DRUG WARS: SMALL TOWNS TAKE ON MONUMENTAL TASK

Towns like Bunkie and Cheneyville don't have a K-9 sniffing the inside of
cars for hidden drugs.

They don't have a SWAT team to help serve search warrants. There are
not enough officers for long-term surveillance or undercover
investigations. Most small towns cannot even afford to have specific
officers dedicated solely to investigating the buying and selling of
narcotics.

"We do the best we can with what we got," said Bunkie Police Chief
Mary Fanara.

What she has are 13 people on staff, including dispatchers, patrol
officers and a detective. She doesn't have the manpower or funds to
have a narcotics division. All of her officers have to be narcotics
agents.

The same goes for the Cheneyville and Ball police departments.

Except, Ball police have one tool the others don't - a narcotics dog.
Dino belongs to Lt. Carl Bordelon, who bought the animal in 1995. He
has been on the road since 1998.

Bordelon said he sees Dino as a tool that the town uses during search
warrants and highway interdiction.

He said that with a department of three officers, including the chief,
having Dino is a huge advantage.

The dog puts a dent in the drug problem, because many people "fear the
dog," Bordelon said.

Dino is able to hit on hidden drugs and find things that it would take
a human some time to locate. That was evident Jan. 15 when Dino showed
off his skills in a demonstration at Ball Town Hall.

Dino paced along the side of a van, his nose in the air as he searched
for the smell he was looking for.

When he passed the van's gas tank compartment, he stopped, jumped up
on the van and began scratching.

Dino had hit on the drugs.

Cheneyville police Cpl. Robert Johnson said the department has five
patrol officers and the chief.

Like most towns, there is not enough money to "do all that we want to
do," he said.

"We are the detectives, narcotics agents and patrol officers here," he
said. "We have to do it all."

Pineville, with a 2000 population of nearly 14,000, is one of the
larger small towns. With about 50 employees, including officers,
detectives, dispatchers and clerks, the department has stepped up its
narcotics enforcement.

Under Chief Jay Barber, the department has gotten a narcotics dog,
trained a handler and has a detective who works normal cases and
narcotics investigations.

In addition, there are four officers assigned to the Criminal
Apprehension Patrol Service, which helps with crime deterrence, said
Sgt. Darrell Basco.

Fanara is not going to lie. Bunkie does have a drug problem like most
towns.

The town of 4,662, as of the 2000 U.S. Census, sees similar problems
to that of Alexandria or other larger cities.

There are drug users and sellers, but nothing of the quantity of the
larger cities.

Fanara couldn't say how many drug arrests were made, but it was
nothing like the more than 500 Alexandria police made in 2003.

Bunkie's largest drug seizure came by accident. A truck was being
repaired at a local dealership when employees found 200 pounds of
marijuana in the gas tank. The truck was bought at an auction and sold
to a Rapides Parish resident. Where the drugs came from remains unsolved.

Fanara said a find like that does not happen every day.

She said being on a major highway, a number of drug arrests come from
traffic stops of motorists passing through.

In addition, some arrests come from people visiting relatives or
hanging out in the town but do not live there. She said her officers
mainly catch low-level drug dealers and users.

Beyond traffic stops, officers do conduct some narcotics
investigations, especially if officers get a drug tip, Fanara said.

Johnson said Cheneyville has a two-fold drug problem - there are users
and sellers and a drug courier route runs through town. In addition,
the town has a co-op where people routinely try to steal anhydrous
ammonia, which can be used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.

There is an aggressive patrol of the co-op and traffic stops along
U.S. Highway 71 to deter the drug activities, Johnson said. He said
about 35-40 percent of the department's arrests are drug related.

A number of the batteries and other crimes they investigate relate to
drug activities.

In 1999-2000, there were four or five drug arrests and none made at
the co-op, Johnson said.

That has since changed. Johnson estimates the department has made
about 45 arrests since that time.

He said the officers are becoming more schooled in narcotics
investigations and are getting better at it.

In Pineville, Basco said that most of the city's drug problems come
from people trafficking through town.

He said the aggressive enforcement effort is a proactive
measure.

Working narcotics in smaller towns is a team effort.

In Bunkie, off-duty officers call in if they suspect illegal activity
or respond to a scene if back up is needed, Fanara said.

"We depend on each other," she said.

The same goes for officers in Pineville and Cheneyville.

Last year, patrol officers assisted when the department's K-9 was
called out to search a house for narcotics.

As the dog went through a vehicle in the yard, officers used
flashlights to search around the house.

"It is a matter of working together to combat drugs," Basco
said.

In addition to depending on the officers within the department, most
agencies depend on other departments.

Cheneyville is the farthest town in the southern part of Rapides
Parish. Johnson said the officers get assistance from Lecompte and
Bunkie's police departments when needed.

They have used the assistance of Metro Narcotics agents before but
have not in some time, Johnson said.

He noted the department's officers were getting better at handling
drug investigations.

In Bunkie, Fanara said her department shares information with other
agencies and calls in backup when needed.