RIFT BETWEEN DRUG UNITS MAY REQUIRE A REFEREE

The drug war in Genesee County has developed into a public relations battle
between Sheriff Robert J. Pickell and the Flint Area Narcotics Group over
whether the sheriff's new drug team is a help or hindrance in combating
narcotics trafficking.

The best answer is that it's too early to tell, but eventually the public
needs to know for sure so our leaders can make the best use of law
enforcement resources. That would require independent analysis, which
likely will be hard to come by in this political atmosphere.

Pickell has much riding on his decision to withdraw his department's
participation in FANG, the long-established, state-police-led consortium of
local police agencies. In the year's first nine months, his four-member
unit has bagged 16 upper-level drug dealers and seized $639,000 in
narcotics. The much-larger FANG in the same period has arrested 24 of the
bigger dealers and confiscated $2.6 million in illegal drugs. The only
conclusion to be drawn from the numbers is that both agencies have been bad
news for the bad guys, as arrests are more than double those in roughly the
same period last year.

Does that mean the competition has been good? FANG's leadership implies no,
complaining of a difficult working relationship between the two units. The
sheriff counters that his bureaucratic-free machine is doing the job he
promised in bringing down the big-time dealers.

The public could tolerate this tit-for-tat spat if all that was at stake
were bruised egos. But who knows where this rift will lead? What happens
next year if both compete for the same federal/state grant money that funds
drug enforcement agencies? Will it be survival of the fittest?

Perhaps it would be best if the county's wiser heads involved themselves in
this matter before it becomes a mess. County Board Chairman Richard A.
Hammel seemed to be hinting at that when he suggested the county and FANG
leaders meet to discuss sharing information and coordinating drug-fighting
resources.

Amen to that. An honest broker is needed and the sooner the better.