KEEPING HIS FEET ON THE GROUND

Pulling out of a regional drug-fighting task force might turn out to
be a bad move, but New Hanover County Sheriff Sid Causey has a point:
His first responsibility is to the people of New Hanover County.

The sheriff says the two deputies assigned to the task force are
needed here. He also says his department can't afford - and probably
doesn't need - to share a helicopter with other law-enforcement agencies.

Causey, who spent much of his career working in the vice and
narcotics unit, knows that boundaries don't matter when it comes to
chasing drug traffickers. The department has a long-standing
relationship with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, which
oversees the task force, and no one's closing the door on
re-establishing ties in the future.

But Causey's title is New Hanover County sheriff, and drugs are being
bought and sold on local streets every day. There are also thieves
and violent criminals to arrest; jail inmates to keep behind bars and
courthouse duties to fulfill.

It's his job to decide how his deputies can best serve the taxpayers
and whether it makes sense to pay for the upkeep of a helicopter when
several other agencies are willing to lend theirs if it's needed.

The real question is whether it will be - and whether it will be
worth the money it's going to cost. But those are questions for the
agencies that covet the copter.