HIGH INCOME, SOCIAL HABITS MAKE COUNTY RIPE FOR TEEN HEROIN ABUSE

Task Force Chief Cites Lack Of Resources As Major Hindrance In Fight
Against Drugs

The Porter County Animal Shelter has a sizeable building, a staff of
eight and an annual budget of $271,561.

The Porter County Drug Task Force, on the other hand, attacks an
epidemic-sized heroin problem from an office that once was a vacant
closet, with a patchwork staff of five and an annual budget of
$44,000. So the answer to the question, "Why is heroin a problem in
Porter County?" has as much to do with what is not here as with what is here.

"We're doing everything we stinkin' can to keep the problem here,"
said Bob Taylor, coordinator of the Porter County Drug Task Force.

"It's so frustrating. I see (the county) blow $50,000 on Taser guns,
and it (makes me angry)."

The area -- with its risk factors such as comfortable income levels
and proximity to Chicago -- is fertile for drug use. In 1999, the
most recent year for which statistics are available, the median
household income in Porter County was $53,100 -- more than $11,000
higher than the national average. More than a quarter of the
households had an annual income of more than $75,000.

The economic characteristics are toxic when coupled with the county's
proximity to Chicago. The National Drug Intelligence Center estimates
there are between 60,000 and 80,000 heroin injectors in the Chicago
area, of which 70 percent describe themselves as daily users.

Those habits trickle through the city into the South Shore. From 1993
to 1999, the number of Indiana high school seniors who have abused
heroin doubled, according to a study by the Substance Abuse Mental
Health Services Agency.

In July 1999, Taylor put together a list of all of the kids in the
county he knew of who were addicted to heroin. The list contained
more than 250 names.

"No one was listening," Taylor said.

"Until these kids started falling off dead, nobody believed me."

To curb the strong ties to the city, Taylor traveled to Chicago. With
his team, including an officer from Valparaiso, Portage and Porter
County police departments, Taylor scoured the city near Pershing and
State Street, the site of the former Robert Taylor Homes and Stateway
Gardens public housing projects.

Not everyone at the local level was happy about the task force
participating in the raids in Chicago.

"I got a lot of flack from the chiefs for going there instead of
staying here," Taylor said.

"We've had more problems dealing with the drug problems because of
politics than anything else."

Taylor tried his hand at politics earlier this year when he ran in
the Republican primary for Porter County sheriff. He lost that race
to Sheriff's Department Detective Susan Resteau.

Earlier this year, outgoing Sheriff Dave Reynolds and Valparaiso
Police Chief Michael Brickner announced plans to pull their officers
from the task force and instead place them on a DEA task force. The
men later changed their minds, but Taylor said he thought it
illustrated the local attitude toward his drug unit.

"Some of the cities are saying they want us to reimburse them for the
guys in my drug units," Taylor said.

"They say the cities should not pay for a county problem, but that's
wrong. The problem is countywide -- in each of these cities. It's
everyone's problem."

Bill Subici, a Cook County police investigator, said a county the
size of Porter County needs a 30-man drug unit to truly combat drugs
- -- two shifts of 15. He was shocked to find Porter County has only a
three-officer drug unit.

"Kids are kids, are always going to be kids. You need a strong hand,"
Subici said. "There's not enough enforcement on the street."

While he isn't feeling much support or cooperation at the local
level, Taylor said he has a great working relationship with the
Chicago Police Department and the Cook County state's attorney's
office that started in the late 1990s.

Taylor said the Cook County state's attorney sends reports of people
in their court system "so we know who in our community is going there
to get their stuff."

Taylor also is working to link to a system in Chicago called I-CLEAR
(Illinois Citizens and Law Enforcement Analysis Reporting), which
will allow him to track arrests of Porter County residents in the city.

That disconnect between the source of the drugs and the users in
Porter County is cause for frustration, according to County
Commissioner and longtime defense attorney Bob Harper.

The task force "work helps address the problems, even though it
doesn't get the larger dealers most of the time," said Harper, adding
specific praise for Taylor.

"Bob Taylor has a good handle on what an insidious problem this is."

As for the county's role -- or lack thereof -- in solving the growing
heroin problem, Harper said there needs to be more rehabilitation
options and 12-step courses.

"I'm just not sure what more can be done on the county's part," he
said, adding that preventative education should be the schools' responsibility.

Taylor said he sees one common denominator with the young heroin
users in Porter County -- money and absent parents.

"Your kids are what you make them," Taylor said.

"If you teach a kid right from wrong, talk to them, eat dinner with
them as a family, I'm telling you, it makes a huge difference. When
you're all wrapped up in your big-money job and are never home and
these kids have all this money and all this freedom and no parental
involvement, what do you think is going to happen?"

Taylor said he does not believe law enforcement is the answer to the problem.

"I say 100 percent falls to the home," Taylor said. "You have to
accept responsibility. They're your kids."

- -- Times staff writer Ken Kosky contributed to this report.