CASUAL DRUG USERS BLAMED FOR VIOLENCE IN JUAREZ

EL PASO -- Sometimes controversial and always outspoken, former Los
Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates said Thursday that casual drug users
in the U.S. are at the root of the violence in Juarez and should be shot.

Gates was in El Paso to speak at a ceremony for graduating peace officers.

Gates, who led the Los Angeles Police Department from 1978 to 1992,
also predicted that the violence in Juarez would spill over into El
Paso and that law enforcement agencies on the U.S. side should be prepared.

"I don't think the people in the United States are grasping what a
serious problem it is. Mexico has lost more people in a very short
period of time than those lost in Iraq or Afghanistan," he said.

"I think, you know, I have such a low opinion of the people in the
United States who continue to use drugs. They are really responsible
for what's happening in Mexico -- they really are. We go along every
day. We don't take that responsibility that we ought to assume.
Somebody asked me one time about casual drug users, I said they ought
to take them out and shoot them."

The statement, he said, is an exaggeration, but it emphasizes the point.

Gates, who was in law enforcement for 43 years and was involved
solving high-profile crimes such as the Manson murders and the
Hillside Strangler case, talked to Advertisement Quantcast 34
graduates of the El Paso Police Department Basic Peace Officer Course
and two graduates of Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Gates told the new officers that their duty was to serve and protect,
to have reverence for the law and to preserve the integrity of their badges.

"Unfortunately, in Mexico, there's a mix," he said after the
ceremony. "You've got people in law enforcement who have not
maintained that integrity. They've tarnished the badge and some of
them have paid for it, dearly.

"So it's a very difficult for a chief to acquire those kind of
individuals that you just saw here on the stage in El Paso. Very,
very difficult. Without that kind of quality people, any chief -- I
don't care where it is, but particularly right now in Mexico --
(fighting crime) is almost an impossible task," said Gates. He has
been credited with initiating the city's first SWAT team and was
police chief during the Rodney King beating.

The Mexican government, he said, should continue to use the more than
1,600 soldiers deployed around Juarez since the beginning of the year
to help stop the execution- and ambush-style slayings. More than
1,400 people have been killed so far this year.

Law enforcement in El Paso, Gates said, should also be prepared in
case the violence spills over.

"You're so close to the border. I think it's something that every
police officer ought to give a lot of thought, because it can spill
over here very, very quickly. Very quickly," he said. "Again, El Paso
being so close. The problems are going to spill over. They have to."

El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen said officers in the department are
aware of the potential spillover in violence. When officers take the
oath, he said, they make the commitment of stepping in harm's way.

"They would not really be up to speed if they weren't paying
attention to things like (the violence in Juarez). It affects the
community, it affects them," Allen said. "With that aspect in mind,
they have to be aware of the events that are affecting their city."