Pubdate: Thu, 25 Oct 2012 Source: Daily Courier (Prescott, AZ) Copyright: 2012 Prescott Newspapers, Inc. Contact: http://www.dcourier.com/Formlayout.asp?formcall=userform&form=1 Website: http://www.dcourier.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4036 Author: Scott Orr FIGHTING THE WAR ON DRUGS WITH... RADAR GUNS? YCSO watches the road for likely suspects by gauging speed, behavior This article is the first in a three-part series. ON I-40 WEST OF ASH FORK - Yavapai County Sheriff's Deputy Randy Evers has parked his marked Chevy Tahoe in the freeway median and has a radar gun in hand. He spots car after car traveling well over the 75 mph speed limit, but he doesn't stop them. Evers is doing drug interdiction with his K-9 partner, Neo. It's an assignment that takes considerable experience, and, Evers says, common sense, to successfully pull off. The deputy has to size up an approaching car, watch the driver's behavior, and quickly make a decision as to how likely the driver is to be carrying illegal drugs. Profiling is no help, Evers says. "We've had people who look like grandma and grandpa going down the road with a load of weed in the back," he says, noting that the driver's race, age, or gender has very little to do with whether they may be carrying narcotics. Evers, a 28-year law enforcement veteran, relies on instinct - and what he calls "indicators" - to choose which vehicles he wants to stop. Radar is a useful tool for finding one kind of indicator: the driver who slows down too much when he sees the deputy. Evers clocks car after car, turning his head each time to see how the driver behaves after they pass. "It's like watching tennis," he chuckles, turning his head left and right. The legalities of probable cause require him to have a specific reason to make a stop; the law doesn't allow Evers to randomly pull people over. Excessive speed is one reason, but so is erratic driving or driving unusually slowly. Cracked windshields, window tinting that's too dark, or even objects hanging from the rearview mirror are all legitimate, legal examples of probable cause to stop a car. He doesn't always find drug smugglers. In fact, most often, he finds nothing at all, and lets the driver go with a verbal warning. But sometimes he encounters people who need to be taken off the road for other reasons. "It's DUIs, it's warrants. I mean, I've found guys with homicide warrants,"Evers says. The YCSO's K-9 unit doesn't do regular patrol work. They are dedicated to finding drug smugglers and arresting them. From June 2011 through July 2012, the unit seized more than 150 pounds of marijuana, 39 pounds of cocaine, 2 pounds of heroin, and 6 pounds of methamphetamine. The units also uncovered several cases of human smuggling and seized $120,000 in cash. The K-9 unit is also on 24-hour call to do searches for the Partners Against Narcotics Trafficking task force. There's a certain danger in doing drug interdiction. "You're dealing with drug traffickers, and they've got a lot on the line," Evers says. "You go to stop somebody who's hauling dope or money, and they know that if they don't get that load where it's supposed to be, something is going to happen to them or their families. A lot of these cartels are holding people (hostage)." Neo, a Belgian malinois, rides in an air-conditioned space in the Tahoe. There's room for the dog, a prisoner in another compartment, and even some gear in the very back. Evers clearly enjoys working with Neo, but he says, "I don't even use (Neo) half the time. I usually find (the drugs) myself." - --- MAP posted-by: Matt