MAYOR URGES CAUTION ON MARIJUANA CASES

Police Chief Says Aggressive Stance Is Warranted.

A new and aggressive police philosophy means someone caught with a small
quantity of marijuana in Columbia this year had a much greater chance of
being taken to jail than in the past.

But mayor Darwin Hindman said Wednesday that he believes the city ought to
be "very careful" in deciding whether such a harsh approach is warranted
for first-time marijuana offenses.

One result of the tougher stance on drugs drew fire from three other
members of the Columbia City Council on Monday. They challenged a police
emphasis on pursuing misdemeanor marijuana cases in state court rather than
in Municipal Court.

Norm Botsford, who became police chief last year, said he had not issued
any department mandate that officers pursue those cases in state court. But
officers "have been given the freedom" to pursue prosecution of drug
offenses in state court, he said.

"We’ve discussed on numerous occasions that we have a different philosophy
on drugs," Botsford said this week. "In our opinion, and as far as the law
currently is, controlled substances, including marijuana, are illegal and
the laws ought to be enforced fairly and prosecuted fairly."

One of Botsford’s first administrative acts was to create a special
narcotics enforcement unit of one sergeant and five officers who
concentrate solely on drug interdiction. Officers on patrol, however, also
adopted the tougher approach.

Following a suggestion by commanders of both city police districts,
officers have been handcuffing and taking drug offenders to the Boone
County Jail, west district commander Capt. Marvin McCrary said.

"People will not walk out anymore with a ticket," McCrary said. "We’ve
wanted them to know they’d been arrested. We’ve wanted them to know they’d
been bothered."

Jail administrator Warren Brewer said inmates held for misdemeanor drug
offenses have no significant impact on crowding at the jail, which by the
end of the year will have paid about $600,000 a year to incarcerate inmates
in other counties or at Reality House.

McCrary said the drug philosophy and its implementation are driven by
public input. "We’re the ones who have to listen to the citizens of the
city complain," he said. "We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing until
we hear different from the chief."

Police figures released Wednesday show that officers made 313 arrests this
year for misdemeanor marijuana offenses under state law. They wrote only
five summonses for prosecution under city ordinance.

In 1997, officers made 168 arrests for prosecution under state law and
issued 113 summonses to Municipal Court.

"That’s a heck of a difference," said Sgt. Dean France, a 21-year
department veteran who was surprised at the decline in the number of
summonses issued.

Sgt. Ken Gregory said police and "the city at large realize we’re taking a
much stronger stance on drugs, and this is part of that."

Possessing less than 35 grams of marijuana is considered a class A
misdemeanor in the city ordinance and in state law, but a city violation
isn’t routinely recorded in a statewide computer system used by police and
prosecutors.

Three members of the Columbia City Council on Monday said police should be
pursuing more misdemeanor marijuana cases in Municipal Court instead of
state court. First Ward councilwoman Colleen Coble said the existence of
the 1985 city ordinance shows that the council intended that police use the
city ordinance to prosecute those caught carrying small amounts of the drug.

Hindman said Wednesday he doesn’t believe the ordinance itself "expresses a
preference" that misdemeanor marijuana cases be dealt with in Municipal
Court. But, he said, "I think the council probably could urge the police to
file in the Municipal Court."

Hindman said he had not yet made up his mind, but he’s placing stock in a
perspective some people have shared with him.

"This is a community full of young people with clean criminal records who
find themselves in state court over a first possession of marijuana, or
something of that nature, which is probably a young person’s
experimentation," Hindman said. "I think we ought to be very careful what
we do with the rest of that person’s life. Our policy should be taking that
into consideration."

Previous police administrations have primarily targeted violent crime
associated with controlled substances. That resulted in a focus on crack
cocaine.

But police Capt. Tom Dresner said he believes former department commanders
wanted "to de-emphasize narcotics arrests, in general." The philosophy "was
more reactionary," Dresner said. "Now, the emphasis is much more proactive."

Checked-by: Richard Lake