Pubdate: Sun, 05 Feb 2006
Source: Times Leader  (Wilkes-Barre, PA)
Copyright: 2006 The Times Leader
Contact:  http://www.timesleader.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/933
Author: John Davidson

CRIME VS. STAFFING

Frustration Grows With Homicides

"Law enforcement needs help and until they get it, it's going to get 
worse. It's not going to get better."

Paul Lindenmuth King's College criminal justice teacher

Tom Kupetz, a 13-year veteran of the Wilkes-Barre Police Department, 
recently described a typical shift:

"You have six patrol officers and two supervisors. Right now I'm tied 
up tracking down a guy who's out of state. Say we got another officer 
who's got to watch prisoners. So now we're down to four guys 
patrolling the streets. If there's a traffic accident, now you got 
two more guys tied up. If there's a robbery or another accident, then 
that's everybody."

Kupetz is president of the Police Benevolent Association, the union 
that represents Wilkes-Barre police. When he came to the force in 
1992, there were more than 90 officers with 12 or 13 working each shift.

Today there are 82.

Kupetz said that while the police force has dwindled, crime in 
Wilkes-Barre and surrounding areas has steadily risen. Although Mayor 
Tom Leighton has been active in building the force up during the past 
two years, "it's really been a game of catch-up."

As police play that game, a recent outbreak of violent crime has left 
county residents wary.

Two shootings last week on Hazle Avenue brought the number of 
homicides in Luzerne County to four this year -- nearly half the 
number for all of 2005.

Local law enforcement officials link the rising crime rate in the 
county to an increasing drug problem. Wilkes-Barre police Chief Gerry 
Dessoye said a combination of factors including cheap housing and 
higher drug profits make it easy for drug dealers to move into the 
area and set up shop.

According to Kupetz, the going rate for heroin or crack in 
Wilkes-Barre is twice what it is in Philadelphia and New York, making 
the Wyoming Valley an ideal market for dealers looking to make quick profits.

Paul Lindenmuth, who spent 25 years as a detective for the Bristol 
Township Police Department and now teaches criminal justice at King's 
College, said Luzerne County is a relatively low-risk area for 
big-city drug dealers.

"Drugs are coming into this area because it's new terrain," 
Lindenmuth said. "If you're dealing drugs in Philly, you become known 
after awhile. There is a familiarity among officers with what's going 
on, and the police become as sophisticated as the dealers. But when 
you come to areas like Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, there is a lack of 
experience and a lack of manpower."

James Roberts, an assistant professor of criminology and sociology at 
the University of Scranton, said Luzerne County is part of a recent 
national trend marked by a dip in the overall crime rate but an 
increase in illegal drugs and homicides.

"A lot of the crime coming out of Wilkes-Barre is related to drug and 
gang activity," Roberts said. "As you get away from the larger 
cities, gangs tend to get more specialized in their illegal activity. 
Drug gangs are different from other street gangs, they are focused 
less on other types of crimes."

They also are more violent, according to Lindenmuth.

"The problem that you're having now is that people are coming in, 
younger people under 25, and they have a tendency to be more violent."

In recent years, drug traffic has increased apace with violent crime 
and homicide. According to the Pennsylvania State Police Uniform 
Crime Report, narcotics offenses in Luzerne County more than doubled 
between 2001 and 2004, going from 393 to 1,014.

The murder rate also has increased drastically. In 2000, there was 
one homicide in the county; in 2004, there were nine.

According to Times Leader archives, there were 10 homicides in 2005 
and there have already been four in the first month of 2006.

These trends are, for the most part, a result of "a vast outside 
influence," Kupetz said.

Drug users and addicts, on the other hand, tend to be local, Roberts said.

"There's always concern when you get a methadone clinic, that it will 
draw drug users to that area," Roberts said. "But if you see a 
methadone clinic in a city, it's because there's already a drug 
problem. Residents want to blame it on outsiders when often that's 
not the case; the drug problem is local."

Mary Martin, director of Choices, the drug and alcohol abuse 
treatment program affiliated with the Wyoming Health Care System, 
says the people receiving treatment at the clinic are local.

"We treat 145 people a day with methadone, and they're not from 
Philly or New York," Martin said.

For residents who are not used to seeing drug problems, their first 
reaction is often to blame outsiders, says Roberts, and their second 
reaction is to get off the streets, which makes the problem worse.

"If citizens are willing to abandon the streets out of fear, then 
they've given that area over to drug dealers."

And catching those dealers is difficult without resources and 
training. Surveillance and undercover work, for example, require the 
two things local police lack most: manpower and experience.

"There's a lack of understanding when it comes to drug arrests," 
Lindenmuth said. "You may know your neighbor is dealing drugs, but to 
be able to get in there and establish that there are drugs being sold 
there is difficult. Surveillance is necessary, and you can't do that 
with a narc squad of two people."

Another problem, says Lindenmuth, is that between Luzerne and 
Lackawanna counties, there simply are not enough officers to conduct 
undercover operations. A city the size of Wilkes-Barre should have a 
police force of "well over 100 officers."

Because of the manpower shortage, police are put in the position of 
having to use confidential informants such as Kevin D'Souza, who was 
killed Jan. 10 when a sting operation went awry.

"In Philly, we had the ability to get undercover officers from all 
over--New Jersey, Camden, New York, all over. If you needed an 
undercover, it was easy," Lindenmuth said. "But it's difficult to get 
an undercover officer here. Undercover work is dangerous. You have to 
be trained and you have to know what you're doing."

Ideally, officers would be sent to schools that train in undercover 
work and surveillance. As it is, local police departments simply 
don't have the resources to spare.

"It's a Catch-22. We sit around and blame law enforcement when 
there's not much they can do," Lindenmuth said. "Law enforcement 
needs help and until they get it, it's going to get worse. It's not 
going to get better."
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