BROWN LASHES OUT AT HALLINAN ON DRUG ENFORCEMENT

BAY AREA -- Mayor Willie Brown convened a law enforcement summit in his
office yesterday -- then opened the doors and invited in KRON TV reporter
Vic Lee and his camera crew -- for what unmistakably was a very public
horsewhipping of District Attorney Terence Hallinan.

Prompting the summit was a recent three-part TV series Lee did outlining
Hallinan's lack of prosecution in drug cases.

The mayor said he was frankly expecting a hit piece by Lee, but after
checking the series out for himself concluded it was on the mark.

Then Brown went around his office, asking what his law bosses were going to
do to fix the problem.

The police chief was there. So was the public defender. But notably absent
was D.A. Hallinan, who has long advocated diversion programs rather than
jail time for drug offenders.

That left Hallinan's new top deputy, Paul Cummins, and D.A. spokesman Fred
Gardner to defend their boss.

And from what we hear, about the best Cummins and Gardner could up with was
- -- it's an international problem.

Make no mistake: this hour and 45-minute gathering was a made-for-TV
statement by Brown that he's not happy with the job Hallinan is doing.

And you can bet more sparks will follow.

[snip]

Chronicle columnists Matier and Ross can be heard on KGO Radio on Mondays,
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