CARY SEEKS UPGRADE FOR HIGH-TECH STAKEOUTS

CARY - Armed already with body wires and miniature cameras, Cary police
hope to upgrade their undercover drug operations with a van loaded with
audio and video surveillance equipment.

The town is seeking as much as $400,000 in federal funding for new
surveillance equipment, including as much as $100,000 to outfit a town van
for surveillance, plus video cameras for 50 patrol cars to record traffic
stops.

Patrol-car cameras can provide video evidence if a motorist files a
complaint against an officer. They also can aid in investigations when
officers get shot or assaulted, Cary Police Chief Windy Hunter said.

Last October, Cary Officer George F. Almond was shot during a late night
traffic stop.

A recent uptick in illegal drug activity in Cary motivated the funding
request for the van, a town staff report said. According to police records,
reported incidents of drug-related activity jumped from 200 in 2000 to more
than 300 in 2001. In the same time period, however, drug-related arrests
dropped from 201 to 178.

The staff report says drug investigators are hindered by their reliance on
miniature cameras, tiny microphones hidden on their bodies and what the
report calls other "obsolete technology."

"As reports of illegal drug sales from residences, vehicles and 'open air'
drug markets increase," the report says, "the Town of Cary is concerned
that it will become a haven for drug dealers and other criminals if it is
the only community in its area with inadequate technology to combat crime."

Cary hired a lobbying group in Washington last fall to help it snare
federal funding for six town projects, including the police surveillance
equipment.

If Cary gets the money, suspected drug dealers might not be the only ones
targeted by van snooping, Hunter said. At least one department he contacted
uses a surveillance vehicle to snag people illegally tapping on to
municipal water lines.

"You can use it for anything from a murder investigation to a petty theft
investigation," Hunter said. "Nowadays, you never know when you have to
coordinate intelligence gathering because of the terrorist situation. No
community is immune from having folks that may be involved in terrorist
activities either staying in the community or traveling through."

Still, for most area police departments, surveillance work remains
low-tech, with detectives logging long hours parked in unmarked cars, not
collecting surreptitious video feeds in the back of a van.

The Raleigh Police Department once considered buying a surveillance van but
determined that it would be too expensive, said D.S. Overman, captain of
Raleigh's investigations divisions.

Most undercover work in Raleigh is more old-school, he said.

"A pair of binoculars, that's it."