A former longtime Gainesville city school system employee has filed suit over losing his job in September 2006, saying a secretary leaked the results of his failed drug test to an Atlanta television reporter.

Anthony Hendrix, a former maintenance supervisor for the school system with 26 years of service, resigned under pressure just as WAGA-TV investigative reporter Randy Travis was preparing a report on him. Hendrix reportedly failed a drug test but continued to drive a vehicle supplied by the school district.

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If we should not enforce our immigration laws because it is not "feasible" to deport 12 million illegal immigrants, then it follows that we should not enforce our drug laws either - since it is not "feasible" to arrest and imprison millions of offenders.

By the same twisted logic, we should quit enforcing traffic laws as well, since it is not feasible to apprehend all of those speeders I see every day driving around Atlanta.

The fact is that we don't have to arrest all of the speeders to affect how others drive. Most of us slow down because we don't want to chance being among the minority who get caught and have to pay the penalty.

Patrick Fantis

Marietta

[end]

Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics Team Commander Roy Harris announced Tuesday the arrests of four men Sunday, taking 3 kilograms of cocaine and 8 pounds of marijuana off the streets.

Harris said the suspects are accused of being part of a "major drug distribution organization" spread over Chatham and Bryan counties. He said the cocaine seizure will disrupt the local supply chain.

CNT arrested [redacted]

"All our information suggests it's very difficult to get cocaine in the Savannah-Chatham area right now," Harris said. "We believe these men were capable of dealing larger quantities than this."

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More Drug Charges Expected From Undercover Investigation

A total of 70 suspected drug dealers have been jailed and 30 more have been identified, in one of Muscogee County's largest round ups.

The undercover investigation began 10 months ago and culminated Tuesday with the first set of arrests, totalling about 60. By Wednesday afternoon, 15 agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Metro Narcotics Task Force captured approximately 10 more individuals with the help of the Muscogee County Sheriff's Office and the Columbus Police Department.

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Police Directing More Resources In Stepped-Up Investigation Of Westside Violence.

Three shootings late Tuesday and early Wednesday sent police scrambling to try and prevent a homicide from occurring, said Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Chief Michael Berkow.

Police said Wednesday that no one was injured during the shootings, but homes were targeted as part of westside gang activity related to drugs.

As of late Wednesday, police had recovered two weapons and had identified six people of interest. They are not considered suspects, but Berkow said evidence suggests they might know something about the crimes. Police are looking for the following people: [redacted]

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Law Enforcement Officials Must Keep The Pressure On Drug-Dealing Gangs.

SEVERAL YEARS ago, Savannah was told it didn't have a gang problem.

It does now.

And it's a bad one, in terms of violent crime and the local drug trade.

On Tuesday, Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Chief Michael Berkow announced the arrests of 27 suspected gang members. They are allegedly connected to three local gangs that are fighting a no-holds-barred drug war.

It's a deadly one: Police say the violence has claimed at least six lives and has injured another 20 people.

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Editor's note: This essay was written in response to the "See No Evil, Speak No Evil" articles on the "Stop Snitchin' " movement that appeared in @issue, May 20.

Let me tell you something about being the police. We are only as good as the people of Atlanta want us to be. Unlike any other government or corporate agency, we rely on community interaction and strong partnerships to do our job well.

Take for instance the sanitation department. They will still pick up your trash -- whether you like them or not. Public works will still do street repair whether a community is happy their streets are being torn up or not. The fire department will put out a fire at a building - -- no matter what -- and all, in most cases, without the help of Atlantans.

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Dear Editor, I'm writing about Jason A. Ludwick's letter: "Jail overcrowding has simple and inexpensive solution" (5-23-07). I agree with Ludwick that there is a simple and inexpensive solution to jail overcrowding situation, but it's not putting prisoners in tents.

The simple, common sense way to eliminate your jail and prison overcrowding situation: reserve your jails and prisons for only those who intentionally harm others against their will.

Not gardeners. Not people who use, produce or sell to willing buyers "unapproved" substances.

[continues 86 words]

I'm writing about Jason A. Ludwick's letter: "Jail overcrowding has simple and inexpensive solution" (5-23-07). I agree with Ludwick that there is a simple and inexpensive solution to jail overcrowding situation but it's not putting prisoners in tents.

The simple, common sense way to eliminate your jail and prison overcrowding situation: reserve you jails and prisons for only those who intentionally harm others against their will.

Not gardeners. Not people who use, produce or sell to willing buyers "unapproved" substances.

[continues 81 words]

Agents: Suspects Were Not Part Of Unifiied Organization

A 10-month undercover investigation has led to arrest warrants for more than 120 street-level drug dealers in Columbus and the seizure of thousands of dollars worth of drugs and weapons.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced Tuesday that approximately 60 individuals have been arrested and more than 60 others are being sought for various drug-related offenses in connection with this extensive operation that was worked jointly with the Metro Narcotics Task Force. Plain-clothed officers saturated neighborhoods throughout Columbus in order to identify suspects. Most of the narcotics purchases took place, however, in and around public housing developments in the city.

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Columbus Police Veteran Pleads Not Guilty, Given $10,000 Bond

A former nine-year veteran of the Columbus Police will remain free on bond after his Tuesday appearance in U.S. District Court.

Cory Wilber stood in a suit and tie before U.S. Magistrate G. Mallon Faircloth for his first appearance hearing. Charged with misprision of felony, Wilber is accused of concealing knowledge of a felony.

"This is an unusual charge," Faircloth said. "There's no element of violence. There's no element of possession or distribution of drugs."

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14 New Investigators And Three Sergeants To Begin Work May 29

Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington on Tuesday announced he will replace all members of the department's embattled narcotics squad, aiming to regain the public's trust less than a month after two squad members pleaded guilty to killing 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston in a botched raid.

"With new initiatives on the way to help restore confidence in the unit, we felt it important to start anew," Pennington said at an afternoon news conference, reading from a prepared statement.

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A Columbus police patrolman was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury in the Middle District of Georgia on a charge of misprision of a felony.

Cory Wilber has turned in his badge and gun and is currently taking "personal time" following the allegation that he concealed knowledge of a felony and participated in a scheme to steal money from a drug organization.

The felony of which Wilber is accused of concealing is conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute marijuana. According to the Columbus Consolidated Government's human resources department, Wilber was hired March 23, 1998, as a patrol officer. His pay was $31,922.28 a year. Upon his arrest, expected to come either Friday or Monday, Wilber will be terminated from the police department, Columbus Police Chief Ricky Boren said.

"We're going to continue our investigation," Boren said. "We're cleaning our own house."



[end]

Resisting Independent Review Panels Hurts Metro Atlanta's Cops And Public They Serve

Metro Atlanta public officials need to act boldly to ensure that local police departments use violence only when necessary -- to protect themselves and others -- when confronting potentially dangerous suspects, and that shootings by police officers are investigated fully and fairly.

And the best way to accomplish that is to authorize private citizen panels to review all police shootings of suspects and to create independent, professional monitors who can help police enhance their own safety as well as those they are sworn to protect.

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Four Atlanta-area men got a combined 55 years to serve in prison for trying to buy 100 pounds of marijuana from undercover Hall County drug agents. The last of the four defendants was sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday in Hall County Superior Court for the May 2005 drug deal, in which they sought to pay an undercover officer with the Hall County Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad $60,000 for the drugs.

Kevin Joseph Green, 32, of Atlanta, was convicted by a jury of criminal attempt to traffic in marijuana and possession of a gun during the commission of a crime.

[continues 205 words]

The ironic thing about this largely urban drug war that has devastated the black community is that it is being carried out, for the most part, by black mayors, councils and police chiefs all across the country.

The black community has not grown up enough politically to look past the skin color of the person running and ask the tough questions. This would explain why these same politicians continue to run unopposed or win by huge margins.

If the mayor, council, congressman and police chief of Atlanta had been white, would City Hall still be standing? This same city rioted over the beating of a black criminal by white cops in a city located on the other coast of this country; an event that had no impact on their lives and yet Kathryn Johnston is dead and we barely hear a peep from the usual suspects.

GREG STEWART, Duluth

[end]

Cynthia Tucker gets something right every once in a while, and this time it's her comment that "the drug war punishes indiscriminately locking up not only violent thugs but also many nonviolent drug offenders."

How is a "Christian" mentality congruent with locking people away from the light of day for drug use, which is and always has been a mental health problem? Rogue cops my foot --- we all look the other way and by doing so sanction this type of behavior. It is only when it reaches an outrageous proportion or an officer kicks in our neighbor's door at 2 a.m. and shoots them to death that we say "oh my!"

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The question of whether police have arrest quotas continued to follow Atlanta police Chief Richard Pennington no matter where he went in City Hall on Tuesday.

He insisted that officers do not have to make a minimum number of arrests to avoid punishment; they do have "performance standards." After fielding questions on the subject at a news conference, Pennington was under fire as the head of the police union and some City Council members questioned the difference between the two terms.

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Police informant Alexis White and the Rev. Markel Hutchins head to Washington Wednesday to meet with congressional leaders about police use of confidential informants in drug cases.

White, the 45-year-old snitch who says he was asked to lie to help Atlanta police narcotics officers cover up a botched drug bust in which an elderly Atlanta woman was killed, is not scheduled to testify while in Washington.

The day of talks includes scheduled visits with members of the House Judiciary Committee and the subcommittee on crime terrorism and homeland security. They also hope to meet with federal Drug Enforcement Administration and Department of Justice officials.

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If Kathryn Johnston's tragic death is to lead to systemic change at the Atlanta Police Department, then Chief Richard Pennington should reconsider the foolish and costly war on drugs. Forget raising the numbers of narcotics officers -- a tactic reminiscent of President Bush's misguided "surge" in Iraq. What Pennington ought to do is decrease the number of officers who waste time and ruin lives going after penny-ante drug dealers.

Atlanta police are still reeling from the plea deals of two narcotics officers involved in the illegal Nov. 21 raid on Johnston's home, during which she was fatally wounded. Gregg Junnier will serve 10 years, while Jason Smith will serve 12 years and seven months. Prosecutors say that together with another officer, Arthur Tesler, they piled lie upon lie to obtain a "no-knock" warrant to search Johnston's home, where they may have believed they would find cocaine. Their supporters claim they were under pressure to produce arrests.

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