AREA RAISES DRUG-TRAFFIC PROFILE

Label Of 'High-Intensity' Would Snare Tightly Focused U.S. Funds

Rochester, Albany, Buffalo and Syracuse are requesting that the U.S.
government label the upstate region a "High-Intensity Drug Trafficking
Area" in hopes of getting more federal attention and money to fight illegal
drugs in western and central New York.

"We recognize the problems that drugs are causing on the quality of life in
Rochester and the other upstate cities, and we refuse to throw up our hands
and quit," Rochester Police Chief Robert Duffy said Friday. "We're going to
seek every resource we can to reverse the trends that we've unfortunately
seen in the last decade."

The U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy created the program in 1988
to boost collaboration among federal, state and local law enforcement and
to target federal money to troubled areas. A total of 28 regions have
received the designation, including New York City and northern New Jersey,
and Philadelphia and Camden, N.J.

"We're one of the very few, if not the only, program that fuses federal,
state and local cooperation and integration of information," said Kurt F.
Schmid, the national program director in Washington, D.C. "It's a very
unique program and allows for a region to fight the drug threat."

The designation would result in the creation of a local intelligence
center, which would be overseen by an executive board made up of federal
and local authorities. The board would help target drug enforcement and be
eligible for federal money. New programs typically receive $1 million to $3
million in startup funds.

The four cities are working on their application to join the program.

"It's not something that I would want to put on the cover of a Chamber of
Commerce promotional flier, but it is a fact of life that we have to face,"
Duffy said about the designation.

Rochester Mayor William A. Johnson Jr. said the four upstate cities agreed
at his urging to seek the designation jointly to strengthen the
application. Rochester, Albany, Buffalo and Syracuse are connected by the
New York Thruway -- a popular and accessible route for shipping drugs.

"Despite all of our best efforts, we're having marginal success in stamping
out drug traffic," Johnson said.

The four communities face similar problems, and "our intelligence has
indicated that we are often being victimized by the same groups and
individuals," Duffy added.

He also noted that Buffalo is a major international border crossing, and
Rochester will become one next year when a high-speed ferry begins running
across Lake Ontario to Toronto.

In Monroe County, 1,092 adults were arrested on felony drug crimes in 2001,
the latest statistics available from the state Division of Criminal Justice
Services. That's down from more than 1,500 in 1998.

But Duffy said felony drug arrests tell only part of the story. Drugs fuel
the city's homicide rate -- 45 homicides were recorded last year -- and
such other crimes as assault, prostitution and vehicle thefts, he said.

He said research has shown that Rochester's illegal drug trade is a $35
million to $40 million annual business.

Not every city or county that applies automatically receives the federal
designation. Schmid said about 50 percent of applications are turned away.
Communities must meet stringent criteria. For example, the drug trafficking
there must have a harmful impact on other areas of the country.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy also may not consider a region
for a new program but instead expand a neighboring one to include a new
area, Schmid said.

The upstate cities are working on the application with a Maryland
consulting firm, Carnevale Associates LLC, which is run by a former
director in the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Johnson said the
cost -- $50,000 -- would be shared among the four cities.

Officials did not know when the application would be submitted.

The review process is intense, Schmid said, and can last more than six months.