The Brothers were so effective that the Secretary of HUD,
Henry Cisneros, tried to hire them to provide security at all the HUD developments. Cisneros told Congress that since the Dope Busters began their work in 1988,
“we have conducted over 1,000 interviews of residents and management, and they illustrate that these security guards have been effective in
transforming many drug-ridden properties into places which are now safe and peaceful…. Almost all the residents interviewed lauded the jobs that the reviewed firms have done and
asked that the contracts not be terminated.”
[6]
HUD officials went on to say that 97% of those surveyed “stated that crime and drugs were rampant under the old security company and that [now they] had been reduced or eliminated…” At no time in history can one find 97% of any segment of the population that claims satisfaction with any government action.
In fact, the residents were ecstatic. In the months after the Muslims’ arrival both drugs and the drug wars vanished, and city bus routes that had been rerouted away from the daily battles were reinstated. With the improved security, businesses began to open, and after-school activities and educational and cultural programs for the neighborhood youth were begun. The blinding stadium lights that generated daylight 24 hours a day were removed, and grass began to grow in the center courtyard.
As word spread of the tremendous success of the Nation of Islam, residents of government housing projects around America started to request that the Dope Busters come into their neighborhoods. Dope Busters had succeeded where police and government agencies had failed to find any other effective way to curtail the intensifying pattern of drug trafficking and violence.
In one complex, elderly residents held a march in support of the NOI guards, saying they had significantly reduced drug-dealing.
Police officials of America’s capital city were so shocked at this victory that the Washington, D.C., chief, who had previously been sharply critical of the Muslim anti-drug patrols, completely changed his mind and stated publicly that his department would now work with the Nation of Islam. “They have just about stopped the drug sales,” declared police inspector Clarence dikkerson. With this remarkable success the United States government awarded contracts to the Dope Busters to provide security for public housing in Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and other major cities.