Pubdate: Sat, 01 Jun 2013 Source: Chicago Tribune (IL) Copyright: 2013 Chicago Tribune Company Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/IuiAC7IZ Website: http://www.chicagotribune.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/82 Author: Clyde Cronkhite COMBAT DRUG DEALERS To combat Chicago's gang and drug violence, I know there are many suggestions, but here is one that worked when I was a police chief. The goal was to get rid of the drug business in our city and create a way to pay for the required overtime of our officer. The approach was through asset forfeiture - to confiscate everything connected with drug trade. The cars, vans and houses of the dealer were confiscated, but, more important, the vehicles of the drug buyers were also confiscated. Through the media and billboards, we let anyone entering our town to buy drugs know that when we arrested them, we would confiscate their vehicles. We confiscated so many vehicles that the U.S. Marshals Service (overseeing drug forfeiture) open a used-car sales lot in our city so we could get a fast turnaround on the sales to use to pay for the overtime of our officer working on this problem. Sure the dealers moved their sale locations, but they were easy to follow as they had to so inform their customers. Our city soon became a place not to buy drugs because of the threat of not only arrest but loss of the buyers' vehicles. Fewer buyers equaled fewer sales and resulted in less gang violence. - - Clyde Cronkhite, professor emeritus and former police executive, Macomb, Ill. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom