After the Roundup: A year later, Clairton assesses effects of major drug bust
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Clairton Police Chief Robert Hoffman was involved in a roundup of accused cocaine dealers, which focused on the Mon Valley but stretched to Georgia and Texas. The operation was orchestrated by the FBI and resulted in 11 arrests in Clairton. -
Clairton Coke Works along the Monongahela River in Clairton.
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In America's 40-year-old drug war, the descent of some 200 law enforcement officers on the little city of Clairton a year ago was barely a skirmish. For that town of 6,800, though, it was a big deal.
Part of a 42-person roundup of accused cocaine dealers, focused on the Mon Valley but stretching to Georgia and Texas, the Dec. 14, 2010, raid resulted in 11 arrests in Clairton. "This case, for the first time ever in this community, allowed us to remove the people who were bringing large amounts of drugs in," said Clairton Police Sgt. Joe Giles, whose efforts brought in the FBI and other agencies.
For U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton, the arrests were a model of what he calls community-impact prosecutions, in which entire criminal organizations are taken down. For Clairton Police Chief Robert Hoffman, it was an important step in his years-long campaign that he predicted would lead to "a significant decrease in violence" in a town that had more than its fair share of gunplay.
As with so many aspects of the drug war, though, things didn't turn out exactly as planned. A year after the roundup, the Post-Gazette explored its impact on Clairton.
PG VIDEOThe city went on to have, in 2011, what Chief Hoffman described as "a horrible year" in terms of violent crime. Its civic leaders are struggling, with limited resources, to take the next steps to build on progress made in the roundup.
And while some career criminals were taken off the streets, so were some people who had worked legal jobs and were well-liked in their community. As with many criminal cases, incarceration has yanked pillars of support from some families.
The local drug market, meanwhile, endures.
"It's always a plus to get that negativity out of the neighborhoods," Clairton Councilman Richard Ford said, "but in reality, it seems as though, well, you ever seen that game where they take a hammer and hit a head and another one pops up?"
With U.S. Steel's mighty coke works at the bottom of the hill, and the home field of its recently unbeatable high school football team near the top, Clairton is a proud little Mon Valley town.
First Published January 1, 2012 12:00 am
