Where do we go from here.

That's what residents of Ord Road were last night asking themselves in the wake of Operation Cleansweep, the high-profile Police dragnet for street-level drug dealers.

While the recent Police offensive has been a welcome first step, about 80 Ord Road residents -- gathered at Bright Temple Hall -- were told that learning to walk on their own after the crackdown was a whole other question. It's a question of more work, more commitment, and more vigilance by the community as a whole, meeting organiser Richard Powell told fellow residents: "The Police have done their jobs and now its time to do ours,'' he said.

Meanwhile the man who spearheaded Operation Cleansweep, New Scotland Yard's Detective Superintendant Paul Hoare, told the gathering all elements of the community had to get involved to ensure that Ord Road did not slip back into the clutches of crack, heroin, and cannabis dealers.

"This particular operation will never be able to be repeated with the same degree of success,'' he warned. "We expect after this drug dealers will become more surveillance conscious.'' Before Operation Cleansweep, research indicated that places like Ord Road were capable of generating about $20,000 per day throught the sale of drugs. Police meanwhile had to adapt their strategy to Island realities, he said.

"One of the difficulties was in setting up observation posts to film the drug dealers. We also didn't have the officers here with the sufficient anonymity to work undercover. That's why we looked to America and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA),'' he said.

And while Bermudian Police have gained experience through Operation Cleansweep and will continue to fight street-level dealers, residents of Ord Road were told Scotland Yard and the DEA will not be here forever.

That's why the community must become involved he said, starting in the schools, or studying the use of local coordinators to work with citizens and the Police. There are also practical methods to discourage the dealers from returning, he said.

"It is possible to design out crime. We know that the places of crime are the alleyways, cul-de-sacs, or anyplace that offers shelter.'' Solutions could be simple as installing better lighting, more open landscaping, or merely putting a gate on alleyway to keep criminals out, he said.

But if response from the floor was any indication, the social solutions may prove more daunting. Keeping Ord Road clean will require rethinking a system that denies one-time offenders a second chance, resident Albert Santucci told the gathering.

"I speak for a lot of guys who are forced to sell drugs because they have no other choice. They have to eat and look out for their families,'' the former Westgate inmate told a hushed house.

"I've been trying to get work for the past six months, to set my life right, but I'm shot down everytime because no-one wants someone who once sold drugs.

"What can you do when the past keeps coming back at you. Is someone going to give me a second chance, or are they going to shut me out forever because I once made a mistake,'' he said.

Paul Hoare