Lawyer pays to make point on drug deals

Attorney Janice E. Smith will make her final payment Tuesday on an expensive lesson she received in civil disobedience.

Earlier this year Smith pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor offense of failure to obtain a business license and was ordered by Municipal Judge Nancy Saitta to pay a $500 fine plus court costs for a total of $635.

On Sept. 8 she paid $300, and Tuesday she pays the rest.

Her troubles began, she says, a year ago this month when she moved into her new office near downtown at 516 S. 6th St.

Almost immediately she observed drug deals being made openly, blatantly and without fear, in front of her office.

It is not a new complaint -- other business owners have witnessed similar transactions in the area.

"Like clockwork," Smith said. "Every day at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., they would make their drug deals. A car would pull up, druggies who had been waiting in the shade of an alley or under a tree would walk over, and the deal would be made. All the police had to do was come here and watch them."

Outraged by the drug deals made in front of her clients and under the nose of a police substation at 401 S. 4th St., Smith says she tried to bring the problem to the city's attention.

She said she made 25 calls to the Metro Police's non-emergency number over a three-week period but never received a return call.

She took down license-plate numbers of cars involved in drug deals.

She took pictures of those involved in the deals.

Finally, in exasperation, she said when the city contacted her about a business license, she decided to protest the lack of attention to the drug problem by refusing to pay.

All businesses are required to have a license -- failure to get one can result in a fine of $1,000 and up to six months in jail, according to Lou Grasmick, city licensing officer.

"We always strive to obtain voluntary compliance," Grasmick said. "We make numerous attempts before issuing a citation. We do everything we can to get voluntary compliance."

With a note of sarcasm, Smith said, "Then the druggies should either be forced to get a license or go to jail."

That's where she said she was headed if she continued her civil protest, which resulted in a court hearing in the spring.

"She (the judge) would have put me in jail for 25 days," Smith said. "The drug dealers are out running around free, and they were going to put me in jail."

On advice of an attorney, Smith decided to accept a fine and skip the jail portion of her protest.

However, she said, as a result of her numerous complaints over a seven-month period, she finally did get a response.

Clark County Commissioner Lance Malone, a former police officer, came to her assistance and extra patrols were sent to the area. The drug dealers moved three or four blocks away, Smith said.

"They don't arrest them, they just move them around," she complained.

Malone expressed sympathy for Smith, but also for Metro Police, who are short on manpower.

"We are below the national average (for numbers of officers)," Malone said.

He said it's unfortunate, but small-time drug deals often go on openly because the officers on the force are busy chasing criminals who have committed far more serious crimes.

"There are bigger fish to fry," Malone said. "Sometimes, the smaller fish get away."

Narcotics Lt. Steve Gammell said the department gets calls all the time about people seeing drug deals taking place.

"If I was to go down and put a squad of guys down there for a week, we would observe some of the things she's talking about," he said. "But then, someone else would replace them when we leave."

Gammell said that the department did try to witness the open drug deals described by Smith but never saw them.

"I wouldn't doubt that some drug deals are being made," he said, but he was skeptical that they were as timely as described by Smith. "These are drug dealers. They don't have watches."

Gammell said the department doesn't have enough time or people to put someone on every corner around the clock.

"We do respond to their needs," he said. "Her situation was referred to the downtown area command and to the problem-solving unit of our special investigations unit. We (at narcotics) have put this on the back burner."

Gammell said Smith's complaint is with the city, not the police department.

"I've been doing this for 23 years," Gammell said. "It's the nature of the downtown area. It's better now, but we will always have a problem there. She's got a business in a part of town that's not the best part of town."

Malone said if the problem is going to be solved, more police officers are needed, as are programs such as Neighborhood Watch and the Downtown Central Development Committee.

"We can use (private citizens) out there," he said. "We need to continue to push for the support of neighbors. These people can be our eyes and ears."

But Smith complains that she tried to be the city's eyes and ears but was ignored until she called Malone.

"The secret is when you have a problem, don't call the police, call a politician," she said.

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