Pubdate: Sun, 04 Feb 2007
Source: York Daily Record (PA)
Copyright: 2007 The York Daily Record
Contact:  http://www.ydr.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/512
Author: Ted Czech

UNDERCOVER POLICE: WAGING A WAR ON DRUG DEALERS

James Morgan said learning about the death of a suspected drug dealer 
last month in York triggered memories of his own life-and-death 
experiences as an undercover narcotics agent.

"It just brought back memories for me, because there were so many 
situations that could've gone bad like that," Morgan said of the 
death of Antonio Luis Sotomayor.

Dealers call selling drugs "the game," but a winner's trophy or a 
crushing defeat aren't the outcomes of this contest. The cold reality 
is that defeat can mean death.

The risks are just as high for the police officers who go "UC," or 
undercover, to root out drugs as those who sell them, Morgan said.

"You could've been doing a story on the undercover officer who was 
killed, just as easily," he said last week.

Sotomayor, 18, sold a quarter-ounce of cocaine to an undercover 
officer with the York County Drug Task Force on Jan. 24 in York, said 
York County First Assistant District Attorney Bill Graff.

When police moved in to arrest him, Graff said, Sotomayor ran into a 
nearby avenue. Police allege he then pulled out a gun and fired 
several shots at police. The officers returned fire, Graff said. 
Sotomayor was shot and later pronounced dead.

Andy Shaffer, a York City Police vice detective and member of the 
York County Drug Task Force, said shootouts with drug dealers in York 
are rare. The truth is that guns and drugs are first cousins, and 
police must prepare for that, he said.

Shaffer said police have to expect that every time they buy drugs or 
make an arrest, someone will have a gun.

"The potential for violence is always there," he said.

Getting in

With undercover work, either "You like it or you don't," Shaffer said.

He said he was attracted to the work because of the adrenaline rush.

"Just the fast-paced lifestyle that we live," he said. "A lot of 
times, we're runnin' and gunnin', chasing people."

Most police officers who go undercover start by making drug arrests 
as a street cop, Shaffer said.

Morgan agreed, saying, "I was real aggressive on the street; I made a 
lot of drug arrests," he said.

Greg Ferency, a drug detective with the Terre Haute Police Department 
in Indiana, said he was impressed with the independence the work offered.

"I saw the narcs and their long hair and the way they carried 
themselves," he said. "It seemed like they operated a little more in 
their world."

Shaffer, Morgan and Ferency said they did not undergo any formal 
training, but used what they had learned as street cops, and had good mentors.

One of the key ingredients is knowing how to be an actor, convincing 
someone you're something you're not, they said.

The fear of being "made" - found out to be cop - is always in the 
back of your mind, Shaffer said.

"Have I arrested this person before? Have I been on a search 
warrant?" he said. "Hopefully, neither of you recognize each other 
from past dealings."

Cops and dealers

In the 1995 crime epic "Heat," Al Pacino and Robert De Niro's 
characters meet in a coffee shop. Pacino plays a police lieutenant 
and DeNiro plays the leader of a robbery crew.

After talking about their careers, the two reach what writer/director 
Michael Mann notes in the script is "a mutuality of their condition."

Pacino's character, Vincent Hanna, says, "I don't know how to do 
anything else."

De Niro's character, Neil McCauley, responds, "Neither do I."

Ferency and Shaffer describe a similar understanding between drug 
cops and dealers.

"It's our job to catch drug dealers; it's their job not to get 
caught," Ferency said.

Shaffer said he treats the people he arrests with respect, and 
usually, that is returned if he ever sees them on the street later.

"They're not bad humans, but what they're putting into society is 
poison," Shaffer said. "They're out selling drugs; we're out arresting them."

There are, of course, truly violent drug dealers, and Shaffer said 
the task force and other agencies worked hard last year to scoop them 
up and charge them under federal laws, where prison sentences are stiffer.

A war of attrition?

"The War on Drugs," a term coined by President Richard Nixon in 1971, 
describes the United States' efforts to investigate, make arrests and 
seize drugs, money and items related to drug trafficking, according 
to news sources.

But is law enforcement winning the war? Can it be won?

"I attribute it to putting a Band-Aid on a large laceration," Shaffer 
said. "We make arrests every day; we run out of hours in a day."

Shaffer added that he does not see an end in sight. "I haven't seen 
any letdown in the dealers or the users," he said.

Morgan, who also worked undercover for the state Attorney General's 
office, said that the war on drugs boils down to simple supply and demand.

"You've got to cut off the demand. Start with the kids," he said. 
"Showing them love, showing them a better life."

Cpl. Craig Fenstermacher of the Pennsylvania State Police's Troop H 
Vice Unit said it depends on what the definition of "winning" is.

"If it's making more arrests and taking more drugs off the streets, 
we're certainly doing that," he said. "Unfortunately, the drugs keep 
coming and there continues to be a demand for those drugs."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman