JEFFCO TO PATROL TRAFFIC, TRAFFICKING

Sheriff's Department to Launch Interdiction Unit

Jefferson County sheriff's deputies soon will hit the interstates and
highways to monitor traffic safety and search for illegal drugs
traveling major roadways.

Deputies have watched for years as other law enforcement agencies have
made big busts on the big roads with highway interdiction teams. Now,
deputies say, the sheriff's department is going to get in on the action.

"With I-59, I-20 and I-65, we are a major hub of traffic. Statistics
and the reports we get show this is a major hub for drugs going
through Jefferson County, and it's got to stop," said Sheriff's Sgt.
John Verbitski. "We're going to catch them, we're going to incarcerate
them and we're going to do whatever it takes to keep the drugs from
coming through here."

Sheriff Mike Hale has formed the Traffic Safety Division to
concentrate on problems, such as aggravated speeding, DUI, reckless
driving, drivers without insurance, drivers without licenses and drug
and weapons trafficking.

The unit will consist of five motorcycle deputies, two deputies in a
truck-weighing detail, a four-deputy canine unit and two marked patrol
cars.

Deputies assigned to state highways will enforce and make sure trucks
are in compliance. Motorscouts will work complaints and wrecks on
highways and in neighborhoods.

Other deputies will patrol interstates, and part of those duties will
be to identify drug dealers. Interdiction officers are trained to spot
certain circumstances and behavior that would indicate a motorist is
carrying drugs.

Police agencies such as Hoover, Birmingham, Bessemer and Warrior have
had success with interdiction programs.

Earlier this month, the Harpersville Police Department interdiction
team seized as many as 10,000 Lortab and Lorcet pills on U.S. 280.
Last year, Hoover police seized more than $500,000 in a bust on
Interstate 459 and $13,000 in a separate stop, also on I-459.

In 2002, a Birmingham interdiction officer nabbed 10 kilograms of
cocaine worth an estimated $230,000 on I-20.

"We can only guess and be suspicious of what amount of these drugs
ends up in Jefferson County," Hale said. "We want to make sure that if
there are drugs going to the East Coast from Mexico and the west, that
they don't go through Jefferson County. If they do, we're issuing fair
warning that we're going to do everything we can to catch them."

Under federal law, authorities keep about 80 percent of seized money
after it has been proven through the court system to be proceeds from
criminal activity. The federal government also keeps a portion.

Hale said it's a win-win situation.

"Local resources are tough to come by," the sheriff said. "This money
can be used for training and resources and equipment, things we're
short on.

"We'll have a safer community, we'll make a dent in drug trafficking
and we can take their money, cars and property and convert it to the
use of law enforcement," Hale said.