POLICE: BAIL REFORM NEEDED IN DRUG WAR

TRENTON -- In late October, Clifford Goldware, a 49-year-old city man
who is an alleged heroin dealer and a convicted felon, accounted for
the first major arrest of Operation Community Uplift, the city's
anti-crime effort in the South Ward.

Police found $15,000 worth of heroin, 182 packets of the drug
packaged for sale, 25 grams of heroin in "bulk" powder form and a
.32-caliber handgun inside Goldware's Hudson Street residence.

City police later learned that Goldware had been arrested the month
before on Route 1 in Plainsboro, where an officer allegedly found
$27,000 worth of heroin in his vehicle.

Still, Goldware was out on bail within two days.

Now, Goldware has been arrested on heroin-dealing charges twice more
- -- most recently on Sunday morning -- both times in the area of
Montgomery, Perry and Stockton streets in Trenton, a notorious heroin
neighborhood.

The South Trenton operation led police to discover that suspected
dealers they were arresting had been arrested numerous times on
charges of selling or possessing thousands of dollars worth of drugs.

But they always managed to get back on the streets, usually in a
matter of days.

Mercer County Prosecutor Daniel G. Giaquinto and city Police Director
James B. Golden both criticized the "revolving door of justice," with
Giaquinto explaining that "cash only" bail is not as tough as it
sounds, because a defendant can hire a bonding company to post the
actual cash.

Authorities expressed similar concerns yesterday.

"This again draws attention to what we as police officers contend is
a major problem. I, like others, have the same question: How many
times do we have to arrest Clifford Goldware on serious drug charges
before we rid the streets of him?" said city Detective Sgt. Jim
Dellaira, a police department spokesman.

Although Giaquinto has urged federal prosecution of drug offenders,
he said yesterday, "At this time, we do not feel the case is
appropriate for federal referral." But Goldware's bail is another
matter, he said.

"The $250,000 bail set Monday, given the nature of the charges and
the specific amount of drugs alleged, is a fair bail," he said.
"However, because of the danger of him being released on bond, we
will be seeking an increase in bail in Superior Court."

Giaquinto said Goldware's history of getting himself out of jail in
days "underscores" the need for a true "cash bail" law.

"A true cash bail is a lot of money, but defendants can post a bond.
The judges' hands are tied because they cannot designate a true
`cash-only' bail," he said.

The Legislature should change the law so judges can require true cash
bail, Giaquinto said.

In December, state Sens. Peter Inverso, R-Hamilton, and Shirley
Turner, D-Lawrence, proposed such a bill.

Golden and Giaquinto both said they may ask federal officials to help
tackle some of the city's worst repeat drug and gun offenders by
prosecuting them in the federal courts, where bail can be denied,
sentences are lengthy and there is no parole.

In the first of Goldware's two most recent arrests, he jumped from a
2001 model Ford Explorer on Jan. 12 and tried to flee when city
officers pulled him over at Stockton Street near Wood Street.

He was charged with possession and possession with intent to
distribute heroin and possession within school and park zones,
officials said.

Goldware was arraigned in city court, where bail was set at $150,000,
and he was sent to the Mercer County Corrections Center in Hopewell
Township.

Two days later, he was once again released on bail.

At 1 a.m. Sunday, two officers spotted Goldware allegedly selling
heroin from a 1988 Isuzu Trooper on North Montgomery Street.

Officers said Goldware was carrying 20 packets, or "decks," of heroin
that he was selling for $20 each. He was charged with the same counts
lodged against him after the Jan. 12 arrest.

On Monday morning, a city court judge set his bail at $250,000.
Yesterday afternoon, Goldware was still at the corrections center.