Last year, comedian Conan O'Brien got into an interesting and fun back and forth with Newark, N.J. Mayor Cory Booker. In one of his funniest jabs at the mayor, O'Brien stated that Booker's health care plan for Newark residents was a bus ticket out of the city.

Well, Booker might be getting the last laugh, as the mayor has been credited for working hard to clean out the city. Booker's police force has made 149 drug-related arrests this year, capped off with an arrest of 28 people Monday morning. The latest in this sequence of events was the end of a six-month investigation, where seven guns and $15,000 dollars in cash were confiscated. There were also $28,000 dollars worth of drugs at the scene.

Conan didn't mean harm with his jokes about Newark, and he ended his string of laughs by donating $100,000 dollars to the city. Good for him and good for Booker. I was impressed with the fact that Booker took O'Brien's jokes so well and made the most out of the situation. He showed more humor and humanity than most politicians.



On a more serious note, many of us are well-aware that Newark, New Jersey is considered one of the most dangerous cities in America. This fact was highlighted with the execution-style slayings of three youth on their way to college back in 2007. Obviously, drug sales are a driving force behind the crime in this community, as in many other cities across America.

It is my hope that rather than attempting to gain positive headlines for arresting scores of black youth, Booker and his team are really working to find the source of the drug problem in Newark. My father was in law enforcement, and one thing I couldn't help but notice was that there was typically a great deal of wheel churning on drug arrests. The goal was to simply incarcerate citizens, without having the courage to make major arrests to stop the flow of drugs into the city. When it comes to stopping drug sales, a high quantity of arrests will get the headlines, but it's the quality that matters. I hope Booker's administration is arresting the right people.



Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.