Pubdate: Sun, 10 Jul 2005 Source: Herald-Dispatch, The (Huntington, WV) Copyright: 2005 The Herald-Dispatch Contact: http://www.hdonline.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1454 Author: Charles Carroll LANDLORD GETS LITTLE HELP FROM POLICE TO FIGHT DRUGS Tom Johnson, the U.S. attorney who has proposed to solve the drug trafficking problem in our cities and states by seizing landlords' properties, was born too late. He would have been right at home in Germany 1939, taking property and possessions from the Jews. I am a landlord who has cooperated with the police on local, county, state and federal levels with regard to drug activity for 25 years and have provided information, sometimes at personal risk to myself and family. Over these years, I consistently witnessed incompetence and corruption among the police. Ten years ago, I rented a house to two Hispanic men. Within the first few months, I had suspicions that they were involved in drug trafficking. I searched the house while they were gone and found bags filled with pot in bricks. I called the sheriff's department and was referred to the drug task force where I left a recorded message. After several messages and a week later, I was able to talk to an officer who took my information. Months later, two officers (from the drug task force) arrived at my house wanting to know the whereabouts of the two men who had long since moved out. According to the officers, these men were big-time dealers with regional and national connections. Suddenly after months had gone by, it was a priority. In another instance, I learned that tenants were cultivating pot. After calling police a number of times, I realized they just wouldn't respond. I went to the television news media to complain about inaction in the police department. This was what it took to shame the police into responding. Most recently, a raid took place in an apartment that I own where three police responded. After entering and searching the apartment, they found a small amount of drugs resulting in one arrest. After the cops had departed, the other tenants found drugs and cash in a briefcase that was thrown out the bathroom window. Common sense should have told them, "Hey, go around back in case they threw something out the window." Potential tenants always look good, neat, clean and have references. It's impossible to check people out thoroughly. I've made attempts to gain access to magistrate court files to learn a tenant's history, but access to those files has been denied to me. I've been told by a magistrate that, "Sometimes you just have to look the other way." Through the years, I have received thanks for all my efforts on only one occasion. The plain truth is they will never do what is necessary to stop drug trafficking; too many have something to gain from it. They are always looking for someone else (landlords) to blame. My answer to the problem is that convicted users and dealers are inducted into the military to supply our meat grinder in Iraq. Charles Carroll is a Huntington resident. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh