COOPERATION A MUST IN WAR ON DRUGS

The silence of a South Texas sunrise is broken by the sounds of
shouting, fists banging on doors, and the metallic clank of handcuffs
as they clamp around yet another pair of wrists.

Interagency drug raids with neighboring law enforcement departments
and other agencies have become a standard practice for rounding up
known drug offenders in small towns. Interagency cooperation is not a
new concept, said Cuero Police Chief Glenn Mutchler, who recalled
cooperative efforts 25 years ago among the Edna -- where he was an
officer -- Yoakum and Cuero police departments.

More recently, a raid in Refugio in August resulted in 28 arrests on
41 indictments, the largest roundup in the city's history and the
second largest in the county since a 1994 grand jury issued 54
indictments.

The interagency cooperative effort featured officers from the Refugio
and Victoria police departments, Refugio County Sheriff's Office
deputies, and Department of Public Safety troopers. Beeville police
also assisted with some of the administrative workload.

"It was fun seeing all the agencies working together," Refugio Police
Chief Chris Brock said soon after the raids.

Area law enforcement officials agree that cooperation among agencies
is a vital tool.

"Before the cooperation can really be effective each agency involved
must have knowledge of the local problem, begin to address it, and
have knowledge of how it ties into the regional narcotic related
issues," Mutchler said.

The Cuero chief added that communication is the key to any successful
operation and how the operations come together vary. Most of the
time, the investigative part of the operation is handled by the local
agency, with other departments lending a hand when manpower is
needed to conduct round ups.

"During Operation Cooperation in 2006, each agency involved had a
contact and that smaller group worked together to organize the
operation. Then, the DeWitt County Sheriff's Office took the lead in
planning the roundup," Mutchler said.

Even open and constant communication can't offset what is usually the
biggest problem facing these operations, manpower.

"Scheduling issues are the biggest obstacle," the Cuero chief said.
"All of our departments are small with limited budgets and limited
personnel."

The loss a couple of years ago of partially state-funded
multi-jurisdictional task forces has forced small departments to work
even more closely with each other. Some departments were affected
more than others, depending on how much the task forces assisted
them while they were operational.

"We were basically left high and dry," said Glen Sachtleben, Gonzales
County sheriff. "We work closely with the DPS and any other source of
manpower, expertise and equipment that we can."

But DPS faces the same manpower issues as other agencies.

"We are no different than any other agency. We're stretched thin. We
try to help, but we have nine counties and four narcotics troopers.
We're ready to help, but it's on a 'when we can' basis," said Lt.
Bubba Forester of DPS Narcotics in Victoria.

The DPS narcotics mission has also changed with the times, Forester
said.

"Instead of one ounce at a time, that doesn't work any more, we spend
our time going after the larger organizations," he said. "We want to
cut the head off."