TORRINGTON DRUG WAR HEATS UP

Seized Vehicle On Display As Warning

TORRINGTON -- If dealers pushing heroin and crack cocaine have not
noticed a recent barrage of busts in the city, the police chief has a
plan to make his anti-drug plans clear.

A vehicle seized from a drug raid will be parked in front of the
Police Department with a warning for everyone to see, Chief Robert
Milano said Saturday. The warning, which will call attention to the
former owner, will proclaim what Milano has been saying for months:

Torrington is waging a war on drugs.

The department's latest arrests came during a bust early Saturday
morning. Police interrupted a cocaine buy on Winthrop Street near the
Winthrop Court apartments, next door to the city's skate park and
Torrington High School. They two men, one local and one from
Waterbury, after finding freebase cocaine and $9,000.

The investigation also added a confiscated car to the department's
list: a 1997 Infinity Q45. Torrington has confiscated at least three
other cars connected to drug arrests since the spring. Ultimately, a
judge must decide what happens to the vehicles.

"We are at a very serious stage," said Milano, who explained that
drugs are often the root cause burglaries, robberies and shoplifting
complaints in Torrington. "A month doesn't go by when we don't have a
heroin overdose."

Thursday, detectives arrested a Highland Avenue man after finding
cocaine and $3,000 in his apartment. And two weeks ago, police
searched two apartments simultaneously, one on Birge Road and the
other Prospect Street, confiscating heroin, Ecstasy, cocaine and a
1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee. In June, officers found $27,000 and $12,000
worth of cocaine on South Main Street.

"We're a growing city, and with a growing city comes city problems,"
said first-term Mayor Ryan J. Bingham. While on the campaign trail,
he rode with officers and was motivated to address drug problems in
Torrington. "I saw some of the drug use and its effect on people
first hand," he said.

Bingham said making headway requires a two-pronged approach. Vigilant
enforcement is crucial, but the city can take other steps to aid the
cause, he said, such as stamping out blight or encouraging
neighborhood watch programs.

"We don't want to become a city where drugs are such a prevalent
issue that it's almost uncontrollable," he said.

Milano credited determination for catching dealers, but said staffing
changes have helped.

They include assigning a sergeant to oversee narcotics enforcement
and using a federal grant to help shift a patrolman to focus on those cases.

And the department has money to hire four new officers, allowing
Milano to move existing officers to the Detective Bureau.

"They will continue to hammer away at it," he said.

Saturday, police charged Russell Whitney, 45, of 120 Harwinton Ave.,
with criminal attempt to buy cocaine and possession of narcotics
within 1,500 feet of a school. They levied drug charges against
25-year-old David Ireland of Waterbury, too. Charged with possession
of more than five grams of freebase cocaine, Ireland was held on $250,000 bond.

Bingham applauded the department's efforts and said he has no gripes
about Milano's proposed advertising campaign about drugs.