CAD NEEDS MORE INVOLVEMENT

It's easy to understand Jimmy Fraley's frustration.

Fraley is the founder and president of CAD - Citizens Against Drugs - which has been fighting drug-related crime in Lee County on a grassroots level for several months now.  Early meetings, sparked by an increase in local crime and Fraley's unbridled enthusiasm and tireless commitment, drew crowds of several hundred interested community members and elected officials.

Reaction to the group's tactics and methodology was mixed, but it was hard to argue with the message: Lee County's crime rate is too high, the problem needs to be addressed, and together, maybe we can do something about it.

Now attendance at meetings seems to be waning, and CAD's bellwether issue - asking for six more sheriff's deputies to patrol the county's roads - has been seen by some county officials as equal parts unrealistic and irrelevant.

And crime? Well, the hits just keep on coming.

Hence Fraley's disappointment.

One question that all begs is this: why aren't county government and law enforcement jumping up and down in enthusiastic support of CAD and figuring out ways to take advantage of the group's resources and human capital?

It's a question CAD should take to the county commissioners, to the Sanford city council, and to the Lee County Sheriff's Department and the Sanford and Broadway police departments.  Fraley should ask for five minutes of time at each of the next commission and council meetings, ask for the sheriff and police chief to attend, and then ask the simple questions: What are we doing that's working? What are we doing that's not working? And what are we not doing that, if we started to do, would get you excited about our mission?

It likely won't happen.  The city of Sanford ( council members and otherwise ) doesn't think there's a crime problem, and the county shrugs its shoulders and says, "What can we do?"

Well, that's the same question Fraley asked himself several months ago - only he was serious about it.

Maybe Fraley and his group can develop real dialogue with the city and the county.  Maybe not.  Regardless, perhaps it's time for CAD to consider finding proactive ways to partner with other organizations - start with churches and civic groups - and ask the same questions about crime.  What are we doing that's working? What are we doing that's not working? How can we really make a difference?

There are many more questions to be asked and answered.  Fighting crime at a grassroots level is hard, and made harder by tough soil.  More seeds - more people, more ideas, more creative approaches - might not do the trick, but it's worth a try.