Cars lined up Friday in the Holly Square Shopping Center in Denver’s Park Hill neighborhood, but some customers weren’t interested in shopping for groceries.
Instead, they purchased illegal drugs.
It was another typical day for drug dealers and their buyers who brazenly swap drugs for cash day and night in the small strip mall at East 33rd Avenue and Holly Street.
But for a little while Saturday the illegal drug trade came to a screeching halt when more than 30 Park Hill residents joined members of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, and marched inside and outside three businesses in or near the shopping center.
The group accused the three businesses of not doing enough to curtail loitering, panhandling, harassment and drug deals. ACORN also demands that Denver police step up patrols in the shopping center and neighborhood.
Protesters included Carl Johnson, who lives and works in the neighborhood. He said he has witnessed drug deals at 4 a.m. and is disturbed by the increase of aggressive panhandlers.
“Our level of tolerance is just maxed out,” Johnson said.
Police in District 2 are just as concerned about the level of crime near the shopping center.
“It’s been a constant battle for precinct officers, and it’s become a magnet for some reason,” District 2 Cmdr. Rhonda Jones said. “But the problems are not being ignored.”
Jones said police have noticed an increase in gang activity, and the department is working with gang and narcotics units. But she said police welcome residents helping them fight criminals.
Park Hill ACORN vice president Brazyl Carroll, 25, led protesters into three stores they said sell drug paraphernalia or fail to discourage loitering on their doorsteps.
One store owner agreed to meet with the group, one refused and closed his store early, and one signed an agreement to take action.
“I’ll call the police, but what can I do,” Chin Kim, owner of Park Hill Liquors, told the protesters.
Carroll said the group is planning more protests, but the thing that bothers her most is seeing children as young as 9, as well as teens, getting involved with drugs.
“They are loved in this community, but they’ve got to stop hurting this community,” Carroll said.
Staff writer Annette Espinoza can be reached at 303-820-1655 or aespinoza@denverpost.com.
