DRUGS ARE WINNING THE WAR WITH OUR ASSISTANCE

With the exception of law enforcement, government does not do a lot
of things well. And even among the teams of men and women, some
wearing blue, some wearing brown, there are fissures that, with the
death of Deputy Joseph Whitehead, have been exposed.

Whitehead was killed during a drug raid conducted by the Bibb County
Sheriff's Department at a house in the city of Macon. While the mayor
has questioned who should have jurisdiction in such raids - city
police or the sheriff - the real problem is a lack of effective
communication. The police and sheriff's departments don't coordinate
drug or gang squad activities.

Immediately after the shooting, Bibb County Sheriff Jerry Modena said
he wanted to put together a city-county drug task force, similar to
the one he used to command. Macon Police Chief Mike Burns, however,
said he was forming his own drug task force. Our top law enforcement
officials agree that a drug and gang force is necessary, so why can't
they join forces? They can't seem to decide who's the boss, sheriff or chief.

This issue isn't new. After a partnership of more than 20 years, the
joint task force disbanded in 1998. In 2000, Mayor C. Jack Ellis,
with then-sheriff Robbie Johnson, agreed to restart the anti-drug
task force under the sheriff's direction. It never happened. By 2001,
Modena was sheriff and there was again talk of restarting the joint
task force. Still, no progress.

Now there may be lingering animosity between city and county. City
leaders have always chafed at the per diem jail costs charged for
city residents, and some may also think the sheriff reacted too
positively when Councilman Stebin Horne proposed merging the two
departments after the resignation of Chief Rodney Monroe. All that
needs to be put aside.

Do we need another reminder that what police officers and sheriff's
deputies do every day is about life and death? How are we supposed to
fight an insidious drug industry that brings crime to our communities
when our forces are divided and not talking? The drug trade pays no
attention to county and city boundaries. Law enforcement's job of
stopping crime is tough enough without the dangers miscommunication
or no communication can cause.

Frankly, citizens can afford to dismiss the inefficiency of most
government agencies, but lives are at risk when law enforcement
agencies can't work together. At the very least, the drug squads
should share information. The last thing we need are two squads
looking like the Keystone Cops as they arrive at the same scene for a
drug bust.

There is a war on drugs, and we're losing, partly because we have
failed to fight it together.