DANGER PART OF DRUG TEAM'S JOB

Investigators Say Risks Always There

"You can't think about it -- you can't dwell on it -- but hey, this is your
job," said Lt. Patrick Garey of the danger members of his state police drug
investigation unit face on the job.

His unit played an integral part in the investigation and arrests in
Thursday's drug raid in Oneonta.

In the joint operation of the Oneonta police and state police Troop C, the
Community Narcotics Enforcement Team for the Southern Tier worked with a
number of other law enforcement agencies during the two-year investigation.
The result was Thursday's 12 arrests, which included core members of the
violent Bloods gang, police said.

Police said they also seized an undisclosed amount of drugs -- including
crack, heroin, cocaine and ecstasy -- as well as weapons and cash.

For the investigators -- who are recruited from state police -- Garey, 34,
said being a member of CNET means learning to live with the danger of
dealing with potentially violent criminals.

"Ellen" -- an investigator with the unit who agreed to talk on the
condition her real name not be used -- said she came to the job seven years
ago after working for the state police for 10 years.

"It's good working with a team instead of being on patrol," she said.

With job responsibilities that include drug purchases and surveillance of
drug dealers, Ellen said, "it's not the normal 9-to-5 job.

"But it's important to remember it's only a job and not your whole life,"
she said.

"My family is concerned about what I do," she said. Because of security
concerns, she said, she doesn't talk with them about an operation until it
is finished.

That same caution goes all the way to the top, Garey said. While the unit
is attached to Troop C in Sidney, he said, its location is secret.

So secret, he said, that when his wife is asked where her husband works,
Garey said, she tells people, "the bat cave." "Our families don't know
where we are working until it is in the press," he said. "When I have to
get up at 2 a.m., she knows a raid is coming."

Ellen agreed that, when it comes to her family, secrecy is paramount. "They
know I am going (to work), and that's it. There is no sense in making them
worry."

Garey would not say how many members are in the unit. But he said his group
is the largest narcotics unit of any agency in the region. There are five
CNET units around the state, he said.

His unit made all the drug buys in the Oneonta operation, he said, adding
that he couldn't divulge further details.

"I can't give specifics (about a buy) because it would make it easier for
defendants to figure out what we would be doing," he said.

Other operations in Oneonta included surveillance, he said, but would not
say whether wiretaps were used.

"We do that as a unit, but we're not saying we've done that in this case
because of the potential of compromising evidence," he said.

Because the unit sends its members out in the streets to gather evidence,
Garey said, "the potential for danger to erupt is there with everything we do."

He admitted that his wife has felt better about his job since he moved into
a supervisory role.

"The danger can be mitigated by how carefully we plan," Garey said, but "it
can never be eliminated."

The most-dangerous situation Ellen said she has found herself in was "being
in a locked room (during a drug buy), and you don't know who will come in."

She said she also dreads "being in a room with people smoking crack, and
you don't know whether someone will come in to rip you off."

A lot of the success of an operation "depends on the skills of people (in
the unit)," Garey said.

Narcotics operations are dynamic by nature, he said, so, the team relies on
"people who are good on their feet."

When she enters a situation, Ellen said, she often finds herself planning
"how I'm going to get out of this" if something goes wrong.

At the end of the day, she said, "you want to go home at night."

Garey said his unit's planning has paid off so far because his
investigators have had no close calls.

The Oneonta case, Garey said, was different than other recent operations
because the Bloods -- the street gang police said ran the drug ring -- had
a hierarchy and coordination different than in larger areas such as Binghamton.

"They came in quietly about two years ago to establish a base," Garey said.
"They weren't going to show themselves as a gang until about six months ago."

The investigation unit became involved with Oneonta through routine
contacts with Det. William Davis of the Oneonta police about two years ago,
Garey said.

As the Oneonta Police Department started to develop drug-dealing targets,
he said, the two agencies worked together on an investigation.

The activity picked up about six months ago, he said, when the group
started to commit crimes to protect the market and undercut other drug
dealers. Police said gang members were involved with attempted murder and
home break-ins in Oneonta.

The need for patience in an investigation can be one of the hardest parts
of the job, Ellen said.

From her earlier work in the Oneonta cocaine bust about three years ago,
she said, "I know people think we are not doing our jobs because it takes
so long. But to put people away takes a long time."

Garey agreed.

"By doing the investigation right," he said, "chances are we can remove the
problem."

But, Ellen said, the arrests made in Oneonta won't mark the end of the drug
problem.

"As long as there is a market," she said, "people are going to make money
from it."