DRUG CRIMES MAY CREATE NEW RISKS FOR RURAL SHERIFFS

'Just Unbelievable The Danger That There Is Out There Today'

To city dwellers accustomed to urban police departments and high-tech
crime-scene investigators, the office of county sheriff might seem
quaint, or perhaps antiquated.

But Saturday's assassination-style slaying of Pulaski County Sheriff
Sam Catron has focused new attention on the job -- an office that
observers say has become much tougher.

Though sheriffs' departments have always served a primary law
enforcement function in many Kentucky counties, some are seeing a
rising tide of drug-related crime in rural areas, which may create
new dangers for sheriffs and deputies.

"You think of marijuana growing, trafficking in OxyContin and things
of that nature," said Ray Stoess, executive director of the Kentucky
Sheriffs Association. "People get on these drugs, they mix them with
alcohol, and it's just unbelievable the danger that there is out
there today ... "

Crime rates actually fell nationwide in the 1990s, federal statistics
show. But crime went down less in rural areas than in cities and
suburbs.

And while investigators have not announced a motive in Catron's
shooting, Stoess said the veteran sheriff was an "arch-enemy" of drug
dealers.

"He was so strong about things like that; he made a lot of people
mad, no doubt about it," he said.

Catron was gunned down while attending a fish fry at a volunteer fire
department Saturday.

Police have charged three men in the slaying: Jeff Morris, a former
deputy who was running against Catron; Kenneth White, a political
supporter of Morris who had served as an informant to the sheriff's
office on a drug case last year; and Danny Shelley, who also worked
for Morris' campaign.

Shelley allegedly used a high-powered rifle to fire the single fatal
bullet from a wooded hillside.

Catron's slaying follows last month's death of former Harlan County
Sheriff Paul Browning, who had been campaigning to reclaim the office
he held in the 1980s. A charred body identified as that of Browning
has been found, and police are investigating the case as a murder.

In the Browning case, investigators have acknowledged receiving a
recent videotape of Browning taking a large amount of cash from a man
with multiple narcotics convictions.

Catron was the first Kentucky sheriff shot to death since 1992.
That's the year the sheriffs of Powell and Johnson counties, along
with a Powell County deputy, died in separate cases over a
three-month period.

Those three officers died while trying to make arrests. But Catron is
the first Kentucky sheriff in memory to be killed in an apparently
deliberately planned assassination, Stoess said.

His death has stunned Pulaski County, which is preparing for Catron's
funeral today.

Dealers 'can buy a lot of influence'

In neighboring McCreary County, Sheriff Regal Bruner said a lot of
people warned him when he first took office: "You better be careful
if you start busting these drug dealers."

He says he's undeterred. "You can't defend yourself if somebody wants
to kill you; you've got to resolve yourself to that," Bruner said.

Drug money itself also poses a growing risk, Bruner thinks.

"When you have these drug dealers' money ... that's money that can
buy a lot of influence," he said. "Sheriff's offices in rural
Kentucky are especially vulnerable ... I don't know how far it goes;
I wish I did."

Serving as sheriff always has carried risks.

At least 150 Kentucky sheriffs and deputies have been killed or
severely wounded in the line of duty since record-keeping began in
the 1850s. Among them: first lady Judi Patton's father, Roy Conway,
who died while serving as Pike County sheriff in 1950.

Likewise, corruption is no stranger to some sheriffs' offices. Two
Lee County sheriffs have been convicted of protecting drug dealers in
the past decade. A drug-dog handler for the Perry County Sheriff's
Department was indicted on drug dealing charges in 2000; a Scott
County deputy was charged with growing marijuana the same year. And a
Breathitt County sheriff resigned in 1997 after being convicted of
ignoring drug-dealing by members of his own family.

Office holds allure

In places such as Fayette County, where merged government carries
most of the power, the office of sheriff has a low profile. But in
smaller counties it is a hugely important post, combining
tax-collecting responsibilities, patronage, and law enforcement
authority.

That may explain why the job remains a highly sought-after political
plum, despite the apparent dangers.

McCreary County is one example. Eleven candidates -- eight
Republicans, three Democrats -- are running in next month's primary.

In addition to Bruner, the incumbent, the contenders include three
former sheriffs and two former deputies.

Historian Thomas D. Clark suggests that sheriffs now may be the most
important county officials in Kentucky, by virtue of court reforms in
the 1970s that sharply reduced the powers of county judges.
Legislation in the 1980s made it possible for sheriffs to succeed
themselves, further enhancing their authority.

But it wasn't always that way. From about 1800 to 1850, Kentucky
sheriffs were appointed, not elected, and in some counties the office
literally was put up for sale to the highest bidder. For example,
$2,000 could buy you a two-year term as sheriff of Fayette County in
the 1840s, said Ron Bryant, Kentucky history specialist for the
Kentucky Historical Society.

The office didn't take on its modern form until the current Kentucky
Constitution was adopted in 1891.

Today, Stoess says better training is boosting the quality of
sheriffs state-wide, but the job always will be difficult and
hazardous.

"I think we're going to see a lot more professionalism coming to the
forefront," he said. "But that isn't going to keep terrible things
from happening."