Pubdate: Wed, 19 Apr 2006 Source: Cape Cod Times (MA) Copyright: 2006 Cape Cod Times Contact: http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/edits/sendaletter.htm Website: http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/72 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) DRUG STING Falmouth High was the right place, at the right time. If school officials refused to cooperate with police in reducing illegal drug activity at the high school, if teachers and students turned a blind eye to "minor" drug buys at the school, if just one student overdosed on drugs, parents would be furious. "We demand zero tolerance," they would cry. They would also be the first to point their fingers at the police and schools for failing to protect their children. Instead, some parents and "experts" are now criticizing police and school officials for an undercover drug sting operation that nabbed nine Falmouth High students. A 23-year-old sheriff's department employee documented 32 drug buys during a nearly four-month investigation. Twenty of those were made at the high school. At the home of one of the students, officers reportedly found $3,500 in cash and more than $6,000 worth of marijuana. More than six months ago, Falmouth police officials, to their credit, recommended the undercover operation to school officials because of increased drug activity and violence at the school. "A lot of the violence in town, like the recent home invasions, has to do with drugs," said Falmouth Detective Kent Clarkson. "Eighty percent of the violence in town goes back to drugs." Few know this better than local defense attorney Drew Segadelli, who said he's surprised there isn't more outrage about the methods used to snag the students. Segadelli, who is not representing any of the defendants, suggested that the students were entrapped. He told the Times that it is easy to understand why adolescents would help a pretty girl who wanted to buy drugs. "If a good-looking girl wants something, I would jump off the Bourne Bridge to help her," he said. As defense attorneys can do so well, Segadelli redefines criminal as victim. He fails to see that the real victims here are those law-abiding students who were threatened, on a daily basis, by the spread of illegal drug activity and violence in their school. Segadelli's twisted logic is nearly matched by Peter Manning, a criminal justice professor at Northeastern University, who said the undercover sting could actually backfire on the police department. "It reduces the trustworthiness of police and creates divisions and anger," he said. Aside form the fact that police departments are not inherently designed to make everyone happy, the drug operation may well restore some pride and trust in a department that has been plagued in recent months by dissent and division. Manning also said he doesn't like the tactics used by the Falmouth police, including the practice of officers knocking on suspects' doors in the early morning hours and alerting the media to the arrests. He said there is no need to embarrass the families. No? When police arrived at one house, the officers could smell burning marijuana as a parent tried to block entry. Families like this need to be embarrassed, and perhaps arrested as an accessory to a crime or obstructing justice. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman