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Unicoi Sheriff Resists Pressure To Rejoin Area Drug Task Force
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1091/a04.htmlNewshawk: chip
the next couple of weeks to convince the
sheriff to change his mind. At the moment, the DTF works in Carter,
Johnson and Washington counties, and Walker would like the original composition,
which included Unicoi County, to be back in place.
According to Harris, Unicoi County would have to pay $5,000 to become a DTF
member and would have to share half the money it collects from drug arrests,
even if a non-drug officer handles the case. Under the arrangement, the
sheriff's department would send at least one officer to DTF, and that employee
would be able to work anywhere in the 1st District. Harris believes the
mission of the task force should be focused on overall drug networks that flow
between the counties. The police departments and sheriff's departments
should have their own drug forces that take care of the traditional street deal,
he said.
He praised Walker, saying he has "total confidence" in the new
director and wished he had the money to hire him at the UCSD. He said
"you couldn't find a better person" to put in charge of the DTF and
acknowledged that the agency has a tough job. But he said he does not want
to give up the war his department has waged on drugs and the county does not
have the money to keep that system and hire an officer to send to DTF.
"Having our own drug agent right here working for us, his primary goal is
Unicoi County," Harris said. "When we get a call, he's right on
top of it, and giving him to the DTF, that would be a loss to us.
Result-wise, we've got a lot more results out of what we have now. You can
look back at the number of arrests that have increased. I know the
county's a lot better off than it was."
Walker understands Harris' feeling about having to hand over half of the money,
but he said DTF would be able to provide a lot of extra officers to address a
problem in Unicoi County if something major happens.
Harris said the sheriff's department did not believe it was getting its money's
worth when it pulled out of DTF in 2002.
"When I campaigned for sheriff, everywhere I'd go, that's all I would hear
is horror stories about the drug problems and overdoses," he said.
"And when I finally got in down here, it was a problem. We really
wanted to tackle it head forward, and the only way to do that was to do it
in-house and get results instead of channeling things through the DTF and back
over here."
The other problem was that the officers the UCSD had sent to the DTF were
spending a majority of their time working cases in other areas in the district,
mainly Johnson City, and it was hard to get the agency to work here, he said.
Walker agrees that the DTF did not spend as much time in Unicoi County as other
areas in the district before, but he said his aim is that all police agencies in
the area get their fair share of the drug enforcement pie.
