'HE'S SAYING I'M STUPID,' TUCKER SAYS

Turf Fight In Area Drug War Sparks Police Chiefs' Gripe To U.S. Attorney

A law enforcement turf fight is being taken personally by Kanawha County
Sheriff Dave Tucker, who said he is "outraged" at what he considers a
personal attack from the U.S. attorney.

The controversy apparently arose in recent months when local police chiefs
participating in the Metro Drug Unit complained to U.S. Attorney Kasey
Warner that the sheriff's department was not alerting them when conducting
drug investigations in their areas. And, although the department has signed
an agreement with the unit, it has not appointed a deputy to it, as it has
in the past.

Tucker said Warner took "a personal jab at me" when he wrote in a letter to
area police chiefs that conducting drug operations "without coordinating
with all respective jurisdictions is highly improper, stupid, inefficient,
lacking in professional courtesy and extremely dangerous."

"He's saying I'm stupid," the sheriff said.

Tucker and his staff deny they have a "go-it-alone" attitude, and the
sheriff said his department defers all long-term drug investigations to the
drug unit.

Deputies have investigated drug cases only as part of other crime
investigations, or when they are not avoidable, he said.

"Everything we do is by bust," said sheriff's department spokesman Sgt. J.S.
Bailes. "We don't have the ability to do long-term investigations."

The four police chiefs - from Charleston, Nitro, Dunbar and St. Albans -
believe the sheriff's department should alert them when conducting
investigations in their municipalities or drug inquiries, not only out of
professional courtesy, but also for safety reasons.

"We don't want a situation coming up where an agency is doing the same
investigation as the drug unit," said Charleston Police Chief Jerry Pauley.

He and the other chiefs wrote Warner complaining that the federally funded
drug unit could be undermined by one law enforcement agency not knowing what
other agencies are investigating. Pauley called it a "safety concern" of
having officers working against one another.

"Yes, it has happened," the chief said of deputies disrupting a drug unit
investigation. "That's what prompted the [letter]."

Drug unit officers were investigating suspects at a Kanawha City motel this
summer when deputies burst in and busted the two men and two women, he said.

"My main thing is, I don't want to see anybody get hurt," said Pauley.

The chiefs' letters caused the response from Warner.

Tucker is seething that Warner did not contact him, saying his department
has referred numerous cases to federal authorities and has worked closely
with them. Any problems between the offices have occurred since Warner took
over, he said.

"I've almost got 40 years as a law enforcement officer, and I don't like
someone to just up and say [that] I don't know what I'm doing," said Tucker,
who is retired from the Charleston Police Department.

His staff believes relations with the drug unit became strained after four
drug-related murders in the county in 1998. All four revolved around the
drug methamphetamine, and sheriff's detectives crossed paths with drug unit
officers while working on the murders.

"They think that we've stepped on their feet," said sheriff's Capt. Larry
Dodson, a longtime drug unit veteran. "Maybe we did, but we didn't do it
intentionally."

Sheriff's personnel also complain that the drug unit doesn't communicate
with them, leaving them not knowing what the unit is doing.

Dodson says most drug busts by deputies are for small amounts and usually
stem from residents' complaints. Others occur through investigations of
other crimes.

"Are we supposed to stop every investigation we're doing when we get drugs
involved and say 'Time out'?"

Deputies have made 22 drug arrests this year and busted up seven
methamphetamine labs, Bailes said. Federal authorities must be contacted on
meth lab busts to help clean up potentially poisonous toxins, and the other
cases have been referred for federal prosecution.

The department still refers long-term drug investigations to the drug unit,
Bailes said, and doesn't have the financial resources or manpower to conduct
them.

"Are we competing with [the drug unit]? There's no way we can compete with
it," Dodson said.

Two deputies used to work with the drug unit, although that was cut back to
one last year. That position was moved back to the patrol unit in May.
Tucker cited a manpower shortage.

"Just because we removed a deputy, is [the drug unit] going to hell in a
hand basket?" Tucker said.

Since then, 11 new deputies have gone to work and the sheriff has asked the
County Commission for more manpower. When a law enforcement agency sends an
officer to work on the drug unit, a federal grant pays for a new,
inexperienced officer to replace that person at the agency.

"I'm not criticizing [Tucker]," said Lt. Steve Neddo, drug unit chief. "I
think he needs to look at the County Commission."

Neddo said the recent public airing of turf complaints stemmed from an
inquiry to his office by the commission that questioned why there are not
deputies as members. That followed Tucker's plea for additional deputies.

Neddo said the issue is not just being short one or two officers. Instead,
it's having deputies on the unit who communicate with other deputies.

"A lot of our information comes from the guy who stops someone at midnight,"
he said.

If it is a drug-related incident, that officer will probably communicate
that to a colleague working on the drug unit, Neddo said.

"That's valuable information that we're not getting right now," he said.

There's still a slot open on the unit for a deputy, and Neddo hopes to see
one soon.

"My ideal situation would be for them to send me a deputy, or even two," he
said.

Tucker, however, said the unit is in "disarray" and speculated that there is
"a good possibility" it needs to be reorganized. He said there is a "rumor"
going around that the unit is being investigated by federal agencies.

Neddo's control board includes Tucker, the four local police chiefs and the
local heads of the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. He said he has heard nothing of a federal
investigation.

"We're not in disarray," he said. "There's no problem."