FEDS TO JOIN LOCAL WAR ON DRUGS

NEW BEDFORD -- The city is about to get some high-profile help in its war on
illegal drugs.

The nation's drug czar, Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, has agreed to send a team
of federal drug experts to New Bedford to help assess needs and to develop a
drug-fighting strategy.

The team likely will include representatives from the Office of National
Drug Control Policy, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services, according to a March 31 letter from Gen.
McCaffrey to Mayor Frederick M. Kalisz Jr. The national drug office's acting
associate director, Dennis Greenhouse, will lead the team.

Organized within the White House, ONDCP coordinates federal, state, and
local efforts to control illegal drug abuse and devises national strategies
to carry out anti-drug activities.

"Thank you for your leadership on the drug issue," Gen. McCaffrey wrote in
his personal letter to the mayor, underlining the word leadership. "We look
forward to working with you to maximize the available resources in your area."

The mayor has announced several high-profile initiatives against drugs in
recent months, including stricter enforcement of licensing requirements for
bars and liquor stores.

He said he looked forward to working with the White House office on this new
approach.

"It's important for the city to identify and bring together all of the
resources available to address the drug concerns in New Bedford," he said.
"I am gratified that the ONDCP responded to my request to provide this
federal assistance."

Gen. McCaffrey's three paragraph letter does not specify when the team will
arrive, nor what exactly it will do.

"A member of Mr. Greenhouse's staff will contact you to begin this process,"
the general wrote.

Mayor Kalisz first asked the drug czar for help last winter at a White House
briefing during the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He followed up with a memo
outlining the city's drug problems and its efforts to combat them.

New Bedford leads the region in the quantity of illegal drugs seized
annually, the mayor wrote. Some 80 percent of crimes prosecuted by the
Bristol County District Attorney's Office are drug related and city
residents have identified the drug problem as their No. 1 quality of life
concern.

Located on the drug pipeline between New York and points north and east, the
city "serves as a natural and convenient distribution point for illegal drug
sales," he wrote.

Anti-drug efforts include the Police Department's Organized Crime
Intelligence Bureau, patrols in public housing units, DARE, neighborhood
associations and crime watch groups, the mayor said.

"The city of New Bedford is committed to exploring any means necessary to
further our ultimate goal of eliminating drugs as a drain on the quality
life in our community," he concluded. "We welcome any assistance in
achieving this goal through the expansion of our existing programs, or the
development of new initiatives."

The city enlisted additional help in its contacts with ONDCP from U.S. Sen.
John Kerry, D-Massachusetts. In his letter to the mayor, Gen. McCaffrey
noted he had sent a similar missive notifying the senator about the new
initiative.