December, 2005

The tragic consequences of tolerating enablers

Sometimes it just doesn’t pay to be right.

Wasn’t it only about five years ago that the Altoona Crime Commission released its report which predicted that local drug-related crime would turn violent within a five-year period?

Three weeks ago, that prediction came home to roost. An area-wide drug bust took place involving nearly seventy-five suspected drug dealers. Only this drug bust was different from the dozen or so that preceded it. As Attorney General Tom Corbett told the Altoona Mirror, “This area of Pennsylvania could all of a sudden see a spike in violence with competing gangs.”

Gangs in Blair County? Certainly the Attorney General must have been sampling the contraband when he made that statement. This is, after all, a great place to live and work and raise our kids. All our promotional materials say so. It’s a safe place, far removed from the rest of a world that tolerates things like crime and pollution and insensitivity.

And gangs.

Amid our horrified disbelief comes the realization that impolite society has set-up shop in the place we call home. The real question, other than what we do about it, is how did it get here to begin with? Because until we answer that one, we can’t look the demon squarely in the face and take the necessary steps to eradicate it.

Speculation will only cause us to point fingers. It makes far greater sense to draw on the experiences of other places that have been fighting similar battles over an extended period of time. Sadly, a classic example is being played-out less than three driving-time hours away.

In Montgomery County, Maryland and in Northern Virginia, a vicious gang originating in El Salvador has so terrorized those areas that the FBI and several law enforcement agencies have given the situation priority status. The gang, known as Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13, has managed to recruit an estimated 10,000 members in 33 states in the U.S.

The infiltration of MS-13 has been buoyed by the type of rampant drug traffic that generally puts all undesirable activities on a fast track. But there’s also evidence that this machete-wielding band of assassins has put down roots in some areas of the country by paying local police officers to look the other way when illegal activities are taking place.

As officials in Blair County set strategies to respond to gang activity, it may be prudent to consider the role that “enablers” play in making the job of reclaiming our communities all the more difficult. While we’re fortunate that there’s no evidence of police collusion as a factor in the recent emergence of violent crimes in our county, there are examples of enabling that are both subtle and symptomatic. And the business and education communities are being impacted as a result.

The most obvious culprits in the crime equation are the drug pushers. Their motives are fairly clear. But what of the businesses that sell drug paraphernalia? How can we sit idly-by, allowing them to provide the means for illegal drug use to take place and not subject them to some sort of scrutiny.

How can we continue to tolerate businesses that sell, for instance, substances that help drug-users to pass pre-employment drug screenings? With organizations such as Blair Countians for Drug-Free Communities doing all that they can to stem the tide of drug abuse, it’s downright depressing to consider that others within our region are motivated to capitalize on societal ills.

Enablers, it seems, are everywhere. Local schools feel the impact on issues such as truancy. In fact, The Chamber’s BASICS program has convened a Truancy Task Force to examine ways to combat the truancy problem and you’ll never believe what occupation has emerged as the lead enabler.

Physicians.

To avoid prosecution for truancy-related offenses, students and their parents often petition their family doctors to write bogus excuses. And all too often those practitioners comply. A local school official who handles a variety of attendance issues told me that it would be unfair to paint physicians with a broad brush.

“A lot of times, I don’t think the doctors are even aware of what they’re signing or why they’re being asked to sign,” he disclosed. “And often, the receptionist will sign something and not even let the doctor know.”

While it is not my intention to disparage the credibility of our medical community, it would seem like the appropriate time to put all the cards on the table. For it doesn’t matter if enabling is occurring intentionally or by accident. The outcome’s the same. And the consequences to our county and its people are piling-up. If you’re one of the people who can’t see any connection between drug abuse and truancy, you’re not looking hard enough.

In the same newspaper article that quoted Tom Corbett was a quote from Randy Feathers, regional director for the Attorney General’s Office, on the influx of gangs into Blair County. “We’re ready for this,” he remarked confidently.

It’s too bad that it’s come to that.

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