She helps focus discussions, raises issues that have been overlooked, recommends certain actions and mediates disputes such as the one brewing between the community, which she serves, and Wesley, which cuts her check. The wife of Latino television journalist Rolando Nichols, Nichols-Julien is relying heavily on the Fight Back program to provide a vehicle for change. The weekly Fight Back meetings bring residents together for the first time to discuss neighborhood issues on a regular basis. Perhaps the most significant accomplishment of the Fight Back meetings so far is increased communication between the community and police. Officers regularly attend the Fight Back meetings and are encouraging residents to provide information about suspected drug houses and illegal gang activity.
Police tell residents they're in the best position to rid the neighborhood of criminal street gangs.
The success of the program rests on the community. Fight Back vice chairman Rick Cortez has asked committee members to provide a list of suspected drug houses to him, which he will forward to police. Information from residents already has led to the bust of a major drug-dealing operation that netted 20 rocks of crack cocaine, two weapons and eight arrests. Give me 30 days. There isn't a drug house we can't take out.