'TOUGH COP' HAS SEEN GOOD RESULTS

Daviess Circuit Judge Thomas Castlen says drug court has been so successful
that many "tough cops" are now referring people to the program.

Daviess County Sheriff's Detective Sgt. Jim Acquisto is one of those cops.

"I think it's great. I was involved in some of the original meetings. I got
some insight into other (drug courts) around the country," he said.

Daviess County's drug court has been running since 2000 when it started as a
pilot project. The program really took off in November of 2000 when Drug
Court Coordinator Lora McCarty was hired.

"I used to say as a prosecutor that we're not social workers," Castlen said.
"But after 10 years I saw people in and out of courts, serve time, get out,
go back to the same influences with no training and, not surprising, they
got right back into the court system. So I thought it was worthwhile to look
at something different."

"I think it fills the gap between probation and incarceration," Acquisto
said. "People getting probation wouldn't have a lot of accountability. Drug
court provides intense probation."

"Drug court is noble and it serves a good purpose," Owensboro Police Sgt.
Brock Peterson said. "I'm sure there will be people benefit from it."

But on the flip side, Peterson said, drug court will not work for everybody.

"Someone who was participating in drug court was still trafficking drugs"
according to information gathered by Owensboro officers, Peterson said. "He
does great in drug court because he's not an addict. He's a dealer."

Acquisto agreed that there will be failures.

"It's for people willing to abide by the rules," he said. "They need those
boundaries."

"It gets the structure back in their life and maybe that will wake some
people up," Peterson said.

But some people refuse the drug court option, Acquisto said. "I've seen some
defendants say they'd rather do 60 days in jail than drug court."

However, some choose the program and succeed.

"There's one guy that said the last time he was arrested he got into drug
court and he got his life back," Peterson said.

"I've seen really good results," Acquisto said. "I've had people come to me
and thank me for arresting them" because that got them into drug court, he
said. "They were desperate addicts.

"Drug court will change your life for the rest of your life," Acquisto said.
"Or at the least for that year."