DRUG RAIDS WHEN CHILDREN ARE PRESENT: 'IT'S BLEAK'

On a chilly spring morning, police officers from around the state met
in Federal Way to serve a search warrant on a home located in a
cul-de-sac in a quiet neighborhood.

As families all over the city ate breakfast and got ready for school
and work, a SWAT team clung to the side of an armored vehicle as it
rolled up to the front of the white, two-story house with children's
toys in the yard and an American flag covering an upstairs window.
Police fanned across the yard and charged up the stairs, pounding on
the door and shouting at the occupants to open up.

Within 10 minutes, police had arrested a woman and her boyfriend on
suspicion of manufacturing methamphetamine; two men were arrested for
having drug paraphernalia. Another woman detained in the house was
released.

In the flurry of activity, police led two little girls, ages 7 and 11,
to a police car to wait until officers could contact a Child
Protective Services caseworker.

The older girl wore her backpack over her coat and thrust her hands
deep into her pockets. She told police she was worried about missing
her WASL test at school that day. An officer told her his daughter had
to miss one once and she was allowed to make it up. The younger girl's
chin quivered and she drew her hands close to her chest and surveyed
the scene around her as a police officer, who wore jeans and a jacket
instead of full body armor and a SWAT helmet, led the girls to the
car.

Federal Way Police -- and officers at most law enforcement agencies --
either have children of their own or have responded to a variety of
instances where children are present. They learn to squat down and
speak to children at their level. They make sure to make eye contact
and assure them they aren't in trouble. Police want the kids to know
they're there to help.

The two girls at the recently raided home shared a bedroom on the
ground floor of the house, where their mother, her boyfriend and a
various assortment of visiting adults also stayed.

The girls' room was situated across from the lab where adults cooked
methamphetamine, according to authorities. The entirety of the
basement was littered with syringes, drug paraphernalia and meth
pipes, police said.

State Patrol detective Jeff Kershaw, who helped coordinate the raid,
said light filtering into the basement through the drawn blinds
illuminated a filthy, neglected living environment.

Federal Way officers said they couldn't walk on the floor because of
all the food wrappers, dirty dishes and clothes, underneath which were
scraps of stained, soiled carpet. The bedroom downstairs was piled
with clothes, household garbage and children's toys.

The floors upstairs were exposed plywood, and the kitchen, also
upstairs, was littered with dirty dishes and left-out food. The
refrigerator was empty, police said.

Garbage bags were piled inside and outside. Drug manufacturers
typically don't like to throw out their trash because the evidence of
their activity -- tubing, stained filters and empty canisters -- could
give them away.

Unfortunately for the children of drug-addicted parents, they come
second in their parents' lives.

"The addiction rules all," Federal Way Police detective Casey Jones
said. "It becomes their number one concern. They'll forego food,
cleanliness and a job."

State law makes it illegal to endanger a child by allowing them to be
exposed to, inhale, ingest or have contact with methamphetamine or
ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and anhydrous ammonia, which ared used in
making meth.

Still, despite the conditions, the younger girl ran to her mother,
whose hands were restrained behind her back as she was being led to
the police car. The girl sobbed, tears running down her cheeks, as she
walked back to the car and her sister.

A neighbor stepped out her front door and cautiously approached a
police officer with two little teddy bears, one pink and one purple,
to give to the girls. The younger one held hers in her lap and waited.

"It's bleak," Kershaw said. "How they survive is an amazing story unto
itself."

Sgt. Kevin Fagerstrom, spokesman for the King County Sheriff, said
methamphetamine is one of the most serious drugs his department deals
with, from manufacturing and distributing to associated crimes such as
burglary or identity theft.

Jones said it's on the rise in Federal Way. Tacoma Police also report
an increase in methamphetamine.

It's a skyrocketing drug industry because it's fairly easy for anyone
to make with supplies available at home-improvement stores. In fact,
police frequently find evidence of methamphetamine manufacturing when
they investigate other things, like domestic violence calls, noise
complaints or traffic stops.

King County police busted 147 meth labs countywide last year. Federal
Way Police broke up 23 last year, which was a decrease from the 34 in
2001, but they've already busted 16 in the first six months of 2003.

Jones, the Federal Way detective, said police aren't sure if the
increase reflects a rise in manufacturing or more reporting by fed-up
neighbors or concerned school teachers. Regardless, it's a rising law
enforcement problem in King County.

"It's moving quickly into our number one drug offense," Fagerstrom
said. "It's the most serious drug-related incident we encounter right
now."

Associated crimes also are presenting an increased problem in King
County, including identity theft, forgery and check fraud, burglaries,
robberies, violence and weapons violations.

"There are always weapons," Fagerstrom said.

Jones said about half of the homes they bust have guns lying around,
but he said it's more common for police to encounter daggers or swords.

In 2001, Federal Way Police raided a home following a tip from a
neighbor who called to report suspicious activity. Two children, ages
2 and 10, lived there with their mother and four or five other adults,
according to police records.

When they raided the residence, officers recovered a 9 mm automatic
handgun on the floor at the entrance to the room where the majority of
the methamphetamine was produced. In his report, Jones noted the
magazine was loaded and there was a bullet in the chamber. There also
was a black shoulder holster nearby with another loaded magazine.

Drop Cap Here

Jones said if Federal Way police know children are going to be present
before a raid, they refrain from using devices like "flash bangs," or
noise-creating bombs that distract residents.

Fagerstrom said county police try not to use a raid-like strategy of
swarming the home and busting in if they know children live there.
Agencies usually designate an officer to talk to kids, to reassure
them they'll be okay and that nothing bad will happen to them.

At the raid earlier this month in Federal Way, police spoke in calm,
kind voices to the girls, answering their questions and explaining
what they could. The officer who was going to drive them to CPS
offered to take them to McDonald's to get some lunch.

The older girl again expressed concern about missing school, but the
officer assured her it would be alright if she missed just one day.
Meanwhile, another officer contacted their CPS caseworker, who wanted
the girls brought to the office immediately.

In almost every case, the adults in houses raided by police are
arrested and taken to jail, so children are taken into protective
custody. "Our big concern is getting CPS involved to ensure someone's
keeping tabs on the kids," Fagerstrom said.

The sheriff department doesn't keep statistics based on the number of
homes it has raided where children also lived, but Fagerstrom noted
the presence of kids "certainly adds to the intensity and trauma."

"They're ultra-freaked out, above and beyond what the adults are," he
said.