Pubdate: Sun, 26 May 2002
Source: Saratogian, The (NY)
Copyright: The Saratogian 2002
Contact:  http://www.saratogian.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2100
Author: Lawrence Ferchaw

D.A. DOESN'T BUDGE ON NARCOTICS

Saratoga Springs -- Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III 
recently got a thank-you letter from an unusual source.

It was from a man serving a 4- to 8-year sentence in state prison on a 
cocaine sales conviction, thanking the county prosecutor for holding him 
accountable for his actions.

"Because he had to sit in prison and think about what he's done, he got his 
head together," Murphy said. "He not only committed a crime, he ruined a 
lot of other peoples' lives."

Sending convicted drug dealers to prison is a campaign pledge Murphy ran on 
in 1997, and a promise he said he's kept as a way to deter people from the 
kind of drug sales that landed the letter writer in prison and allegedly 
led to the Monday's arrest of five men in Saratoga Springs.

"The message is, if you deal drugs in Saratoga County, you will go to state 
prison," Murphy said.

But Murphy said his office also emphasizes treatment for people addicted 
and prevention efforts for area youth as a way to decrease the demand for 
drugs in the county.

Hard work and cooperation among law enforcement agencies is also a key to 
stopping the influx of drugs into the county and stopping people in the 
county from becoming dealers.

"We're lucky in that we can identify fairly early on when someone comes in 
to set up shop," Murphy said. "Certainly, we have people in the county 
deciding to do this and they are suffering some significant consequences," 
he said.

The city police has its own narcotics investigation division and State 
Police also assist across the county with undercover drug operations.

All the agencies across the county meet monthly with Murphy for task force 
meetings to share information.

"There's no time for territoriality," Murphy said. "Fortunately, the law 
enforcement people we have in this county are always reaching out."

Murphy credited the cooperative efforts with some of the successes they've 
had in investigating, arresting and getting convictions for people accused 
of dealing.

In 1999, the District Attorney's office got 38 convictions from felony 
indictments for drug sales, mostly cocaine. That number went to 39 in 2000, 
48 in 2001 and so far this year, it has reached 18.

Murphy said the increase was a result of a concentrated effort being made 
by law enforcement agencies in the county.

Cocaine and marijuana are the most common drugs seen by law enforcement, 
though there's some heroin and a growing trade in Ecstasy, Murphy said.

"All drugs that are illegal, we need to work on. Be it crack cocaine, be it 
heroin, be it Ecstasy, they all can really ruin peoples' lives," Murphy 
said. "It's also a crime."

In addition to treatment for drug addicts, Murphy sees the possibility for 
rehabilitation for convicted drug dealers once they've served their 
sentence, including the man writing to thank the prosecutor from prison.

"Hopefully," Murphy said, "he will become a productive member of society."
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