DRUG TASK FORCE HAS PROSECUTOR, SHERIFF AT ODDS

EVERGREEN - Three months ago, Conecuh County Sheriff Tracy Hawsey
told county commissioners that he was ready to join the 35th judicial
drug task force. Not anymore.

All that's off again as Hawsey and task force proponent, District
Attorney Tommy Chapman, trade allegations of shady operations and
mismanaged cases.

The task force was set up April 1, 1999, after Chapman saw a slate of
violent crimes in the 35th judicial district, made up of Conecuh and
Monroe Counties, all linked to illegal drugs. His office wrote the
application for a federal grant, and the regional task force was
formed. But the Conecuh County Sheriff's Office and the Evergreen
Police Department declined to take part.

Calls to Evergreen's police chief were not returned.

Assistant District Attorney Dawn Hare said her work in both counties
leads her to believe that participation in the drug task force gives
law enforcement a big advantage.

"There is specialized, ongoing training for the officers," Hare said,
"and they know how to make successful cases. In small rural counties,
it would be foolish to use local officers for undercover drug buys.
Everyone knows who the officers are.

"As part of the task force, officers from other task forces in other
counties come here, and our officers help them undercover in their
counties. It works very well and makes my job much easier. It's both
more effective and more efficient to be part of a task force."

Last year, Hawsey asked county commissioners to vote to join the task
force and partially fund two officers' salaries until the grant
reimbursed the cost. Problems arose when only one officer was
assigned to the task force from Conecuh, and he never agreed to work
cases with the task force.

Hawsey threatened to pull out of the task force again, but in March
announced that personnel problems had been addressed, and officers
would be assigned to the task force.

That never happened, according to Task Force Commander Jeff Brown and
Chapman. Two weeks ago, when the Conecuh County Commission asked
Hawsey why they had not been reimbursed for salary expenses, Hawsey
said he was again pulling out of the agreement - for financial
reasons. He said neither the county's budget nor his department's
budget could afford the up-front costs of participating.

He also said the task force's leadership meant his officers would be
outsiders on the force.

"It's left a bitter taste in my mouth from the outset," Hawsey said.
"How can you participate when you've never been allowed to be an
active member? When we came in, the force was already established. It
was like trying to graft us in on the vine. I joined the task force
in good faith and gave up equipment we needed to join the task force.
I thought it was the best option we had, but it's been nothing but a
headache.

"I don't want to lose sight of what we've accomplished in the 27
months I've been in office. It's not like Conecuh County's sheriff is
not working drugs and targeting dealers."

Hawsey said about 95 percent of the drug cases his officers make wind
up with defendants' guilty pleas.

"Our record speaks for itself," he said.

Chapman said the sheriff "has good motives, and it appears he really
wants to combat the drug problem here, but his efforts are not as
effective as they would be" as a part of the task force.

"We have had to plead out a lot of drug cases made by the sheriff's
office to lesser crimes because of the poor quality of the
investigation," Chapman said. "There have been many cases when
officers' testimony didn't match police reports, search warrants were
improperly drawn and drugs seized as evidence were lost or left for
months in the unsecured trunk of a car. Even if they found drugs, in
these cases it was worthless. There are times when the task force
cases don't work, but it is one or two cases versus 25 to 30 in
Conecuh."

Hawsey called the allegations "false and totally fabricated."

"If he wants to compare records on truth and veracity," Chapman said,
"I'll put mine on the line anytime."

Hawsey said the debate is "about politics. It's about numbers - not
on my part - and about control. I refuse to let my people suffer or
my county. It's about doing what's right for them."

Chapman said the sheriff's actions are not helping the county.

"I'm really disappointed in the sheriff and, in general, in the
people in law enforcement in Conecuh County," he said. "It's their
loss when they don't get the hundreds of thousands of dollars in
training and equipment to which they could have access, to use
helping the people of this county."