COPS ADD EXTRA OVERTIME IN BATTLE AGAINST DRUGS

Strategy Puts More Officers In City's High-Crime Areas

On a recent evening, Rochester police Sgt. David Joseph spotted five men in
an alley that often doubles as an illegal drug market.

After a quick check with a dispatcher, Joseph and three other officers
learned that two of the men had outstanding warrants for their arrest.

They went to jail. The others walked away.

"We hang out with them until they don't want to hang out with us anymore,"
Joseph said.

Such encounters are becoming more frequent under a new police strategy to
thwart the city's illegal drug trade by using overtime money to place more
uniformed officers such as Joseph in high-crime areas.

"This problem is so complex and so huge that we have to constantly rethink
and re-evaluate our strategies to make sure we're doing everything we can
to attack it," Chief Robert Duffy said. "We may not stop it, but I'll tell
you what, we plan on disrupting it."

Since the beginning of the city budget year that started July 1, Duffy has
spent about $400,000 of his annual $2.4 million overtime budget.

"My budget may explode this year with respect to overtime, but I will not
waste one dime of it," Duffy said. "We have to constantly look at ways to
be more effective with our resources."

The strategy -- which started a little more than a month ago -- underscores
one of the most vexing aspects of the fight against drugs.

Police and residents know very well where illegal drugs are sold and who is
selling them. But the process of collecting enough evidence for an arrest
is so cumbersome that the dealers can move between locations, leading the
police on a perpetual shell game.

With this strategy, Joseph said he'll simply knock on the door of a
suspected drug house and tell the people inside that the police are
watching them.

"Legally, there's only so much we can do," he said. "But at least this way
we can go up and say, 'We know what you're doing and you know why we're
here.' "

Joseph said it's difficult to perform such tasks during a regular patrol
shift because officers are tied to their radios, driving from one 911 call
to the next. He noted that at the time he and the other overtime officers
were checking the records of the men in the alley, there were nine calls
awaiting a response from a patrol officer.

"If I had to answer them, I couldn't have made that stop," he said.

Duffy said the initiative works toward the department's top priority of
reducing homicides and violent crime. So far this year, there have been 26
homicides in the city -- 16 since June 1.

"It will be very expensive," Duffy said "But I feel you cannot quantify
human life."

City Councilman Tim O. Mains, chairman of the Jobs, Finance and Governance
Committee, said he supports Duffy's efforts to curb the illegal drug
activity. But Mains said he expects the chief to pay for increased overtime
spending from other parts of the Police Department's $56 million allotment
of the city's $349.8 million budget.

"We're not a deep-pocket government," Mains said. "We don't have endless
streams of cash."

Mayor William A. Johnson Jr. said he's watching Duffy's overtime spending
to be sure the chief stays within the department's overall budget. The
mayor said city residents have told him that they have noticed the
increased police presence and they are pleased with what they see.

"This is something where we have to square our legitimate fiscal concerns
with the demands for service we're getting from the community," he said.
"(Duffy) is mindful of the fact that he's going to have to balance this
before the end of the year."

Police Investigator Ron Evangelista, president of the Locust Club, the
police officers union, said he's pleased with the strategy because it puts
more police on the streets -- one of the union's top goals.

"I'm glad he finally listened to the union," Evangelista said. "We've been
saying for years we need this."

But Evangelista said he's concerned that Duffy will exhaust the overtime
budget, and the money won't be available when it's needed at the end of the
fiscal year.

If that happens, patrol shifts could be short-staffed if an officer calls
in sick and a supervisor doesn't call in a substitute to work overtime.

Evangelista also questioned the timing of the initiative and said he hoped
it isn't intended to boost Johnson's November re-election bid.

Duffy said politics played no role in his decision to launch the program.
He said he conducted a similar, but smaller, initiative last summer when he
spent $110,000 to place details in the high-crime areas.

He said the decision to begin the program now was prompted by the surge of
summer violence that included the shooting death of a 10-year-old boy
outside a suspected drug house on Whitney Street.

"I felt it was necessary to pull out all the stops to increase the uniform
presence in our neighborhoods," he said. "The citizens of this community
are crying out for more uniform visibility."

Dan Hoffman, vice chairman of the Susan B. Anthony Neighborhood
Association, said he has already noticed a difference at the corner of King
and West Main streets, where officers keep groups of dealers from setting
up shop.

"When (police) are there, the drug dealers move along," Hoffman said.

The dealers return as soon as police leave, but Hoffman said he believes
the police presence sends a strong message that neighborhood residents
don't want the dealers there and will report them.

Duffy said he has already seen anecdotal evidence that the initiative is
working.

One recent homicide -- Duffy wouldn't say which one -- appears to be the
result of a dispute between two dealers fighting for shrinking turf, he
said. And members of the vice-narcotics units have said it's getting more
difficult to make undercover drug buys as the uniformed officers put more
pressure on the drug trade.

"We are creating a great sense of frustration among drug dealers," Duffy
said. "We're seeing a tremendous displacement of the drug activity. It
doesn't stop it, but we're impacting how the market operates."

Peter Stummer, owner of C.H. Morse Stamp Co. on South Avenue, said he too
has noticed the increased police presence and a sharp decline in drug
activity at the corner of South Avenue and Alexander Street.

"You wonder how long they can keep it up, because the drug dealers are
resilient," he said. "But anything they can do to put a thorn in their side
is good."

Duffy wouldn't say how long he could sustain the initiative. But he said he
doesn't plan to end it anytime soon.

"They say the drug dealers will just wait us out," Duffy said. "Well, they
better bring their lunch."