By MATT PATNEAUDE

Stepping out the back door of her business, Lake City Travel, in early 1994, Suzy Smith was shocked to find herself standing in the middle of a drug deal.

That is when Smith and other Lake City business owners decided that enough was enough.

Smith, along with Russ Foisy, owner of Rush Drake Insurance, and Dick Harris, owner of Alley Chevrolet, launched the Lake City Task Force in May of that year.

The goals of the Task Force are to ensure that Lake City is a safe, clean, thriving and desirable community. The Task Force is a sub-committee of the Lake City Chamber of Commerce.

The group first approached Officers Chris Gough and Mike Magan of the Seattle Police Department. Gough helped organize a security force of off-duty Seattle Police officers who now patrol Lake City's streets.

Several nights a week, these off-duty officers are hired to provide Lake City with its own private security service. Their efforts have helped reduce drug dealing, prostitution, and other criminal activity that had been infiltrating the area.

When off-duty officers aren't patrolling the neighborhood, other citizens are. Volunteers from the community, both residents and merchants, make nighttime rounds to look for suspicious activity.

Citizen patrol members are given an orientation and training session by the police to address safety concerns. Their main objective is to report incidents to police without becoming involved in a confrontation. They are trained to be the eyes of the police when the off-duty officers are not patrolling.

With the combination of the off-duty officers and the citizen patrol, the Lake City Task Force is out protecting against crime seven nights a week.

Other aspects of the Task Force are the elimination of graffiti and the beautification of the neighborhood. After its inception, the Task Force worked with local businesses to clean up storefronts and streets in the Lake City business district. The idea is that a well cared for neighborhood is a repellent to crime.

A grant from the City's Solid Waste Department has enabled the Task Force to provide a Paint-Out and Clean-Up Squad. Any reported graffiti will be cleaned up by this group within 24 hours.

Another grant from the City's Department of Neighborhoods Matching Fund resulted in the installation of new flower pots and additional garbage containers along Lake City Way. The Task Force has also been instrumental in towing abandoned cars and removing garbage throughout the area.

Funding for the Task Force comes from about 90 local businesses. Suggested monetary donations vary according to the size of the business. Donations also come in the form of time and supplies, as the patrol cars and gasoline are provided by local businesses.

Sponsors receive a monthly bill along with "Security Newsletter," a report on incidents and arrests involving the Task Force.

The Lake City Task Force's Hot Line is 362-8836.