Police Crackdown Cleans Up
Tacoma Library
A six-month crackdown by the Tacoma, Washington, police department has rid the city’s main library of drug dealers and prostitutes who had been scaring away patrons.
The problem began last winter when construction of a new convention center displaced street people from their former drop-in center, with drug dealers soon following, the Tacoma News Tribune explained August 5. “There was drug use in the bathrooms, and there was drug use and selling outside,” Peter Williams, who runs a café in the library, told the newspaper. “At its worst, I noticed prostitution.”
The library asked the police for help in January. Staff followed their recommendations to remove bushes and fence the parking lot, add exterior lighting, remove the doors from the men’s restroom stalls, and limit the size of bundles allowed in the building.
Police conducted two undercover operations in the library. The first saw three or four arrests a day, and the second put about 60 people in jail, police Lt. Fred Scruggs told the newspaper.
“If you go down there now, there is no activity at all. It has been weeks,” said Library Director Susan Odencrantz. “The library feels like the library again.” The library now faces the problem of convincing patrons that it’s safe to return.
Posted August 12, 2002.
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