SHERIFF AIMING AT STREET-LEVEL DRUG CASES

Sheriff Sam Simmons believes that a rise in simple drug possession arrests
in Greenville County in 2001 will mean an eventual decrease in violent
crimes and other drug-related offenses.

"The things that contribute to violent street crimes are drugs and
alcohol," he said. "We have devoted more manpower to street-level drug
enforcement. I can't say we've eradicated drug abuse in Greenville County,
but I think it is reflected in the overall number of particular violent
crimes."

Greenville County sheriff's deputies arrested more people on simple drug
possession charges in 2001 than ever before.

According to an analysis by The Greenville News, the number of arrests on
simple possession of drugs and alcohol charges increased 35.7 percent over
the year before, while distribution and trafficking charges remained
constant in 2001, which was Simmons' first year on the job.

Deputies arrested 700 people in 2000 on a possession of marijuana charges,
and 971 in 2001. In addition, cocaine possession arrests went from 43 to
80, possession of heroin arrests went from 11 to 15, possession of alcohol
by a minor went from 78 to 146 and possession of drug paraphernalia went
from 394 to 696.

However, drug treatment advocates say simply arresting people is not always
the answer.

Howard Simons, Partnership for a Drug Free America spokesman, said Simmons'
theory works from a policing standpoint, but fails at solving the problem.

"A rule of thumb is if you want to help someone with a drug problem,
warehousing them is not going to get it done," he said. "If you don't treat
the problem, then the problem is still there. You are just delaying it."

Carol Reeves, executive director of Greenville Family Partnership, said the
only thing Simmons' plan does is to keep drug users off the street for a
few days before they return to the same behavior.

"It's an interruption. It sends a clear message that we don't want it
happening here," Reeves said. "The majority will be back on the street."
But the proof may be in the numbers.

Violent offenses called in to the Sheriff's Office increased overall from
1,912 in 2000 to 1,947 in 2001, but crimes such as murder, assault and sex
offenses declined. For example, sex offenses dropped from 145 in 2000 to
121 in 2001. The increases came in crimes such as criminal domestic
violence and kidnapping. Criminal domestic violence went from 436 cases in
2000 to 518 in 2001.

Making more possession arrests to lessen drug-related crime is a common
theory used by law enforcement when trying to fight drugs, said Warren
Mowry, a criminology professor at Greenville Technical College.

"Drug trafficking is a supply-and-demand type of crime," Mowry said. "And
if law enforcement affects one end of the pipeline or the other, the hope
is that it will affect the problem in general."

Simmons' plan is similar to the "broken windows" theory popularized in New
York City in the mid-1990s that suggests when minor problems are ignored,
they will escalate to something larger, Mowry said.

"If the smaller problems are dealt with satisfactorily, then the larger
problems are much simpler to handle," Mowry said.

According to an article in the February 2001 issue of Chronicle of Higher
Education, experts in the fields of criminology and law have differing
opinions on the effectiveness of the theory. Some credit it with all the
drop in crime in New York City and other metropolitan areas.

Others say the success has been oversimplified and distorted and that there
is no significant correlation between lower crime rates and the increased
arrests of street-level drug users.

While Solicitor Bob Ariail, whose office prosecutes drug cases, said there
is a definite increase in drug-related charges coming through his office,
he said he couldn't comment on the effectiveness of the theory on
Greenville's crime problem.

In the first two months of 2002, almost 700 of 2,078 warrants brought to
his office were for drug-related crimes.

He currently has six attorneys working drug cases, but said he may have to
add a seventh to meet the demand.

"I don't think there is any question that drug usage is on the increase,"
he said.

John Boyanoski covers crime and courts. He can be reached at 298-4065.