UNDERCOVER POLICE: WAGING A WAR ON DRUG DEALERS

James Morgan said learning about the death of a suspected drug dealer
last month in York triggered memories of his own life-and-death
experiences as an undercover narcotics agent.

"It just brought back memories for me, because there were so many
situations that could've gone bad like that," Morgan said of the
death of Antonio Luis Sotomayor.

Dealers call selling drugs "the game," but a winner's trophy or a
crushing defeat aren't the outcomes of this contest. The cold reality
is that defeat can mean death.

The risks are just as high for the police officers who go "UC," or
undercover, to root out drugs as those who sell them, Morgan said.

"You could've been doing a story on the undercover officer who was
killed, just as easily," he said last week.

Sotomayor, 18, sold a quarter-ounce of cocaine to an undercover
officer with the York County Drug Task Force on Jan. 24 in York, said
York County First Assistant District Attorney Bill Graff.

When police moved in to arrest him, Graff said, Sotomayor ran into a
nearby avenue. Police allege he then pulled out a gun and fired
several shots at police. The officers returned fire, Graff said.
Sotomayor was shot and later pronounced dead.

Andy Shaffer, a York City Police vice detective and member of the
York County Drug Task Force, said shootouts with drug dealers in York
are rare. The truth is that guns and drugs are first cousins, and
police must prepare for that, he said.

Shaffer said police have to expect that every time they buy drugs or
make an arrest, someone will have a gun.

"The potential for violence is always there," he said.

Getting in

With undercover work, either "You like it or you don't," Shaffer said.

He said he was attracted to the work because of the adrenaline rush.

"Just the fast-paced lifestyle that we live," he said. "A lot of
times, we're runnin' and gunnin', chasing people."

Most police officers who go undercover start by making drug arrests
as a street cop, Shaffer said.

Morgan agreed, saying, "I was real aggressive on the street; I made a
lot of drug arrests," he said.

Greg Ferency, a drug detective with the Terre Haute Police Department
in Indiana, said he was impressed with the independence the work offered.

"I saw the narcs and their long hair and the way they carried
themselves," he said. "It seemed like they operated a little more in
their world."

Shaffer, Morgan and Ferency said they did not undergo any formal
training, but used what they had learned as street cops, and had good mentors.

One of the key ingredients is knowing how to be an actor, convincing
someone you're something you're not, they said.

The fear of being "made" - found out to be cop - is always in the
back of your mind, Shaffer said.

"Have I arrested this person before? Have I been on a search
warrant?" he said. "Hopefully, neither of you recognize each other
from past dealings."

Cops and dealers

In the 1995 crime epic "Heat," Al Pacino and Robert De Niro's
characters meet in a coffee shop. Pacino plays a police lieutenant
and DeNiro plays the leader of a robbery crew.

After talking about their careers, the two reach what writer/director
Michael Mann notes in the script is "a mutuality of their condition."

Pacino's character, Vincent Hanna, says, "I don't know how to do
anything else."

De Niro's character, Neil McCauley, responds, "Neither do I."

Ferency and Shaffer describe a similar understanding between drug
cops and dealers.

"It's our job to catch drug dealers; it's their job not to get
caught," Ferency said.

Shaffer said he treats the people he arrests with respect, and
usually, that is returned if he ever sees them on the street later.

"They're not bad humans, but what they're putting into society is
poison," Shaffer said. "They're out selling drugs; we're out arresting them."

There are, of course, truly violent drug dealers, and Shaffer said
the task force and other agencies worked hard last year to scoop them
up and charge them under federal laws, where prison sentences are stiffer.

A war of attrition?

"The War on Drugs," a term coined by President Richard Nixon in 1971,
describes the United States' efforts to investigate, make arrests and
seize drugs, money and items related to drug trafficking, according
to news sources.

But is law enforcement winning the war? Can it be won?

"I attribute it to putting a Band-Aid on a large laceration," Shaffer
said. "We make arrests every day; we run out of hours in a day."

Shaffer added that he does not see an end in sight. "I haven't seen
any letdown in the dealers or the users," he said.

Morgan, who also worked undercover for the state Attorney General's
office, said that the war on drugs boils down to simple supply and demand.

"You've got to cut off the demand. Start with the kids," he said.
"Showing them love, showing them a better life."

Cpl. Craig Fenstermacher of the Pennsylvania State Police's Troop H
Vice Unit said it depends on what the definition of "winning" is.

"If it's making more arrests and taking more drugs off the streets,
we're certainly doing that," he said. "Unfortunately, the drugs keep
coming and there continues to be a demand for those drugs."