East County drug team disbands

By GREG SMILEY

Times Staff Writer

After plugging along for several years without support from
Antioch or Brentwood, the state's East Contra Costa County Narcotics
Enforcement Team has been disbanded. The team targeted mid to
highlevel drug dealers in longterm undercover operations. But the group
relied on officers from local agencies, some of which could not afford to
give up the staff members.

Other local agencies complained that the team's efforts did not produce
enough arrests in its own jurisdictions, or that the team chased the
wrong kind of drug dealers. "It's the lowlevel residential dealers that
create a chaotic atmosphere in our neighborhoods," said Antioch police
Chief Dave Lewis.

"We've chased the big dealer for a long time without success. When

I look at the lack of success the state and national agencies have

had, I think we're never going to stop it."

For 10 years, the state has run three NET teams in the county Local
police departments and the Sheriff's Office provide the officers, and the
state provides a supervising commander; plus the resources of the
California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement.

In 1996, EastNET assisted in 174 drug arrests, most involving cocaine,
heroin or methamphetamine seizures.

More than 100 of those occurred in Pittsburg, which provided the bulk of
the team's officers. Antioch pulled out of EastNET in 1993, Brentwood in
1994.

"We were EastNET," said Pittsburg police Chief Willis Casey "We kept it
alive for four years, hoping Antioch and Brentwood would be able to
support it again. But it evolved to the point where Pittsburg and the
Sheriff's Office were the only ones keeping it alive."

Officers from Pillsburg and the Sheriff's Office who worked in EastNET
will return to their departments. Cmdr. Mike Calvert, who headed the
regional drug task force, has been temporarily reassigned to the
narcotics bureau in Saramento.

The effort to bring local agencies together failed in part because of
turf issues.

Lewis and other chiefs needed to see direct results in their cities in
return for the officers they assigned to the team.

Lewis and Brentwood Chief Larry Shaw agree that those officers are
better used within their cities.

East County may be losing more than it gains, said Cmdr. Paul Mountain,
who heads the Central Contra Costa County NET.

"The thing that hurts most is the lack of communication and
coordination. ... These crooks are mobile, and the NET provides
communication."

Lewis and other local police officials said they do not expect a rise in
unchecked drug activity because EastNET disbanded.

"Each agency will have to pick up the slack," said Sgt. Jim Nichols,
head of the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Narcotics Bureau. "I don't
think you're going to see a big void in enforcement just because EastNET
failed."

Antioch's Narcotics Bureau, for example, set a county record for
methamphetamine lab busts in 1996 with 21. Lewis said the department has
that many busts already this year.

In 1995, EastNET helped break up two large labs on Bethel Island and in
Bay Point. Lewis says those actions had a profound impact on the drug
dealing networks in Antioch.

But he said attacking neighborhood dealers is more effective for Antioch
than longterm undercover wars against big dealers, given his
department's limited resources.

"EastNET was a successful approach, but it was understaffed and
underfunded," he said.

The task forces in Central and West Contra Costa remain alive and well.
The Central NET has officers from the Highway Patrol, the Sheriff's
Office, Concord, Martinez, Pleasant Hill, San Ramon and Walnut Creek.

The West County NET has officers from the Sheriff's Office, El Cerrito,
Hercules, Pinole, Richmond and San Pablo.