UNIT'S DRUG SEIZURES UP IN 2005

Team Captures $377,000 Worth Of Narcotics

MONTEBELLO - Despite having fewer officers, a special gang and drug
investigations unit seized thousands in narcotics and cash last year
and confiscated dozens of weapons, including automatic rifles.

In 2005, the special unit, which is down 21 officers from a decade
ago, seized $377,000 worth of narcotics, confiscated $60,000 in cash
and seized 61 firearms, officials said.

The unit made a total of 260 felony arrests, most of them involving
gangs and narcotics, said Sgt. Brian Dragoo.

The investigations unit was created several years ago, after budget
cuts forced Montebello Police Department administrators to
consolidate drug and gang enforcement officers into a single unit,
police Chief Garry Couso-Vasquez said.

"Ten years ago, we had about 100 officers. Now we have 79," he said.
"Demands are high, with Homeland Security and quality-of-life issues.
We want to stop graffiti and work with young people, but we just
can't do it with this staff.

"We're reactive and not proactive."

Even so, the unit seized $280,000 worth of heroin last year, $36,000
worth of methamphetamine and $55,000 worth of cocaine.

In 2004, special investigations officers seized $110 worth of heroin,
$11,000 worth of marijuana, $13,000 worth of methamphetamine and
$2,000 worth of cocaine. They also seized $4,000 in cash and one gun.

In 2005 the unit served about 75 search warrants. During one search
at a home on Nov. 28, officers seized 54 pounds of marijuana, an
undisclosed amount of cocaine, several rifles and handguns, and ammunition.

Officials are finding ways to stretch limited resources, said Dragoo.

"I think we've taken a more targeted approach," he said. "We started
to target more influential people, instead of trying to take down
lower people in the gangs. If you take down their leader, they don't
have anybody to follow."

Narcotics and vandalism are the city's biggest crime problems, he said.

A gang injunction aimed at the city's largest gang, barring them from
congregating in parks and other public places, has worked in
lessening gang problems, Dragoo said, but vandalism has been harder
to combat given budget constraints.

"Montebello is a prime example of the 'broken-window' theory," he
said, referring to a crime-prevention theory that holds that, left
unchecked, graffiti, vandalism and urban blight lead to more serious crimes.

Montebello City Council, at Wednesday's meeting, augmented the department's

$15 million annual budget by $250,000 and promised more money in the
future. That's a hopeful sign, said Couso-

Vasquez, noting that his department's budget was cut by about $1.2
million last year.

"My people are working very hard and care for the community they
serve," said Couso-Vasquez. "We're using a lot of overtime. Still, in
2004-05, we reduced crime 15 percent from the year before."