By Leon Fooksman, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. · A new squad of police officers and city employees will descend on troubled northside neighborhoods later this month in an attempt to end shootings, close down open-air drug markets and rebuild deteriorating homes, city officials said Tuesday.
The crackdown is in response to the recent violence along the Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard and Tamarind Avenue corridor, said Police Chief Delsa Bush. Five men were shot and killed there in the past week in three shootings. Police said the shootings are unrelated; two remain unsolved.
About 30 police officers and undercover detectives first will work around the clock to round up criminals, Bush said. Code enforcement officers and public works crews then will move in to clean alleys choked with litter and repair blighted homes. That work will pave the way for redevelopment officials to attract residents and businesses.
“You’ll see some major results,” said Bush at a news conference. “We’re going to put more officers on the street than you’ve ever seen.”
Some residents said the city should have planned such a crackdown years ago, long before the shootings became widespread.
“What they’re doing makes a lot of sense,” said Joaquin Turner, a resident of 18th Street. “I’m scared to go out at night. It’s really bad here.”
Malcolm Mandue, who lives on 26th Street, praised the city for the upcoming effort, but said it will fall short if educational and recreational programs aren’t offered for youth.
“These kids need something to do,” Mandue said.
Bush joined Mayor Lois Frankel and officials from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and Riviera Beach Police Department in asking residents not to be afraid to come forward and give police information about the shootings.
“That’s how we prevent crime and solve these crimes,” Frankel said.
Frankel said residents shouldn’t fear for their safety since the shootings were targeted at the victims. Bush said police suspect the shootings were retaliatory for ongoing disputes. Police don’t know if the shootings were drug-related, although many of the victims previously were arrested for drug-related offenses, she said.
Police from West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach and the Sheriff’s Office are working together to solve the shootings. Extra patrols have been added around nightclubs and restaurants on Okeechobee Boulevard, where four of the men killed in the past week visited shortly before being shot.
The new police unit is expected to start within two weeks, said Will Perez, West Palm Beach assistant chief. Police haven’t announced which neighborhoods would be targeted first, he said. The unit will spend several weeks or months curbing crime in each 20-block radius before moving on to the next neighborhood.
West Palm Beach police are offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrests in the shootings.