Pubdate: Thu, 25 Oct 2012
Source: Daily Courier (Prescott, AZ)
Copyright: 2012 Prescott Newspapers, Inc.
Contact: http://www.dcourier.com/Formlayout.asp?formcall=userform&form=1
Website: http://www.dcourier.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4036
Author: Scott Orr

FIGHTING THE WAR ON DRUGS WITH... RADAR GUNS?

YCSO watches the road for likely suspects by gauging speed, behavior

This article is the first in a three-part series.

ON I-40 WEST OF ASH FORK - Yavapai County Sheriff's Deputy Randy Evers
has parked his marked Chevy Tahoe in the freeway median and has a
radar gun in hand.

He spots car after car traveling well over the 75 mph speed limit, but
he doesn't stop them.

Evers is doing drug interdiction with his K-9 partner,
Neo.

It's an assignment that takes considerable experience, and, Evers
says, common sense, to successfully pull off. The deputy has to size
up an approaching car, watch the driver's behavior, and quickly make a
decision as to how likely the driver is to be carrying illegal drugs.

Profiling is no help, Evers says. "We've had people who look like
grandma and grandpa going down the road with a load of weed in the
back," he says, noting that the driver's race, age, or gender has very
little to do with whether they may be carrying narcotics.

Evers, a 28-year law enforcement veteran, relies on instinct - and
what he calls "indicators" - to choose which vehicles he wants to stop.

Radar is a useful tool for finding one kind of indicator: the driver
who slows down too much when he sees the deputy. Evers clocks car
after car, turning his head each time to see how the driver behaves
after they pass.

"It's like watching tennis," he chuckles, turning his head left and
right.

The legalities of probable cause require him to have a specific reason
to make a stop; the law doesn't allow Evers to randomly pull people
over. Excessive speed is one reason, but so is erratic driving or
driving unusually slowly.

Cracked windshields, window tinting that's too dark, or even objects
hanging from the rearview mirror are all legitimate, legal examples of
probable cause to stop a car.

He doesn't always find drug smugglers. In fact, most often, he finds
nothing at all, and lets the driver go with a verbal warning. But
sometimes he encounters people who need to be taken off the road for
other reasons.

"It's DUIs, it's warrants. I mean, I've found guys with homicide
warrants,"Evers says.

The YCSO's K-9 unit doesn't do regular patrol work. They are dedicated
to finding drug smugglers and arresting them. From June 2011 through
July 2012, the unit seized more than 150 pounds of marijuana, 39
pounds of cocaine, 2 pounds of heroin, and 6 pounds of
methamphetamine. The units also uncovered several cases of human
smuggling and seized $120,000 in cash.

The K-9 unit is also on 24-hour call to do searches for the Partners
Against Narcotics Trafficking task force.

There's a certain danger in doing drug interdiction. "You're dealing
with drug traffickers, and they've got a lot on the line," Evers says.
"You go to stop somebody who's hauling dope or money, and they know
that if they don't get that load where it's supposed to be, something
is going to happen to them or their families. A lot of these cartels
are holding people (hostage)."

Neo, a Belgian malinois, rides in an air-conditioned space in the
Tahoe. There's room for the dog, a prisoner in another compartment,
and even some gear in the very back. Evers clearly enjoys working with
Neo, but he says, "I don't even use (Neo) half the time. I usually
find (the drugs) myself."
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MAP posted-by: Matt