CHIEF SAYS DRUG UNIT NEEDS TO SPREAD OUT

Decentralized officers can be more accountable and responsive, Jones says

By James H. Burnett III of the Journal Sentinel staff

Last Updated: Aug. 12, 2000

Milwaukee Police Chief Arthur Jones has decentralized much of the drug
investigation unit of the vice squad, scattering detectives and officers
throughout the city's seven police districts.

The move, Jones says, places vice team members closer to where the drug
problems are taking place.

However, some detectives say Jones' move two weeks ago places too much
emphasis on street-corner dealers instead of the larger drug distributors -
who keep a steady flow of drugs coming into the city.

Jones downplayed the complaints recently, insisting that his decision will
have no effect on long-term and undercover drug investigations.

Long-term investigations that involve the vice control division with other
governmental units like the high intensity drug trafficking area and the
metro drug unit are still in effect. Investigations will also continue
within the vice squad itself, Jones said.

"For anybody to say anything differently is simply not the truth," Jones said.

In the past, undercover and long-term drug investigations as well as
street-level drug policing were all conducted from the central vice control
division downtown.

Under the new plan, the vice unit's "knock and talk" teams were moved from
central vice offices downtown and "redistributed" throughout the police
districts.

"Knock and talk" officers and detectives respond daily to illegal drug
traffic complaints by getting out into the community and knocking on the
doors of residences for which complaints have been filed.

These officers usually ask for permission to enter a home and search for
drugs or related paraphernalia.

Jones said his move "gives the districts more control over the ability to
respond to citizen complaints" and allows the officers "more accountability
geographically."

"There are two vice detectives and two officers (from the vice squad) in
each district station now," Jones said.

Police union officials are also concerned with the changes.

Bradley DeBraska, president of the Milwaukee Police Association, compared
the changes to Jones' dismantling two years ago of the department's gang squad.

Jones insisted the two situations are similar only in that the gang squad
was broken up so that two separate units - street crimes and intelligence -
could focus respectively on street-level violence and gang intelligence
gathering.

Debraska said safety also is a major concern for these vice team members.

"There is a real possibility that officers and detectives in covert and
undercover operations could be exposed, because one unit won't necessarily
know what the other's doing," Debraska said.

Jones said Debraska's comments were unfounded because the decentralization
would not prevent different units from being apprised of what the others
were doing.

The reorganization could also cut down on the time it takes to process drug
arrests and complaints, Jones said.

"Information will be shared faster. We'll screen and handle district-level
drug arrests at the district stations," Jones said. "Travel time for
narcotics and district officers will be reduced or limited, and all drug
arrests will be processed at the district where the offense occurred."

Steve Filmanowicz, a spokesman for Mayor John O. Norquist, confirmed that
Norquist's crime commission has been seeking some police decentralization,
but only so the department's seven district captains will have more
authority to customize strategies in their areas.

He said it was too soon to judge the effectiveness of Jones' changes.

While Jones agreed that his plan fell in line with some of the crime
commission's recommendations, he pointed out that it's not new.

"It's about making community policing more than walking a beat, getting
officers closer to areas that require special attention," Jones said.