BUST PATROL

Re: Letter from Douglas Leoni, Letters (July 26-Aug.1)

While there may have been a day when the existence of a search warrant
validated any type of police raid, that day is clearly in the past. Within
the past 24 months a number of drug enforcement agencies have been exposed
not only for their faulty tactics, but also for outright criminal
activities. This includes units as near as the Sarasota Delta squad, which
manufactured false warrants and planted evidence. The LAPD Rampart Division
has had numerous officers indicted and convicted for similar offenses. The
San Antonio police arrested eight officers in May, and just last week in
Largo, a major marijuana cultivation case was dismissed due to the officers
having submitted false testimony in order to obtain their warrant for
entry. And it should be noted that these officers had been cited before for
the same offenses.

Leoni also attempts to evoke sympathy for the raiding officers by telling
us that such operations are "high risk" for law enforcement, innocent
bystanders and suspects. This is nonsense. These days it is a rare
occurrence when a police officer is harmed during the commission of a raid
on marijuana dealers. In fact, a news search frustrated me when I could not
find a single such case in Central Florida for the past several years. We
would be happy to provide a lengthy summary of innocent citizens who have
been either gunned down by drug officers or had their property destroyed
and/or forfeited without cause in the neverending War on (some) Drugs.

Stephen Heath, Drug Policy Forum of Florida, Clearwater