To The Editor:
Cockroaches thrive in the dark. So do drug dealers and users.
A ride around Fulton into the areas that have been mentioned as being infested with drug dealers and users I found darkness.
If you have ever had the misfortune of living in an apartment that had cockroaches you would notice that whenever you entered a room and turned on the lights the roaches all scattered and went back into hiding.
If you opened a cupboard door and exposed the light to the contents the roaches all scattered and went back into hiding.
The answer to ridding those areas of the cockroaches (drug dealers) is to turn on the lights.
It will cost money, but the money it is costing us if we don’t is too high a price to pay.
The city of Fulton should either rent or buy portable lighting that can be moved into these areas for a month or two and then be moved to the next location.
The next step as those that remember how to rid your house of insects; is to pay for an exterminator to come in.
We already have exterminators (police).
Again, it is going to cost us money, but we need to rid our city of these insects now.
Place two police cars in the area the drug dealers are working in (24/7) until they move out.
Driving through the area doesn’t do the job.
Then move the police to the next area.
The other answer is: placing cameras in the high drug areas and react to drug deals.
All three may be needed for a while.
Only time will tell.
Our taxpayers need to feel safe.
Light up the city and put our exterminators in the area they are needed and take back our city.
Frank Castiglia Jr.
Concerned Taxpayer
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Jobs, jobs, jobs. Not lighting. Squeeze a sponge, and the water is forced out and goes elsewhere. Same with police putting the squeeze on a neighbor. They just go elsewhere. NIMBY doesn’t work at cockroach eradication.
Portable Lighting Frank? What about the law abiding citizens who will be affected by the portable lighting? What are we going to do, light up part of the city block like Wrigley Field? Stop the absentee landlords I say. Enforce the codes and fix up the houses. Good people will move in. Shut down the problem houses as nuisances. Increase the police presence. The drug dealers will move out. If we had jobs in our city, we wouldn’t have half the problems with drugs.
Ariel/ Salvatore, Jobs, Jobs, Jobs…yes is the answer to all problems. 1. People have to want to work, almost all in Fulton that aren’t working don’t want to work. 2. Jobs will not guarantee drug problems will end. 3. The good law abiding citizens can’t wait that long to get help. 4. The good people want and need help now. We have jobs here but you have to look for them. The good people have blinds they can close to block out the lights. It would only be for about a month or two. Then their neighborhood will back the way it should be. Police presence is part of my solution. Code enforcement is starting but will take time. Nuisance abatement takes convictions for felonies, as long as these people keep getting charges reduced by their lawyers they will be here forever. Lawyers I might say are being paid for most of the time by the good taxpayers.You know court appointed lawyers. There are good people that need these court appointed lawyers but not drug dealers.
Gee Frank, that almost sounds like a really, really, “Bright Idea” on your part… for once.
I usually disagree with you on most things, but you may actually be on to something here. If there’s one thing a criminal usually hates, it’s being seen while committing a crime. That’s why it’s usually better to walk down a well lighted street rather than a dark back alley. Perhaps adding motion sensors into the equation would keep the lights to a minimum while still providing the lighting when actually needed upon activation. Of course, finding them for the type of “prison yard spotlights” that you may have in mind might be expensive, or impossible. With that in mind, it may be cheaper for the city to actually furnish motion sensors to the residents along with outdoor floodlight bulbs, and have their porch lights converted to outdoor floodlight fixtures. That way, if the cockroaches return, at least the lights will still be in place if needed again. Don’t worry, you can thank me later for the suggestion.