POLICE OFFICERS CRITICIZE MUMPOWER FOR DISTRACTING THEM

ASHEVILLE - A city councilman who says police are doing too little to
combat illegal drug sales drew criticism this week after officers
said he had endangered their safety.

Two officers, in e-mails to Chief Bill Hogan, said Councilman Carl
Mumpower approached police three times during a traffic stop Friday
outside the West Asheville police substation on Haywood Road.

Sgt. Mike Yelton, in an e-mail to his supervisor, said Mumpower
distracted an officer watching for signs of trouble in a stop that
involved a cocaine seizure.

"I immediately thought this was a strange occurrence, but assumed he
was conducting another of his many forays into law enforcement," Yelton wrote.

"I was left with the distinct impression that Dr. Mumpower desired an
immediate and personal response to his presence and waiting was not
an option," he wrote.

Hogan and City Manager Gary Jackson were included in the exchange of messages.

Mumpower made them public Wednesday, saying he heard of the
complaints only one hour before a City Council meeting Tuesday night
during which he criticized police.

Hogan would not comment Wednesday and would not say whether Mumpower
should have been criminally charged.

Hogan sent the e-mails to Jackson, telling him, "I just want to give
you some understanding of the frustration of the officers and to ask
if there is anything we can do to ensure that he does not further
jeopardize our officers' safety."

Mumpower said the conversation with the officers lasted only a few
seconds. He said he tried to report drug dealing in the nearby Pisgah
View public housing complex.

Mumpower said he believes the officers' grievances are part of a
larger effort against his anti-drug campaign.

"I think this was an orchestrated effort to distract me and others
from what the real issues are," Mumpower said. "If I put the officers
at risk, they should have arrested me."

The councilman said the real issue is the police department's failure
to shut down the open-air drug markets in the city's public housing
developments.

In his "30 visits in 30 days" observations at neighborhoods and
housing developments, Mumpower said he saw or was directly solicited
25 times by drug dealers.

An officer, in an e-mail, said Mumpower is going too far to draw
attention to the cause.

"His actions to continually belittle the police department are
beginning to tear at the fibers of morale of the working officers,"
Lt. Chris Young, head of the city's drug suppression unit, wrote to Hogan.