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Explosives rattle police force
By LEANORA MINAI, BRYAN GILMER, WAVENEY ANN MOORE and MIKE BRASSFIELD ST. PETERSBURG -- After another explosive device was thrown at a police officer before dawn Friday, Mayor Rick Baker called an unusual meeting with a dozen street narcotics officers concerned about the city's commitment to fighting drugs. The officers, some of whom were paid overtime to attend the 90-minute session, spoke with the mayor and police Chief Chuck Harmon about two incidents involving explosives this week in the same high-crime area. They aired their concerns about personnel levels, morale and equipment in the midst of another public debate about the city's law enforcement efforts. Afterward, Baker said he went to the police headquarters to listen to officers and lend his support. "I thought it was important for me to come by," he said. "They've had a tough couple of days." On Friday, Officer Leticia Harrison, who is black, was driving east on 18th Avenue S in the 2800 block at 1 a.m. when someone tossed an object with a lighted wick toward her cruiser. The object sailed over her cruiser and exploded at 2830 18th Ave. S, in the parking lot of a carwash. Harrison stopped her cruiser, but the man ran away. She was not injured. The explosion was heard at the police station, 19 blocks north. Three days earlier, an object slightly smaller than a stick of dynamite was thrown at five white street narcotics officers after they arrested a suspect for possession of crack and marijuana at 12th Avenue S and 12th Street. The officers went to the hospital for powder burns, ringing ears and a nosebleed. Baker sought to reassure police narcotics officers Friday after he was criticized by some officers this week for failing to provide enough public support. But the mayor and his staff contend that the week's events do not signal heightened tension between officers and black residents in some high-crime neighborhoods. "Those negative encounters are not in any way indicative of the Midtown community," said Goliath Davis III, former police chief and now the deputy mayor for Midtown economic development. "I don't have any sense that there is widespread hostility." But some residents and community leaders worry about the possibility of street violence. "This is something that could easily erupt," said the Rev. Gustave Victor, president of the 77-church Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance and associate pastor of Dominion Worship Center Church of God. "This is just an intolerable situation," said City Council member Virginia Littrell. At 4 p.m. Sunday, City Council Chairwoman Rene Flowers plans to gather with civic leaders to show their support for the police. The event will take place at the Davis-Bradley Building, 1735 Dr. M.L. King (Ninth) St. S. No one had been arrested Friday in connection with the incidents involving the explosive devices. Detectives are tracking several leads. Remnants of the explosives from both incidents have been sent to a lab for analysis. In interviews this week, Harmon said the devices may be M-250 or M-1000 explosives, which are not firecrackers, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The explosives, which are illegal, can cause disfiguring injuries and death, the ATF said. "Somebody has purchased some amount of these things, and they're getting out, which is of grave concern," Harmon said. Still, the chief said, "To me, these are isolated incidents." Opinions are mixed in Midtown about whether drugs, crime and racial tensions are increasing. Dorothy Gilliam, president of 13th Street Heights, where the first explosion occurred this week, said she and her neighbors have been talking about the incident all week. "If they don't do something about having the law enforced more throughout this city," she said, "it's going to be very bad for everybody." -- Staff writer Jon Wilson contributed to this report.
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