SHERIFF'S DRUG UNIT SCORES POINTS WITH ITS SKEPTICS

It's hard to evaluate how superior Genesee County Sheriff Robert J. Pickell
has been in the war against drugs, but his department's record to date
certainly gives him the upper hand in the political and public relations
battles.

It's been less than a year since he pulled sheriff personnel from the Flint
Area Narcotics Group - FANG - to form his own unit, and the record he touts
has won the respect of skeptics. The new unit has seized drugs on which he
places sales value of $639,760, and has confiscated cash, vehicles and
firearms from suspected dealers. It is hard to argue against results, and
Pickell seems to be producing them, although FANG continues to make cases, too.

The appealing part of Pickell's drug position from the beginning was the
promise to put in the extra work it takes to make cases against high-level
suppliers, as opposed to street dealers, whose more open activities make
them simple targets. Pickell had faulted FANG, a drug- focused consortium
of local police departments run by state police, for taking the easy route.
Pickell views FANG as encumbered by bureaucracy, necessitated by the
involvement of multiple units.

A troubling situation results - two competing drug-fighting units covering
the same territory, when one, it seems, is called for. Pickell says they do
not compete, but cooperate, yet it is hard so see how that could be so. The
local drug enforcement front seems to be a turf war in a textbook sense.

FANG officers are unhappy with the situation, no doubt, as they feel
they've been given a bum rap, while Pickell picks up accolades from the
Genesee County Board of Commissioners, to whom he gave a report last week.

All involved need to know that what really matters is not assignment of
credit or blame, but a crushing of the drug trade at the highest levels,
and that means well outside of Flint. Success on that front should be the
benchmark by which both units are judged and supported.