Pubdate: Wed, 18 Nov 2009
Source: Daily Texan (U of TX at Austin, Edu)
Copyright: 2009 Daily Texan
Contact:  http://www.dailytexanonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/115
Author: Bobby Longoria, Daily Texan Staff

BUYERS FEEL 'STING' OF CRACKDOWN

APD Undercover Operation Results in Eight Drug-Possession Arrests

A man dressed in black with old English letters on his shirt waves a 
white towel to oncoming traffic, whistles at them and asks "What do 
you need?" He is a crack dealer with rocks in his pocket looking for 
a customer - and he's a cop.

In an effort to suppress Austin's crack cocaine market, the Austin 
Police Department made eight drug possession arrests Thursday night 
during a sting operation in the Georgian neighborhood of North Austin.

APD's tactical units conduct drug sting operations, which encompass 
weekly buy operations that target dealers, and reversal operations 
that target buyers two to three times a year.

"It gains control back of the neighborhood that essentially is under 
siege," said APD Sgt. Eric De Los Santos. "The goal of this is to 
make sure or try to recapture that neighborhood from [crack users and 
dealers] and spread them out so these families and this neighborhood 
can have some normal semblance of life."

De Los Santos supervised the operation that was run by approximately 
50 officers in surveillance, processing and undercover roles.

He said that on Wednesday officers observed about 40 dealers on the street.

Officers began the operation around 7 p.m. Thursday night by first 
clearing the street of any persons who might have potentially 
interfered, including other drug dealers.

Undercover officers were appropriated into two groups: one stood at 
the opening of the street, flagged potential customers and directed 
them to an officer of the second group selling crack cocaine.

A hidden camera coupled with several microphones recorded the deals. 
Once the transaction finished and the customer had the crack in his 
possession, officers leapt out and arrested the individual for 
possession of a controlled substance.

In less than five minutes, officers cleared the area and prepared for 
the next customer.

Norrell said the audio and video of the transaction provides adequate 
evidence for prosecutors to prove that a person willingly purchased 
and possessed crack.

During the operation, two men in a white Buick offered crack to 
undercover officers. Two minutes later, uniformed officers within the 
operation stopped the vehicle a block away. The driver was found in 
possession of crack and arrested. Although the passenger did not have 
any drugs on his person, he, too, was arrested for attempting to sell.

Police made a total of 16 arrests Thursday night, encompassing 
paraphernalia possession, interference charges, outstanding warrants 
and evasion attempts.

"Whether we make lots of arrests or few arrests, when the citizens 
see police presence out there, they are more intent to call the 
police and report crimes," said Senior Police Officer Lawrence Davis, 
who is APD's district representative for the Georgian neighborhood. 
"They know we are actually backing them up and listening to them."

But some groups believe APD's reversal operations may be a form of 
entrapment and that criminal records simply add another burden to 
individuals with drug dependency problems.

"Reducing recidivism should be a priority," said Matt Simpson, ACLU 
Texas policy strategist. "Crack is more often a symptom of larger 
problems, and just punishing someone for possessing a [personal-use] 
amount is obviously not going to address those underlying problems."

Jerry Epstein, Drug Policy Forum of Texas president, said drug sting 
operations are a bad use of limited APD resources that produces 
questionable results.

"Are we doing this effectively, or are we, in fact, creating more 
problems than solving when we pick up users and create an atmosphere 
that, if they don't have a problem, we are creating one?" Epstein 
said. "If they do have a problem, we need to make treatment available 
non-coercively."

If the person charged with a drug offense is simply a user and does 
not have a history of violence but shows sign of drug dependency, 
they may be eligible to be processed through the Travis County Drug 
Diversion Court.

Corinne Hernandez, a social service program coordinator at the court, 
said the court provides a program that is geared to help users lose 
their dependency. If users succeed without any violations, their 
cases may be dismissed.

The court receives five to 11 referrals a week that must be screened 
for eligibility for the program. Hernandez said only 51 percent of 
people in the program complete it successfully and that whether or 
not individuals are entrapped by APD with sting operations is not her 
program's concern.

"If [users] have an addiction at all, and they are so fed up that 
they are going to be taken in by an undercover cop, then maybe there 
is a problem there," Hernandez said. "I am here to help them address 
that problem, fix that problem and help them move on with their lives."

Austin City Councilman Bill Spelman said the operations are not a 
form of entrapment and the council's major concern is the 
effectiveness of police action and the rehabilitation of users.

"It's something that needs to be dealt with, but the sky isn't 
falling," Spelman said. "It's within manageable levels, and the kind 
of thing the police officers were doing [Thursday] night is an 
important part of keeping it in manageable levels - not letting it 
get out of hand." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake