PURGE POLICE FILES OF PHOTOS OF THOSE NOT IN DRUG TRADE

Although most local civil rights activists say they were reassured last
week after getting a detailed explanation of Wilmington police "jump-out"
raids on suspected drug dealers, they still came away bothered that some
people caught in the snare are photographed without being arrested.

Because Police Chief John Szczerba himself conceded that it is possible,
but highly unlikely, for a totally uninvolved bystander to be detained and
photographed, the Department of Public Safety would be wise to devise a
system to remove photographs from files as soon as it knows an individual
is benign. Chief Szczerba said that after police surveillance only those
suspected of drug activity are chosen to be photographed.

If the street corner raids are to be effective, there must be zero
possibility that innocent bystanders remain pictured in a rogues' gallery
of drug suspects. If police procedures are as sound and professional as we
expect them to be, it should not be difficult to purge any irrelevant
photographs. Anyone subjected to accidental photography during a jump-out
should also get an official apology.

Wilmington police officials say neither detention, arrest nor photography
is done randomly in the vicinity of a raid.

Unlike some critics, we believe there is some value in photographing and
identifying by date and location people suspected after surveillance but
found to be without drugs or weapons during actual detention. Those
photographs could go a long way toward alerting police to patterns of
illicit drug trading.