AREA BLENDS FORCES IN WAR ON DRUGS

Local Law Enforcement Agencies To Form One Countywide Office

From the highest mountain peaks to the flattest farmland in Madison
County, drug dealers can do business in 806 square miles of nooks and crannies.

That's why the Huntsville Police Department is doing away with its
Organized Crime Unit, responsible for investigating narcotics and vice
problems in the city.

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The city of Madison is no longer going to have a narcotics division.

The Madison County Sheriff's Department is scaling down its drug unit.

And the district attorney's Drug Task Force is about to be history.

For the first time in many years, all of the county's major law enforcement
agencies will attack the drug problem - together.

The venture will be named the Huntsville-Madison County Strategic
Counterdrug Team and will be most often called the STAC Team.

"This is going to enhance our ability to investigate drug cases and cut
down on the loss of information and duplication of effort," said Sheriff
Joe Whisante.

It came about when District Attorney Tim Morgan's staff was preparing to
re-apply for the federal grant that has supported the Drug Task Force for
years.

"I decided if we were going to continue with a drug task force," said
Morgan, "we really need a countywide effort." He began talking with
Huntsville Police Chief Compton Owens, Madison Police Chief Daniel Busken
and the sheriff. "We were able to come up with an agreement to join forces,
with the Huntsville Police Department taking the leadership role," said Morgan.

In the past, each department had "held out to a degree" because agencies
like to maintain some independence, said Owens.

Morgan said having several agencies working independently has hindered drug
investigations. He said the statistics of the Drug Task Force have dwindled
in recent years.

Sgt. Jim Winn, supervisor of Huntsville's Organized Crime Unit, believes
the joint team will succeed because about 20 agents will work together to
investigate drug problems everywhere in the county.

"It will give us the opportunity to expand the types of investigations we
can do, some of which none of us could do in the past because we didn't
have enough people," he said.

Winn will be commander of the unit and Jim Williams, current commander of
the county's drug task force, will be assistant commander. All the agents
will work out of the same building.

Owens sees it as a more focused effort with all agencies working side by side.

It also eliminates the possibility of two agencies working on the same
investigation without the other's knowl edge.

"This is not going to be driven by seizures and forfeitures and
statistics," said Owens. "We want to interdict drugs and put people who are
making drugs readily available to our kids behind bars."

If it works the way they think it's going to, said Morgan, the number of
drug arrests will increase.

"This will allow us to focus on the high-level dealers," he said. But
street dealers won't be forgotten.

"We'll be looking for the full range of dealers," said Winn. "From those
who stand on the street corners to the higher level drug trafficking
organizations."

In September, agents will begin training together in preparation for the
STAC team's official start on Oct. 1.

Winn believes the team's efforts will help reduce crime in all communities.
"We hope it will cause a ripple effect," he said. "By reducing the amount
of drugs on the street we should also reduce the number of weapons on the
street, petty thefts and neighborhood disturbances."

The sheriff's office will continue to have a vice and narcotics unit, said
Whisante, mainly to focus on illegal gambling and illegal sales of alcohol.
Those investigators will work closely with the STAC team, he said.