POLICE DEFEND TACTICS IN RAID

DURHAM - Police officers needed to be aggressive when they raided Cheek
Road Apartments last month because two officers had been assaulted there
and department had been tipped that some drug-dealing residents were
heavily armed, the acting chief told angry residents Thursday.

Before the raid, a man had confessed to selling 30 guns in that parking
lot, acting Police Chief Steve Chalmers told about 30 people, including 15
residents, city officials and police brass, who attended a meeting at
Greater Joy Baptist Church.

And, he said, the six-week surveillance operation that preceded the raid,
involving undercover drug buys and informants, revealed there were murder
suspects there, drug dealing in the parking lot and armed guards at
barricaded apartments with stashes of drugs and guns.

Before the raid at the 100-apartment complex, he said, an officer had been
attacked while arresting a suspect and a sheriff's deputy had been shot at
while pursuing a stolen car as it left the complex.

"If a police officer is assaulted, that shows us ... [the assailants] won't
think twice about assaulting a regular citizen," he said. "So we knew the
threat that existed when we came to Cheek Road, and we had to be prepared."

The meeting was arranged by the Rev. Curtis Gatewood, head of the Durham
NAACP, who filed a complaint last week contending that the raids Feb. 15
and 16 were overly aggressive, terrified children and forced residents into
allowing searches.

"Our concern is that we not only have riffraff in the community but
riffraff in the police department," Gatewood said, as residents murmured,
"That's right."

But Chalmers, calling the operation a "rescue," contended the trauma
suffered by residents and children paled in comparison with the trauma they
would endure if they witnessed violence and killings in the 100-apartment
complex. He pointed out that children were given stuffed animals and candy.
On Thursday, county mental health workers passed out cards, urging
residents to call for counseling.

The operation, called TAPS (The Aggressive Police Strategy), involved more
than 100 officers from Durham, the State Bureau of Investigation, the
National Guard and other agencies. It was the largest operation of its kind
for the department, Chalmers said. It netted 35 arrests and 65 traffic
tickets and the seizure of heroin, marijuana, crack cocaine, three guns and
ammunition.

Chalmers and Investigator Kelly Green, who headed TAPS, detailed evidence
they gained before and during the six-week undercover operation. One
resident described drug dealers outside her bullet-riddled apartment.
Another complained of gunshots at all hours. And a tipster alerted officers
to a planned drive-by shooting that could end in cross fire and injuries to
innocent residents.

"This man was so disturbed that he told us where ... the guns in the
drive-by shooting were being kept," Chalmers said.

As he listed what the undercover operation yielded, residents gasped. He
said TAPS was prompted by District 1 officers seeking help, calling
problems there out of control.

"I fully intend to make this TAPS operation ongoing in as many
neighborhoods as possible, as frequently as possible," Chalmers said.

The Internal Affairs Division will investigate concerns to determine
whether there was wrongdoing and will issue a report detailing its findings
and any required changes. It was unclear how long that would take.

Some residents were pleased that police were trying to clean up their
complex, but they questioned why other complexes weren't chosen. They said
many of those arrested have returned.

Leatha Green, a 19-year resident, said she felt coerced into signing a
consent form after officers came to her door during a "knock and talk,"
which alerted residents to the problems and sought permission for searches.
Ten officers found nothing in her apartment, she said, questioning why they
didn't stick to the seven apartments for which they had search warrants.

She said her neighbors didn't sign consent forms, but their apartments were
searched. Chalmers said 20 searches were executed after knock and talks.

The Rev. Helton Green of the Deliverance Temple, a seven-year resident,
said police used blacks as guinea pigs. "They were laughing, laughing at
how black people run."

After the meeting, Leatha Green said she would wait before assessing the
success of the meeting.

"It was unreal. It was very frightening," she said of the raid. "There were
helicopters and lights shining, lights flashing and chasing people. It was
just like looking at [the TV show] 'Cops' -- something that goes on in L.A."