Pubdate: Tue, 16 Nov 2004 Source: Lexington Herald-Leader (KY) Copyright: 2004 Lexington Herald-Leader Contact: http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/240 REGIONAL COOPERATION Jurisdiction Challenge Shouldn't Disrupt Drug Cases We're all for protecting the public from vigilante police swooping down and making arrests where they have no authority. Such disrespect for jurisdictional boundaries would threaten civil liberties. But no such threat is apparent in the questions being raised about a regional drug task force's jurisdiction in 10 southeastern Kentucky counties. The legal challenge to the task force's authority is based on a technical foul up: The required cross-county operating papers were filed with the wrong clerk in the Jackson County Courthouse. It would be a shame if red tape trips up this sorely needed regional effort to combat drug abuse in southern Kentucky. Interagency cooperation is especially important when investigating the drug trade because local investigators become easily recognized among illicit buyers and sellers in small towns. Beyond the unique requirements of drug investigations, Kentucky needs to encourage regionalism across the board. The last thing we need is to throw up more barriers to cooperation among the state's counties and local governments. Kentucky's excessive number of counties leave taxpayers footing the bill for a lot of duplication and inefficiency. Regional cooperation is the best antidote for these problems. The challenge to the task force's authority, filed by a lawyer for someone accused of selling drugs to undercover agents, will come up for a hearing early next month. Initially, there were fears that a successful challenge could disrupt hundreds of cases. Officials with Operation UNITE are now confident that they can make the cases regardless of how the challenge turns out. No special authority is required to present information about a crime to a grand jury, and a local officer was present when search warrants were executed. Circuit judges shouldn't accept any police shortcuts when constitutional rights are at stake. But if this challenge is merely the technicality it appears to be to non-lawyer eyes, it would be a shame to let a tangle of county lines trip up what could be a model for more regional cooperation. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek