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York, whose own mother had become addicted to prescription codeine and killed herself at age 47, now watched in horror as the drug scene unfolded on her own street. "We could smell the fumes and see the paranoia," she says. "One day I saw LaShawn up on her roof sweeping away 'little green men.' " Kids found syringes and drug pipes in the grass. Gunshots were heard in the house."We were terrified," says York. One Saturday, she and Brooklynn saw a guy in a black pickup violently ramming LaShawn's car, trying to push it into the wetlands. "I want my money!" he shouted.
"Next thing we knew," York recalls, "the guy was running toward my husband with a baseball bat." Another night she looked out the window to see cops jumping over her koi pond. That was it.
York called a neighborhood meeting at her hotel. Concerned residents organized teams to document what was going on. Working as a group empowered them. "When police made an arrest, we would line the street and cheer," York remembers. Unfortunately, the bad guys would sometimes be out on bail hours later, cooking more meth.
York was on the phone with the police every day. Each night, she sat by the window, sleeping an average of only three hours. It took more than two years -- 855 days total -- but they finally took back their block.
In all, police made at least 25 arrests for meth possession and other crimes, like parole violation and stolen property. LaShawn was sentenced to a year in prison, and her house was eventually sold.
When similar activity sprang up in another neighborhood home, York and her team helped police shut it down in 83 days. By then, they were pros.
Susan York gave up her $60,000 job to found Lead on America (leadonamerica.org). "I've used up nearly all my savings," she says, "but this is too important." Her immersion in the cause came at another price: She separated from her husband after 28 years of marriage.
Wearing her trademark pink, York goes into communities to teach them to work with law enforcement. So far, they've closed down 37 meth houses in Washington. Towns across the country are asking for help.
Whenever she can, York rides with police when arrests are made. "She puts on that pink hat and pink boots, and here comes Susan," says Sgt. Tony Aston. "She's just awesome, this lady. She is not kidding."
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