PANEL PUTTING DRUG FORCE QUESTIONS ON PAPER

Crittenden Task Group Now Defunct Due To Staffing Issues

MARION, Ark. - A three-member committee of the Crittenden County Quorum
Court will draw up written requests to Sheriff Dick Busby in an effort to
make his drug task force more accountable.

But it will apparently be asking questions at a time when no one from the
task force is patrolling the interstates. One longtime deputy, Barry A.
Davis, is on an extended leave while a May 30 shooting incident is
investigated, and the other, Shane Griffin, has quit.

Tommy Trammel, chief of the sheriff's enforcement division, said no one
from the task force is currently patrolling the interstate highways.

The Quorum Court, the equivalent of a county commission, appointed members
Jim Turner, Vickie Robertson and Thomas Burroughs to a committee that will
seek information on traffic stops, property and cash seizures. The court
has reduced funding for the task force to the point that it can only
operate through July 31, but members say they would restore it if Busby
complies with their requests for accountability.

Davis and a former member of the task force had their houses searched by
the FBI earlier this month in an expanding probe of the drug interdiction
program. The probe apparently focuses on possible cash-skimming by officers
working the interstates.

Robertson Tuesday said she also wants the sheriff's drug enforcement
efforts to refocus on the local drug problem rather than catching
out-of-state couriers.

"We've concentrated 80 percent of our effort on the interstates because
they've all been about money," she said. "We've got people setting up
meth(amphetatmine) labs all over the place because our people are
concentrating on the interstates."

Some court members are more familiar with the problem than others.

Court member Horace Cupples, who has urged his colleagues to increase
funding for the sheriff's drug enforcement efforts, confirmed during a
recess Tuesday that his son, Vincent E. Cupples, 40, was arrested last week
for possession of pseudoephedrine, an ingredient of methamphetamine.
Vincent Cupples of Hughes pleaded guilty in August to a charge of
possession with intent to sell the drug.

Turner said the drug task force has to be more accountable, with regular
monthly reports from the sheriff on seizures and property forfeitures.

Court member L. D. Callan, referring to the traffic stop by Davis currently
under review, said he'd like to review the department's chase policy.

After a 10-mile chase, Davis issued tickets to Orlando L. Manning of
Whitehaven for driving without a license and three other misdemeanors.
Manning claims Davis shot out his tires during the chase.

A written request by The Commercial Appeal to see a videotape of the
traffic stop was under review Tuesday. Busby did not respond to a letter
asking for the tape.