DRUG OFFICER CONVICTED

THERE IS A LESSON to be learned from the conviction of Wes Campbell, the
former Lamb County narcotics officer given a 10-year probated sentence last
week for tampering with evidence and theft by a public servant.

The 38-year-old former officer, who had been a Littlefield Police officer
for six years prior to becoming a sheriff's deputy, testified that "I knew
I was doing the wrong thing" when he smoked crack cocaine with a drug
dealer. "I thought I was strong enough that I could handle it," he testified.

Cocaine is highly addictive. Mr. Campbell couldn't "handle it." By the time
his drug use was caught by a urinalysis test in May 1999, the former
officer testified that he was using cocaine daily and spending up to $400 a
day for drugs.

Using cocaine to build trust with a drug dealer is not standard procedure
for narcotics officers. Mr. Campbell's illegal actions have brought shame
on law enforcement officers. Good cops know you don't break the law to
enforce it.

What Mr. Campbell did was stupid, and it cost him a law enforcement career,
a felony conviction and significant financial losses. It also cost Lamb
County up to $16,000 -- money used to buy drugs -- and compromised 10
drug-related cases because some of the evidence was smoked.

"I was consumed with drugs," the former officer testified.

That's the lesson to be learned -- drugs consume users. Because of his
career in law enforcement, that's something Mr. Campbell should have known.
Apparently he didn't.

The former officer's probated sentence gives him a second chance. Our hope
is that he has turned his life around and can now use this ugly experience
to keep others from being consumed by the drugs that consumed him.