Pubdate: Sat, 08 Mar 2003 Source: Wilmington Morning Star (NC) Copyright: 2003 Wilmington Morning Star Contact: http://www.wilmingtonstar.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/500 DRUG FIGHTERS NO LONGER ALLIES Drug dealers, gamblers and pimps must be chortling. The Wilmington Police Department has stopped working with the New Hanover County Sheriff's Department to fight drugs and vice. From now on, police officers and deputies will work separately on their common problems. City residents will pay taxes to support both departments - and wonder whether they're getting their money's worth. Probably not. In a small metropolitan area such as New Hanover County, it's only logical to coordinate law-enforcement efforts. To do otherwise is to waste time, waste money and waste opportunities. Police Chief John Cease understood that when he was hired six years ago. He approached then-Sheriff Joe McQueen about combining the efforts of their vice and narcotics officers. Mr. McQueen quickly agreed, saying it was a mistake when Mr. Cease's predecessor dissolved a similar arrangement several years before. The joint operation, run by a deputy who is now the sheriff, seemed to work well at first. But in the past year or so, Mr. Cease let it be known that he wasn't happy. From the outside, it's hard to know whether the chief had valid reasons for that or whether he and his officers were mainly unhappy that somebody from the other department was in charge. Whatever the reason or reasons, Mr. Cease and new Sheriff Sid Causey failed to patch things up. They've gone their separate ways. If anybody thought it would be easy to combine city and county departments or to consolidate the city and county governments, this latest episode should snap them back to reality. Deputy Police Chief Tandy Carter says the new arrangement will allow city residents to hold the department more accountable. True enough. If drugs and drug-related crimes continue to increase in the city, residents will know who's responsible. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh