Feb. 22, 2009 — St. Croix Police Chief Oakland Benta is making good on his promise to bring relief to the residents of Grove Place.
Early Saturday morning police executed search warrants on 11 apartments in the Mutual Homes housing community. For the rest of the day Saturday and all day Sunday police and supporting agencies "cleaned up" a section of Grove Village where illegal drug use and sales take place.
The action came after a town meeting at the Eulalie Rivera Elementary School addressing criminal activity in the area. At that gathering, Benta promised he would step up police presence in Grove Place.
On Saturday and Sunday, a wrecking crew demolished illegally constructed shacks along the street referred to by residents as "Jamaica Avenue." The crew included about 20 employees from the departments of Agriculture and Public Works, workers sent by local contractors and about 10 police officers from the Special Operations Response Team.
The land is owned by a local union and private families, Benta said, indicating he had written permission from them to clear the land.
As the bulldozers, payloader and tracktorvator removed the structures and cleared the land, evidence of illegal activity was uncovered. Among the finds were live marijuana plants, drug paraphernalia such as wrapping paper and plastic bags used in drug sales. The St. Croix Animal Welfare Center removed a litter of puppies and their mother, who took refuge under one shack. Other crews cut down overgrown vegetation so drugs could not be hidden there.
"The drug dealers will not be comfortable here anymore," Benta said as benches constructed around a large tree were removed.
Benta, the officers and the crews continued the cleanup for eight hours Saturday and eight hours Sunday. Residents of the area stopped by to express their appreciation. A 25-year resident of Mutual Homes told police she had sent her children to live with relatives because the area is unsafe.
"I was glad to see the police searching the apartments," she said.
The criminals "have no respect for themselves or anyone else," said an elderly resident of Grove Place. "This is a great thing the police are doing."
No weapons were confiscated and no arrests were made in the early morning search of several Mutual Homes apartments, Benta said. However, the department is gathering information and working closely with the apartment management.
"This community is on high alert," Benta said. "I am not surprised nothing was confiscated; everything was already cleared out. The residents who are involved in criminal activity know we are serious. We said we were going to come and we did."
The apartment management is planning additional security measures and the department is working with them to ensure that only legitimate tenants are occupying the apartments, the chief added.
The actions taken in Grove Place are part of an "ongoing operation" and police presence will remain high in the area, Benta said.
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