GOAL OF TASK FORCE WOULD BE SAFETY

Small Drug Dealers A Problem, Officials Say

GASTONIA -- Gaston County police departments have done a good job of
pursuing drug kingpins and midlevel dealers, officials say, but that's not
what helps the average resident feel safe.

That was the consensus of law-enforcement officials studying the
formation of a countywide drug task force this week. They agreed that
if such a group was formed, it should focus on street-level drug busts.

"A big part of community policing is dealing with the fear of crime,"
said county police Chief Tom McCarthy.

Arresting the drug dealer on the corner or breaking up the crack house
down the block may not put a major dent in a drug organization, but it
makes a difference to the average person.

"They want to know what's happening next door . . . ," McCarthy
said.

That's a function a drug task force could play, committee members
agreed. Although none wanted to back off the higher-level
investigations, members said they could share resources and do more to
stop street dealers.

"I think we've got a lot of resources out there that we're not using,"
said Stanley Police Det. Heath Jenkins.

Jenkins, also a Gaston County commissioner, suggested earlier this
year studying a countywide drug task force. His fellow commissioners
put him in charge of the study group.

Representatives from several departments, the district attorney's
office and the State Bureau of Investigation met Monday for the first
study-group session.

They agreed the task force should not be a top-heavy organization with
many officers from the participating departments. They would prefer a
loose organization with a coordinator and contact people at each
department. If a department wanted to make undercover buys, it could
bring in officers from another department who wouldn't be recognized.

Another important role of the task force would be communicating so
each department would know what others were doing.

"If we put enough pressure on them in Cherryville, they will move to
Stanley, and you need to know that they're coming," Cherryville Police
Chief Jim Woodard said.

The committee plans to meet next month to discuss how to organize the
task force.

Other counties have created drug task forces with varying degrees of
success.

Burke County started one in 1990. It scored several victories,
including what was thought to be the biggest opium bust in state
history. The task force's officers have seized more than $30 million
worth of drugs, records show.

The task force dissolved during intermunicipal wrangling in 1996, when
the the group's chairman, the county sheriff, pulled out. He said the
officers involved wouldn't open their files to him and operated under
a veil of secrecy "like the CIA or something."

Two of the five towns involved also withdrew, and one sued the task
force for its share of the assets seized during drug
investigations.

Gaston County officials want to avoid that type of conflict by
creating a loose structure, rather than a top-heavy
organization.

"You don't have a commander and a chain of command," Woodard said,
"but you get the job done."

Reach Scott Dodd at (704) 868-7742 or sdodd@charlotte.com