first appeared,
Perot was mum -- a telling silence since no one can recall his
having ever let a perceived inaccuracy stand uncorrected. Today,
however, with such famous civil libertarians as Dan Quayle
predicting that Perot would gut the Constitution, the
un-candidate swears, "I never said it."

    As reported, Perot's scheme would probably violate any
number of individual rights. But the basic notion is sound: no
amount of inner-city investment will revitalize America's urban
areas if the people who live there fear for their lives.
Security, as all the candidates say, with varying emphasis,
must be the first priority. All three have embraced community
policing, the concept that would add cops to the streets on the
theory that only intimate associations can eventually cause
residents and officers to trust one another. But "c-pop," as it
is known, can work only after an area is pacified -- and only
after those who live there believe it to be thus. So Perot was
on to something, and if he would stop to give a moment's
thought to the problem, he would undoubtedly be on his way to
Chicago for a photo-op with Vince Lane, one of the few public
officials bold enough to push crime "sweeps" as an essential
first step toward securing public safety.

    When Lane took over the Chicago Housing Authority in 1988,
the ghetto projects he oversaw were rightly considered the
nation's worst. The police estimated that violent gangs
controlled 120 of the CHA'S 167 high-rises. "People were
sleeping in bathtubs to avoid gunfire," Lane says, "and until
that changed, you could forget the rest." Within weeks, Lane
instituted Operation Clean Sweep, which continues to this day.
Backed by the police, CHA officials examine apartments looking
for places in need of repair and for "unregistered guests." If
"by chance we uncover weapons or drugs," Lane says with a
smile, "we complain" to the trailing cops, and arrests are made
on the spot. The American Civil Liberties Union sued the CHA for
its warrantless searches, but Lane negotiated a consent decree
that has allowed his program to proceed unimpeded. The key is
resident support, a result of the operation's startling
success. Crime has fallen substantially, down about 30% in the
100 buildings swept so far.

    Lane is finally beginning to "attract back" working families
that "can serve as role models for the 80% of our residents who
are still on welfare. Low rents help," he concedes, "but most
productive people wouldn't even consider living in our buildings
if we weren't gaining a reputation for providing a safe
environment -- and that view would be impossible if we weren't
sweeping aggressively."

    In the person of Housing and Urban Development Secretary
Jack Kemp, the Bush Administration has funneled more than $30
million to Lane to continue the sweeps. "But conservatives
believe such actions are local matters," says Lane, "so the
President has refused to urge other cities to follow our lead --
and most haven't because too many minority leaders are out of
touch with the folks who live in their projects and are
therefore afraid of being accused of sponsoring civil rights
violations." Bill Clinton says Lane is "the greatest," but he
too has avoided endorsing the cornerstone of Lane's success.

    Which leaves Perot. Suburban Chicago politicians fear that
the drug gangs will simply move to what Lane calls "normal"
neighborhoods if the projects are swept "clean.'' "But that
would be great," he insists. "Nationally, we'll never get a
handle on violent crime until `normal' folks feel the fear
that's felt in the ghetto. Only then will they scream for the
kind of law enforcement, including things like house-by-house
searches, that gives content to all the law-and-order rhetoric.
Ross may have gone too far, but he's on the right track." Which
means Perot might consider saying what he says he never said,
and this time more precisely. Or it means that Clinton or Bush
might be wise to adopt Lane's program before Perot catches on.