It’s not unusual for the Selma Police Department to reach out to the community when they need help removing a known drug dealer from the streets.

Unfortunately, it is unusual for them to get full cooperation from the citizens they are hoping to protect.

Criminal activity, most notably the distribution of narcotics, continues to spread throughout Selma, taking over neighborhoods and forcing those who obey the law and are trying to raise families to live in fear.

Selma Chief of Police William T. Riley’s message to the public in Wednesday’s Selma Times-Journal, along with a Tuesday afternoon drug bust that removed $20,000 worth of cocaine from the streets, shows that we still have a long way to go.

Often, there are meetings held in some of Selma’s toughest neighborhoods to give its residents a chance to come and discuss possible solutions for the growing problems they face.

Hopefully a solid plan will arise from these gatherings that will lead to mentoring programs that will steer young people down the right path.

But for now, we as citizens must do our part to  remove those who keep the wrong  paths open from our streets.

The secret witness hotline, 874-2190, and Crime Stoppers toll-free line, 1-800-442-7463, are there for a reason. They give people the opportunity to  pinpoint criminal activity for authorities without being traced back to the call. It’s time for the people of Selma to put these lines to use and make the call. Criminal activity that is ignored and tolerated is criminal activity that will continue to grow.