Pubdate: Mon, 02 Jun 2003 Source: Free Lance-Star, The (VA) Copyright: 2003 The Free Lance-Star Contact: http://fredericksburg.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1065 Author: Donnie Johnston CULPEPER IS CRACKING DOWN Culpeper Says Dramatic Increase In Drug Arrests Is Result Of Tougher Enforcement Culpeper town police attribute an almost 100 percent increase in drug arrests over the past two years to more aggressive enforcement, not a dramatic rise in the use of illegal substances. "I think our success has a lot to do with our uniformed patrol officers being more alert for telltale signs of drug use during traffic stops," Chief Dan Boring said. With a month still remaining in fiscal 2003, town police have made 164 misdemeanor and felony drug arrests, almost double the number two years ago, Boring's first in office. That year, 89 arrests were made, while last year the number jumped to 163. Almost all the arrests involved traffic stops, and the town's numbers do not include those of the Blue Ridge Drug Task Force. While Boring praises patrol officers for their diligence, Lt. Rick Pinksaw thinks Boring deserves much of the credit. "One of the first things Chief Boring did when he came here was to assign one person to work strictly as a K-9 officer," Pinksaw said. "Using that drug dog has led to many arrests." Before Boring's arrival, the town force had a drug dog but his handler also had other duties. Under the new arrangement, the handler is almost always available. The handler lives in town and is on call in the evening, so when an officer makes a traffic stop and his suspicions are aroused, the K-9 unit can be on the scene in minutes. Results have been so positive that Boring has asked the Culpeper Town Council for money to bring in another dog and handler. "The two major complaints we get in this office are about speeding and drug trafficking," he said. "We can put a man with radar out there and catch speeders, but it takes much more work to handle the drug problem." Despite increased arrests, neither Boring nor Pinksaw thinks the drug problem is Culpeper has in-creased dramatically. "I worked drug enforcement from 1995 to '99 and I see the problem as being about the same," Pinksaw said. Most of the arrests, he added, stem from the use and possession of crack cocaine and marijuana, which he calls "Culpeper's drugs of choice." Given its proximity to Washington, Pinksaw doesn't see Culpeper's drug problem going away. Boring said that when he came to Culpeper he realized more aggressive enforcement was needed to combat what he saw as "a fairly serious drug problem." Just how bad is it? "I don't think we're going to know that until we resolve it," Boring said. "We've got a problem," Pinksaw said, "but we're addressing it as aggressively as possible." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom