BOSSIER CITY, DEA MUST UNITE

Squabble Dilutes Law Enforcement Effort Against Street-Level Drug Dealers

Bossier City Police Chief Mike Halphen shut down the department's Division
of Special Investigations for six days while an assistant chief and
Internal Affairs officers combed through the evidence room, counting money
and weighing seized illegal drugs.

"Nothing - not nothing could be found down there that was not proper,"
Halphen said, and of the narcotics and vice officers he added, "I can
promise you, I cleared them 1,000 percent."

The narcotics and vice shut down and audit of the evidence, according to
Halphen was prompted by a drug suspect who may have told federal agents he
basically bought his way out of jail in Bossier City. Halphen said he
approached the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration about the
allegations, and when federal officials would not talk to him, he ordered
the audit.

That a law enforcement agency would decline to comment about an active
investigation should be of little surprise to no one, especially the
Bossier City police chief.

To Halphen's credit, he pledged to operate the Police Department in a more
open manner when he was sworn in Jan. 28, and if this incident is any
indication, he's doing just that. The people of Bossier City knew the
division was shut down, and as of Monday, they knew why.

Halphen has removed Bossier City's officer from the narcotics task force
that operates in this area under the Drug Enforcement Administration,
although he pledged the Bossier City Police Department "will continue to
work with them ... but the relationship is strained."

Wednesday may have provided a prime example of what can happen when the
various law enforcement agencies cooperate in drug investigations. Federal
authorities made a drug arrest in Bossier City based on information gained
through the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Police Department.
Although it is unclear whether this is a sign of the old way the agencies
worked together or a renewed cooperative spirit born after the incident
that caused the split, citizens should expect this level of teamwork
between federal and local authorities.

Whether there is wrongdoing within the Bossier City Police Department needs
to be definitively settled. Based on his internal investigation, Halphen
said he is satisfied the department is in the clear. If federal authorities
have remaining doubts concerning the operation of vice and narcotics
officers, those matters need to be settled by making the requisite arrests
or making the proper apologies.

Either way, the business of the federal and local drug enforcement
authorities ought to be concentrated on fighting the illicit drug trade -
wherever it exists - instead of fighting each other.