TASK FORCE TOPPLING?

Could the era of Texas' notorious regional narcotics task forces be ending?
Possibly. A number of city officials across the state have reflected on the
expensive lesson learned by the City of Amarillo-which earlier this year
paid a $5 million settlement to victims of the much-discredited Tulia drug
sting-and have pulled out of their local task forces in order to avoid the
negative publicity, scandalous headlines, and hefty civil suits that seem
to plague these law enforcement entities.

On August 31, the North Central Texas Narcotics Task Force, which covered
Denton and Grayson Counties, ceased operations thanks to a July decision by
Denton County Sheriff Weldon Lucas to disband the 15-year-old agency. As
part of the move, the task force is returning what remains of its $418,738
Byrne grant to Gov. Rick Perry's office, which administers Byrne funds.
August 31 also marked the end of the South Plains Regional Narcotics Task
Force, which has conducted narcotics investigations and stings in Lubbock
and 17 outlying counties for more than 15 years. In mid-August, the Lubbock
Police Department pulled out of South Plains and forfeited its role as
administrator of the task force's $655,650 Byrne grant.

In explaining their decision to withdraw, Lubbock police department
officials cited rising insurance premiums and fees, the need for officers
to focus on city drug cases, and an excessive expenditure of officers' time
and travel to cover such a vast area. However, increased liability risks
were also a major factor. Lubbock lies just south of the area once served
by the Panhandle Regional Narcotics Trafficking Task Force, which employed
Tom Coleman-the officer primarily responsible for the botched up Tulia
sting. As the Panhandle task force's grant administrator, Amarillo became
financially liable for Coleman's actions, even though the sheriff's
department of neighboring Swisher County hired him. The Panhandle task
force disbanded this spring.

Moving southward, the City of Laredo has pulled out of the Laredo
Multi-Agency Narcotics Task Force, also forfeiting its role as grant
administrator and reducing the task force by half. The Laredo Morning Times
reported that the Laredo city manager and police chief said their reasons
for withdrawing were "purely economical and budgetary." Webb County will
administer the $1.14 million Byrne grant for the task force, which also
covers Zapata County. Meanwhile, the DPS stepped into the area once covered
by the troubled 81st Judicial District Narcotics Task Force by creating the
11-county Regional Narcotics Task Force, launched in July. The DPS will
oversee the new task force, which includes San Antonio and South Texas;
this year it received more than $1.5 million in Byrne grant start-up funds
from Perry's office. Unlike traditional task forces, it will target drug
trafficking organizations instead of low-level, individual dealers.

In the midst of change-much of which comes as good news for task force
critics, including the ACLU of Texas-some folks still can't let go. One is
state Rep. Delwin Jones (R-Lubbock), who on August 23 called a meeting in
Levelland with representatives from the DPS and law enforcement agencies
still participating in the South Plains task force in an attempt to find a
replacement grantee. No other task force participant accepted the job,
leading Jones to look to the DPS for assistance. The Lubbock
Avalanche-Journal also reports that Jones plans to introduce legislation
this session to keep the South Plains task force running.

Perhaps it's time for Rep. Jones to reread his copy of Too Far Off Task,
the 2002 report by the ACLU of Texas that cataloged two dozen task force
scandals from Tulia to Hearne. But if Jones needs a fresh scandal to
convince him that the task force model simply doesn't work, he might try
calling up Blair Davis, a Houston-area landscape contractor. In late July,
Davis was visited by several pistol-wielding officers from the Byrne-funded
Harris County Organized Crime and Narcotics Task Force. The landscape
contractor's "crime" was growing hibiscus-which looks somewhat like
marijuana, but with white flowers-in plain view in his front yard. No word
yet on whether Davis will sue.