CHANGES AHEAD FOR DRUG TASK FORCE

As the investigation into allegations against 10th Judicial District Drug
Task Force Director Ken Wilson continue, the DTF's role and practices in
the district could come under the scrutiny of its managing board.

Wilson, 53, of 179 County Road 633, Etowah, was charged recently by the
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation with simple possession of cocaine after
an informant reported that evidence was possibly missing from the DTF's
Charleston office.

The drugs were allegedly found by TBI agents during a search of his home.
Wilson has since been freed on $2,000 bond, fired from his job of four
years and entered a plea of not guilty to the charges, according to
authorities and records.

The incident has left the law enforcement community of 10th Judicial
District reeling.

District Attorney General Jerry N. Estes, chairman of the six-voting-member
board which oversees the 10th's DTF, said he thought the current
restructuring of the agency provided an opportunity to revamp the DTF and
possibly refocus its efforts.

"I do think the Board (of Directors of the local DTF) see this as an
opportunity to make some corrections," Estes said.

The DTF has existed for 15 years, according to Estes, and the 10th Judicial
District's was the second Task Force formed in Tennessee. The 10th's DTF
was also the first to establish policies and procedures which was used as a
blueprint for other DTFs in the state.

Those policies and procedures have been targeted for review as the agency's
Board seeks improvements.

A concern of citizens and some in the law enforcement community is related
to the DTF's interstate interdiction efforts and whether the five-man
agency's labors are being utilized appropriately. Some questions have been
raised regarding whether the fact that funding of the DTF is realized
through seizures and forfeitures of vehicles and property can improperly
motivate DTF members.

On many afternoons, the DTF's interdiction team of two agents can be seen
running radar on I-75 in Bradley County. The DTF only rarely conducts
interdiction operations in McMinn County, authorities said.

On the positive side, the roving interdiction team has made some sizable
seizures and significant arrests, according to Estes. But that doesn't mean
there's no room for change, he said.

"I think it's a big concern," Estes said. He said some members of the board
had been expressing some concern about interdiction to former director Wilson.

"Even though that may be the most visible thing they do, it's not the only
thing," Estes said. "And they have taken a lot of drugs off the street."

Estes said despite the current situation surrounding the now-ousted
director, the DTF has a history of success.

"Even with this very negative thing that has happened, it has had a long
and good track record," Estes said.

"Over the long history of the DTF, it has been consistently lauded as a
good program," he said, noting a recent state-level liaison assessment
resulted in good marks.

"The liaison has been complimentary of how the DTF is run by the Board,"
Estes said. "It has had a consistently good history. All the audits have
been good."

Estes said it had been a little over a year since the DTF was last audited,
but said it was now time for another audit.

An audit by the state will coincide with a call for a review by the state
Comptroller's Office of the agency's records.

Estes said the need for the DTF's interdiction program must be judged based
on the needs of the law enforcement agencies within the district.

The DTF assists all four sheriff's departments in the district - Bradley,
McMinn, Monroe and Polk counties - as well as the police departments
operating in each county's municipalities.

The voting members of the DTF Board of Directors include McMinn County
Sheriff Steve Frisbie, Monroe County Sheriff Doug Watson, Polk County
Sheriff Bill Davis, Bradley County Sheriff Dan Gilley and Athens Police
Chief Chuck Ziegler, according to Estes. The heads of other law enforcement
agencies in the district are also members of the Board, but have no voting
powers.

Law enforcement agencies in the 10th Judicial District vary greatly in
size, according to Estes, and this figures significantly in what those
departments want from the DTF.

"What a one-or two-man law enforcement agency needs is very different from
what a 100-person law enforcement agency needs," Estes noted.

He said the Board will take the opportunity to make any changes now, while
interim 10th Judicial District DTF Director Jack Damoth takes the helm.

"We will discuss how much interdiction we should be doing," Estes said.

Interdiction is not the only concern, however.

"I have in the last week voiced to individual board members that in
fairness to the new director, I feel the board should give more direction
of the general operation of the agency," Estes said, "and I haven't heard
anyone disagree with that."

Estes said he felt a new focus might be placed on prescription fraud.

"My belief is prescription fraud is an area that is wide open," he said. He
said local law enforcement agencies, including the DTF, have already
embarked on a mission to educate pharmacists and physicians on the problem
of fraud.

Estes said he hoped the effort would make a team of the medical and law
enforcement communities. The general effort of Board at this crucial time
will be improvement. Estes said he hopes to get the DTF "back on track."

"The key is the director," he said. "We were all greatly disappointed in
what happened."

Now an interim director faces a new challenge.

In a telephone interview last week, Damoth, who previously served with the
DTF from 1998 to 2000, said the arrest of Wilson hurt everyone in law
enforcement.

"At this point, all of us in law enforcement have a black eye," Damoth
said. "So morale, as you can imagine, is real low. They feel betrayed and
let down, but now we're going to start back. We're going to install new
checks and balances."

Damoth said as interim director he wants to encourage unannounced audits of
the DTF's records and make administrative accounting changes by employing
more "professional practices."

Estes directed Damoth to meet with every voting member of the Board as well
as all the heads of departments within the district.

"My primary goal is to find out, 'What can I do for you?'" Damoth said.
"That's the reason the Task Force was created; to help the entire district
with the war on drugs."

Damoth said he plans to devote equal time to each of the four counties in
the district and assist agencies based on their assessments of their needs.

Damoth pointed out the DTF's interdiction efforts were aimed only at drugs.

"It's not just drugs, it's criminal interdiction," he said. Damoth said the
current structure of the DTF includes two subdivisions: the interdiction
team and case agents.

He said the interdiction team, which makes use of a drug dog, primarily
seeks to intercept drug traffickers and criminals on the run while three
case agents work on drug cases on their own and by assisting other departments.

Damoth said the Tennessee Highway Patrol once performed interdiction on the
interstates but only as manpower allowed.

"Their primary mission is to get criminals off the road," he said. "They
also assist in other investigations such as a missing person."

Damoth quoted part of the DTF's mission statement: "...while one of the
goals is the make the Task Force self-supporting and even profitable
through fines and forfeitures, this is secondary to the primary goal which
is to fight drug traffic and its related criminal activity in the most
effective way possible."

Damoth said the Task Force seeks to support itself by forcing criminals to
fund the agency rather than taxpayers.

He said positive effects of DTF activities are twofold.

"Illegal drugs are probably the worst problem faced by law enforcement and
law-abiding citizens, and we recognize that by fighting the drug problem,
burglaries, larcenies, murders, assaults and many of the related crimes
will be reduced," he said.

Although Damoth hasn't said he wants the job permanently, he said he
intends to plan for the future while the DTF is under his watch.

"I will be a working director," he said. "It will take me a while to get
everything the way I want it," said Damoth, who said he'd be working with
the DTF's case agents. "If I'm not out there with them, I won't know what
they're doing."

Damoth, a 28-year veteran in the U.S. military's Special Forces, said he
just wanted to serve his community in whatever capacity is needed most. He
said he was greatly affected by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and has
since rededicated his life to the service of his community.