A TOOL TO FIGHT CRIME OR JUST A LOT OF FLASH?

$93,000 Viper Raises Questions For Camden

WOODBINE -- The Camden County Sheriff's Department believes an expensive
sports car is the way to get kids' attention about the dangers of illegal
drugs.

The county's new Drug Awareness and Resistance Education (DARE) car is a
2001 Dodge Viper RT/10 capable of going up to 200 mph.

The cost: $93,000.

"With television and video games, it's hard to impress kids and grab their
attention. The whole point of this car is the grab the kids' attention,"
said Lt. William Terrell, sheriff's office spokesman. "Once we have their
attention, then we can focus on getting them to listen and show them how to
resist peer pressure to use drugs and alcohol."

Others, however, wonder if the car, which recently won a national contest
in Las Vegas, Nev., for its custom paint job, cost too much.

Camden County Commissioner Bob Becker called the win "a publicity gimmick"
that gives the department a lot of notoriety.

"But does it improve law enforcement?" he asked. "I would hope it would. I
have my doubts."

The sports car was purchased with forfeited drug money from seizures made
by Camden deputies on Interstate 95, Terrell said.

"It didn't cost the taxpayers anything. It all was paid for entirely with
confiscated drug money," he said. "And if we can reach even just one kid
with this car, then it's worth it."

The car itself was $78,000. Additional costs include: a trailer, $5,500;
paint job, $5,000; custom embroidery, $300; GPS system, $1,000; and police
package including blue lights, siren and radio, $3,000.

The department's DARE officer, Capt. David Gregory, acknowledged that a few
people have complained about the money spent on the car, but that most
recognize its drawing power and the importance of the anti- drug message.

"The sheriff's response has been you can't put a price on a child's life,"
he said.

And the DARE car may indeed save some lives and improve others, Gregory
said. Although some studies have asserted that DARE programs are not
cost-effective, Gregory says he has anecdotal evidence that contradicts the
surveys.

"I've seen some kids in troubled environments come out of that clean. If I
had to sum it up in one word, it's hope," he said.

If the forfeited assets were not used for the DARE car, it could not be
used in public works projects, for county salaries and other items that are
funded by property taxes, Gregory said.

U.S. Attorney Rick Thompson said there are strict guidelines on the use of
assets seized in federal drug cases that are turned over to counties.

"Broadly speaking, it must be law-enforcement related," said Thompson,
adding that a DARE car fits because it is drug education.

Becker said he would like to have some input on how future purchases using
drug money are made.

"The trouble still comes down to seized asset money is county money and not
just the sheriff's money," he said.

Should Sheriff Bill Smith spend some of the money improperly, federal
officials would demand repayment from the County Commission, Becker said.

"I don't disagree with what he's done with it," Becker said of the car
purchase. "I had no opportunity to disagree. He just did it and he had the
authority to do it."

County Administrator Barry King said that, to his knowledge, Smith spent no
tax, fine or fee revenue on the car beyond paying the salaries of officers
who worked on it.

But some commissioners have challenged Smith's request for a $3.7 million
annual budget for his department and persuaded him to reduce it to $2.8
million, King said. Even with the reduction, Smith is spending $64.13 per
capita, far higher than the state average of $39 per capita for counties
like Camden, King said.

Of the DARE car expense, King said, "He [Smith] calls it other people's
money, but we have to pay the cost of the [DARE] officer."

Both Becker and King cited studies that say DARE is only marginally
successful and noted that many departments have dropped it entirely.

Camden County's drug enforcement efforts along I-95, a well-known drug
pipeline between South Florida and the northeastern United States, have
been financial boon for the Sheriff's Department. Terrell said that over
the past 15 years the county has seized more than $14 million in cash, with
those funds going to buy patrol cars, weapons and training and education
programs.

"We have used those funds for a lot of less flashy purposes than this car,"
he said.

He said the same county officials critical of the department for buying the
Viper don't mention that the sheriff's department didn't used budgeted tax
dollars for buying police cars. That's because seized drug funds were used
to purchase those vehicles, he said.

"We knew we were going to get some criticism on this, but the sheriff
really believes it's worth the cost to reach kids about the dangers of
drugs," he said. "We realize that other counties that don't have an
interstate running through them wouldn't have this ability [to buy the car]
and we wouldn't either if we didn't have I-95."

Staff writer Greg Walsh contributed to this report.