A city of 98,000, its 49 square miles patrolled by 225 cops, High Point, N.C., is no Mayberry R.F.D.

But the innovative way High Point is combating its illegal drug markets — so busy they once created afternoon traffic jams — is something Sheriff Andy Taylor, TV's folksy keeper of the peace in fictional Mayberry, N.C., might have liked.

With traditional undercover surveillance and sweeps failing to suppress drug trafficking for long, High Point police Chief Jim Fealy decided a new strategy was needed.

Fealy teamed with scholar David Kennedy of John Jay College of Criminal Justice in designing a carrot-and-stick approach.

In 2004, police built solid cases against nonviolent street dealers and rounded them up. But instead of taking them straight to jail, officers brought them to a meeting with influential people in their lives — parents, coaches, pastors — plus social workers, employment specialists and others. Prosecutors revealed their evidence and told the dealers they had a choice.

They could fight the charges and face the maximum. Or they could avoid the charges by starting down a path of education and employment, with community support every step of the way.

Holistic approach

The result? The street drug market closed "overnight," Fealy told The Wall Street Journal in 2006.

A year after the initial roundup, according to High Point's Web site, violent crime and drug offenses were down almost 40 percent in the targeted neighborhoods while homicides, rapes and gun assaults fell to zero. Citywide, serious crime was off 20 percent.

High Point expanded the initiative, and the federal government says the city's crime reduction has been sustained for four years.

That's why the U.S. Department of Justice wants to spread the High Point Initiative to other cities, and why Lancaster may be among those that give it a try.

"We're optimistic we can replicate the strategy," said Lancaster police Capt. Peter Anders, speaking for a committee of 16 comprised of police, prosecutors, clergy and others.

With planning ongoing, Anders declined to tell me too much. What he can say is 11 people from Lancaster attended a seminar in High Point in March; five more went in September. "We wanted a cross section of law enforcement and community leaders to see what it's about," Anders said. "We think it's worthwhile to try, knowing (High Point) had documented success."

Caution warranted

For the initiative to work, residents, clergy and businesspeople in drug-infected neighborhoods must partner with police.

Central to the strategy, the John Jay College Web site says, is "frank talk."

It says discussions should center on the problems of traditional drug enforcement; racial issues that divide communities and police; and "the importance of seeing even drug dealers as members of the community who deserve respect and assistance."

District Attorney Craig Stedman told me he met with the committee, sent an assistant to a High Point seminar and is keeping an open mind. "By the same token, I have to be convinced it's in the interest of public safety," Stedman said. "There needs to be strict scrutiny and screening."

He said letting a drug dealer off the hook only to have him commit a violent crime is "the last thing we want."

No one's saying the High Point strategy is a panacea. As long as drugs are prohibited, gangsters will deal drugs. And the body count will remain a cost of doing business. But the initiative has the potential to pull some out of the trade for good and make a neighborhood that much safer.

It's worth a try.

E-mail: jhawkes@lnpnews.com