Pubdate: Sun, 01 Apr 2007 Source: Durango Herald, The (CO) Copyright: 2007 The Durango Herald Contact: http://durangoherald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/866 Author: Shane Benjamin, Herald Staff Writer SHERIFFS WEIGH DRUG TASK FORCES As a sheriff candidate for Routt County, which includes the mountain town of Steamboat Springs, Gary Wall promised voters he would protect residents' civil liberties. And soon after winning election in November, he withdrew financial support from the region's drug task force. By the numbers Here's a look at how much money was spent in the last five years by the Southwest Drug Task Force. Those funds came from La Plata County and the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Traffic Area, or HIDTA. The HIDTA grants, from the federal government, made up about 36 percent of the funds (HIDTA numbers are in parentheses). 2006 = $527,246 ($187,735) 2005 = $503,258 ($197,975) 2004 = $478,329 ($186,437) 2003 = $525,549 ($174,995) 2002 = $478,175 ($154,760) About the task force In 1996, La Plata County Sheriff Duke Schirard assigned a patrol lieutenant to form a small unit to work narcotics. In 1998, the sheriff's office asked other law-enforcement agencies in the county to participate in the unit. For the most part, all other agencies agreed to participate, but some more informally than others. The unit then became known as the Southwest Drug Task Force.The agency then successfully applied for grants from the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, and has been receiving grants ever since. Now the task force consists of one Ignacio Police Department officer, four sheriff's deputies, an administrator and a Colorado Bureau of Investigation agent. There are also two agents with the Drug Enforcement Agency who work with the task force on an informal basis. The task force has about seven employees. The task force, he said, seized a "shockingly low" amount of drugs in 2006, and investigators had a "total disrespect" for suspects' civil liberties. "I'm not going to participate in an organization that has that history," he said. In contrast, La Plata County Sheriff Duke Schirard said he is impressed with the amount of drugs being seized by the Southwest Drug Task Force in this region, and he is confident that civil liberties aren't being violated. But the enforcement tactics that Wall denounced in Steamboat Springs are the same tactics being used here in La Plata County. Those tactics include the use of undercover police officers, the buying and selling of illegal drugs by undercover police and informants, the use of confidential informants who are facing criminal prosecution and the refusal to work with confidential informants if they speak to a lawyer. Schirard said these methods are necessary in fighting the war on drugs; Wall said these methods are a recipe for violating constitutional rights, compromising the integrity of investigators, and perpetuating a negative image of law enforcement. What's more, these tactics are largely unsuccessful, Wall said in a telephone interview last week. "The war on drugs has been a dismal failure from every aspect," he said. During the last five years, the Southwest Drug Task Force spent an average of $502,524 per year - 36 percent of that coming from federal funds - to disrupt drug operations in this region, according to county data. And during that time, the task force seized 5.6 pounds of cocaine, 834 pounds of marijuana, and 17.8 pounds of methamphetamine, and made 245 arrests, according to task force data. When compared with other task forces of the same size, the Southwest Drug Task Force ranked No. 1 last year in terms of disrupting and dismantling drug operations, said Tom Gorman, director of the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Traffic Area, or HIDTA, which divvies out federal funds to drug task forces in a four-state region. "They were very high in areas that we value," Gorman said. "If they continue to target and work to investigate drug trafficking organizations, they're going to be fine. They have been relatively successful at it." While the numbers seem impressive, they don't speak to the methods used to produce such results. According to Wall, using confidential informants opens a realm of ethical concerns, including: It puts informants at risk by forcing them to buy and sell drugs in large quantities. If violent drug dealers learn of an informant, they are liable to harm that person, Wall said. In order for a task force to work with an informant, the informant must waive his or her constitutional right to talk to an attorney. And if the informant speaks to an attorney, the task force ends its relationship with the informant and begins prosecuting. "When you intimidate people into relinquishing their constitutional rights, of which (law enforcement) is supposed to make sure (defendants) can exercise, I start having problems with that," Wall said. Using informants and undercover officers to buy and sell drugs perpetuates the illegal activity. In order to buy and sell drugs, officers are required to lie to suspects. But allowing government agents to lie to citizens fosters distrust among the public. "I think you have to be very careful when you have law enforcement people who are lying to people," Wall said. Schirard said using informants and undercover officers is a necessary component to identifying drug dealers and stopping the flow of narcotics in the region. Drug dealers, after all, are not going to sell to police officers wearing a uniform. Informants must sign contracts agreeing not to talk to defense lawyers, he said, because if they did, it would blow their cover. Defense lawyers have other clients who are wrapped up in drugs, Schirard said, and in two hours the drug community would learn of the informant's identity. "It's just a matter of security," Schirard said. "It's a matter of confidentiality. You don't tell anybody you're a snitch or you're an informant. It could be very dangerous." The Southwest Drug Task Force has checks and balances, he said. There is oversight by the 6th Judicial District Attorney's Offices, which prosecutes the cases; the Colorado Bureau of Investigation has an agent assigned to the task force; and task force members report to Schirard. Durango Log homes Gorman, with HIDTA, said those who question drug-enforcement tactics are in the minority and tend to be extremely liberal or libertarian and they don't understand drug policy. The use of informants and undercover officers are common law-enforcement tactics used to investigate a variety of crimes, from drugs to homicides, he said. "Without that you've got nothing," Gorman said. "You'd almost have to have somebody come up to you and say, 'I'm a terrorist, arrest me.'" And Gorman disputes the notion that America's drug policy is not effective. He said only 7 percent to 8 percent of the population uses drugs, but that number was double in 1979, the height of the drug epidemic. "Our job is to keep it from going back up again and trying to get it reduced," Gorman said. While the Southwest Drug Task Force has won praise for its effectiveness at seizing drugs, the agency has not always performed with the highest level of ethics, according to city defense lawyers. In May 2005, a task force investigator was fired after reports surfaced that he had a sexual relationship with a confidential informant. The informant, Leslie Parker, passed a polygraph test administered by the La Plata County Sheriff's Office. And within weeks, her felony drug case was dismissed. Revelations of the sexual encounter became known only after Parker obtained a lawyer in another case, said public defender Tom Williamson of Durango. "In the past, I think there have been sometimes abusive and bullying tactics by the drug task force," Williamson wrote in an e-mail. But last summer, the task force hired a new director, Lt. Rick Brown, and now defense lawyers, including Williamson, are hoping for less-intimidating tactics. Brown said protecting civil liberties and ensuring officer integrity are paramount to him, as is cleaning up the drug problem in La Plata County. "There is a lot happening here with drugs," he said. "There would be a lot more if the Southwest Drug Task Force weren't here." And Sheriff Schirard said methamphetamine is the No. 1 problem. The drug fuels domestic violence, theft and murder, he said, and it is claiming children and spouses as victims. "It causes people to become paranoid and violent," he said. "As far I'm concerned, the Southwest Drug Task Force is the only organization dedicated to doing something about this horrible problem." - --- MAP posted-by: Elaine