Pubdate: Sun, 22 Oct 2000 Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA) Copyright: 2000 Richmond Newspapers Inc. Contact: P.O. Box 85333, Richmond, VA 23293 Fax: (804) 775-8072 Feedback: http://www.gatewayva.com/feedback/totheeditor.shtml Website: http://www.timesdispatch.com/ Author: Jerry Oliver Note: Jerry Oliver, a 2000 Commentary Columnist, is Richmond's Chief of Police. Bookmark: L.A. Rampart Scandal http://www.mapinc.org/rampart.htm POLICE PAY, TOO: NATION'S WAR ON DRUGS EXACTS TERRIBLE PRICE With each massive drug seizure, evidence mounts that this country is sadly losing the war on drugs - not to drug cartels or drug traffickers over there - but to the dependably relentless appetite for illegal drugs created by our neighbors right here at home. Eighty-six years after Congress passed the 1914 Harrison Act that criminalized drugs, America's drug consumption thrives. Our nation's premier drug-war strategy of more police, more interdiction, and more incarceration is failing and the trajectory continues downward. Our strategy calls for more police presence on our nation's streets. Drug-law enforcement, however, is a very difficult proposition at all levels. Drug violations are generally consensual. In almost every case, willing buyers and willing sellers participate secretly in this highly profitable criminalized industry. SO IN order for police - federal or otherwise - to do their jobs they must snoop, spy, sniff, sneak, and covertly surveil in order to snag drug quantities, drug traffickers, or drug users. Most of the snooping, sneaking, and snagging is done primarily through the use of informants - people who use their own criminal status or position to gain some benefit from the police by trading information. It is a dangerous, dirty business, chock full of espionage, deceit, lies, and double-crosses. I am concerned about what this side of the police business is doing to other sides of our profession ethically and morally. We need only to look at the LAPD's current Rampart scandal for a salient example. We put our integrity, our hard-earned community trust, and our credibility at risk when police stoop to snooping on fellow Americans over drugs. I am concerned about the billions of dollars spent every year by our nation's police in attempting to eradicate or intercept illegal drug shipments to our country. These billions might be better spent on demand reduction, prevention, treatment, education, community-building, and supporting families. Federal agencies spend countless hours tracking planes, boats, trains, and other vehicles transporting cocaine, heroin, and marijuana earmarked for the U.S. market. These agencies and others have scored many widely publicized successes in detection, eradication, seizures, and arrests both in foreign countries and within our borders. A FEW YEARS ago drug agents in Los Angeles seized nearly 20 tons of cocaine and more than $10 million in cash in what was called the largest drug haul in history, with street values estimated at up to $20 billion. What is really even more astounding about a seizure of this size is the non-effect it had on the street price of a usable quantity of cocaine. During the weeks afterward the price per unit of cocaine actually dropped to the lowest levels ever in the L.A. area instead of rising, as one would expect because of market forces. This simply indicates that the nation is awash in cocaine and other illegal drugs and that even a mammoth seizure such as this one is just a drop in the proverbial bucket. I am also concerned about the "business" of drug-crime incarcerations in our country. It really is big business, composed of hundreds of thousands of law-enforcement and prison officials, drug courts, private and public prisons, anti-drug organizations, drug-testing labs, clearing houses, and many others who benefit economically and politically from this ever-growing bounty. Our lock-ups at all levels are fuller today than ever before. In 1980, approximately 50,000 people were behind bars for violating drug laws. Today, because of aggressive policing, prosecution, and mandatory sentences, that number is approaching 500,000. Warehousing people is one of the fastest growing and most profitable businesses in our country-all supported by taxpayer dollars. SO IT appears our rigid anti-drug strategy and our punitive prohibition efforts are failing. Former Secretary of State George Shultz said recently that any real and lasting change that occurs in a democratic society is done through education and persuasion and not through coercion and force. Perhaps it's time to heed his sage advice and search for alternative approaches to our current drug-control strategies that will be more effective, fair, and humane in reducing drug usage and drug dependency; that will emphasize treatment, prevention, and education; and that will rely on our social and health systems more than on our criminal-justice systems. A growing number of thoughtful Americans across the political spectrum have strong doubts about the efficacy of the current drug war, its costs, its true impact, and its future consequences. They want to rethink our direction and possibilities. As a police officer on the front line, quite frankly I'm one of them. - --- MAP posted-by: Thunder