OAKLAND IMPOUNDS 14 AUTOS IN DRUG STING

First test of law enacted last summer

A new Oakland law that allows police to impound the autos of those
suspected of being drug buyers or the customers of prostitutes led to the
seizure of 14 cars -- including one with a Utah registration, authorities
said yesterday.

The Saturday night sting, the first enforcement action since the City
Council approved the law last summer, netted 28 suspects, 20 of whom came
from outside the city.

Among the confiscated cars were a 1998 Chevy S-10 pickup, a flatbed truck,
a Cadillac coupe and a Pontiac Grand Am from Utah. Only one car was from
Oakland.

At a City Hall news conference, police and city officials cited the success
of ``Operation Beat Feet'' as proof that the ordinance would encourage
miscreants passing through town to keep on going.

``We want to send a message in no uncertain terms that Oakland is not a
drugstore,'' said City Councilman Nate Miley, who heads the city's Public
Safety Committee.

Or as Mayor Elihu Harris put it, drug and prostitution suspects better have
a ``good pair of walking shoes'' while their cars find ``new and happier
homes.''

In June, Oakland became the first city in California to enact a law letting
police confiscate the vehicles of drug buyers and prostitutes' clients and
sell them -- regardless of whether the person gets convicted of a crime.
The city pockets the proceeds.

The owner has 10 days to file a claim to fight the seizure in an Alameda
County Superior Court civil hearing, which is independent of the criminal
proceeding.

The city spent months setting ground rules in hopes of surviving any court
challenges.

``We are confident this is a legally sound program,'' City Attorney Jayne
Williams said.

The council passed the law in response to residents' complaints and
estimates showing that as many as 60 percent of the people who buy drugs in
the city come from elsewhere.

On Saturday night, undercover police officers on foot masqueraded as drug
dealers, selling artificial ``rock'' cocaine near 98th Avenue and Walnut
Street in East Oakland.

Once purchases were made, uniformed officers were called in to arrest the
buyers on suspicion of attempted possession of narcotics, a felony.

Eight of those arrested were from Oakland. Others came from Fort Bragg,
Hayward and San Leandro. Of those arrested, eight were women.

Besides the cars, police confiscated a gun, a hypodermic needle kit and two
drug pipes.

The sting transactions were videotaped and monitored by representatives
from the city attorney and Alameda County district attorney's office.

Russ Giuntini, a senior deputy district attorney, said officials from a
number of other cities, including San Francisco, Hayward, San Jose and one
in Connecticut, have called about the program.

More stings throughout the city are planned. ``We've only just begun,''
Giuntini said.

)1998 San Francisco Chronicle