KALAMAZOO TO KEEP RUNNING DRUG-FORCE UNIT

KALAMAZOO -- Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety will retain
authority over the Kalamazoo Valley Enforcement Team's drug
investigations despite the creation of a new, multi-jurisdictional
oversight board.

The reason?

Money and personnel.

Although KVET conducted nearly 30 percent of its undercover drug
investigations outside the city of Kalamazoo in 2007, city taxpayers
provided nearly all of its personnel and funding.

Despite that, Kalamazoo City Manager Kenneth Collard last year called
for resurrecting a KVET oversight board, comprised of command staff
from Kalamazoo County's largest police agencies.

In addition to re-examining KVET's policies and practices, city
leaders hoped external oversight could polish the credibility of a
unit tarnished by a botched 2003 prostitution investigation in which
an undercover officer received oral sex and no arrests were ever made.
Police reports alleged other officers, prosecutors and defense
attorneys may have been among the woman's clients.

James Mallery, public safety's acting chief, recently announced plans
to convene a KVET operations board by mid-March, asking Kalamazoo
County Prosecutor Jeffrey Fink, Sheriff Michael Anderson, and chiefs
from Portage, Kalamazoo Township and Western Michigan University to
join him.

KVET Commander Joseph Taylor said this week the board will provide
policy advice, but will not choose cases or direct staff.

"We want their input but it would not be fair to the organization
that's providing 95 percent of the money to turn over all the
authority," Taylor said. "I don't see there being any argument over
that. We've (city of Kalamazoo) been the glue that holds it together
and we have the say as to who the commander is."

KVET currently is staffed by 16 Kalamazoo Public Safety officers and
one sheriff's deputy.

"There's no question in my mind that the county gets greater benefit
than what my one officer represents," Anderson said.

The city of Kalamazoo also spends more than $1.6 million annually to
operate and equip the covert drug investigators. Some of the expenses
are offset by assets from drug forfeitures.

Anderson, who's accepted a seat on the board, lauds KVET's enforcement
record.

"KVET is well run," Anderson said. "Yes, we all know there was a
bump in the road and there's no operation anywhere that can't benefit
from additional oversight."

"It would be ideal if all the agencies sitting on this operations
board were participating with manpower and resources," he added.
"But right now the city is doing the lion's share of drug enforcement
countywide and it's their program."

Kalamazoo Township Police Chief Tim Bourgeois currently has a single
officer assigned to another drug unit -- Michigan State Police's
multi-county Southwest Enforcement Team. A federal grant pays for the
state slot, Bourgeois said.

The township chief said it's typical for law enforcement oversight
boards to be advisory rather than command units.

WMU Assistant Chief Blaine Kalafut said the planned, quarterly
meetings should aid cooperation when KVET investigations move into
jurisdictions outside the city.

"Checks and balances, that's what they're after," Kalafut said of
the oversight plan. "I think it's a good idea. We'll know if they're
in our jurisdiction and how we can help. We can review what went wrong
in a case and exchange information."

Portage Chief Richard White said his department ended its own
undercover drug investigations after KVET was formed in 1991. White
said staffing shortages required him last year to recall the one
officer he had assigned to KVET.

The Portage chief said he expects to participate on the oversight
board and hopes it will lead to more law enforcement
information-sharing.

"KVET has been the central point in the county for the collection of
intelligence, particularly drug and criminal intelligence," White
said. "It's helpful when they can put together bits and pieces of
information and share those with participating agencies."

Taylor said 95 percent of Kalamazoo-area crime is "anchored in
drugs" and jurisdictional boundaries don't matter to the buyers and
sellers.

"A place like Portage may not have the blatant, drive-by shootings,
but Chief White knows there's drugs there. Drugs are everywhere,"
Taylor said. "Major dealers don't live where drugs are sold and they
have their women living in Oshtemo and Portage. "Our job is to take
our business where the tips lead us."