DRUG UNIT IS FACING DIFFICULT DECISION

Star-Telegram Staff Writer FORT WORTH - A Tarrant County narcotics task
force risks forfeiting state funds if it does not accept new state
guidelines that its members say undermine the unit's authority, overstep
local jurisdiction and compromise officer safety.

Under an order by Gov. Rick Perry, the Department of Public Safety took
command last month of 49 state-funded narcotics task forces, including the
Tarrant County Narcotics Intelligence Coordination Unit.

The unit's board of governors will decide today whether to follow the new
guidelines or to risk losing funds from the Byrne grant, a federal fund
distributed by the governor's office that accounts for $1.9 million of the
unit's $3.1 million budget.

"Local people know best how to handle local issues," said Fort Worth Deputy
Police Chief Randy Ely, who oversees the department's Special Services
Bureau. "It's been a successful task force; anybody you talk to across the
state will say that. Why would you want to come in and tamper with it?"

The guidelines, obtained by the Star-Telegram, include more than 30 pages
of rules ranging from how narcotics are tested and stored to how the 550
officers assigned to task forces across the state conduct themselves in public.

"With 49 task forces covering 214 counties that are funded through the
governor's office, it is imperative that we have a basic understanding of
minimum standards, strategies and tactics that are going to be carried out
by these task forces," said Jay Kimbrough, executive director of the
criminal justice division of the governor's office.

"This is all about three things: accountability, coordination and
efficiency, and I think that is exactly what the people of this state want
us all to do between state, local and federal law enforcement."

Task force members complain that the guidelines require too much DPS oversight.

Kimbrough said the task force needs DPS approval only when dealing with
informants younger than 18, when operating outside geographical boundaries
and when conducting drug buys or undercover sales.

He said such situations present the most danger and potential for monetary
loss through thefts by drug dealers and informants.

The guidelines also give DPS labs authority to take random samples of large
drug seizures and to destroy excess quantities.

Local officials said the Tarrant County district attorney's office, not the
DPS, has jurisdictional authority over the destruction of drug evidence.
Destroying evidence prematurely could be detrimental if the credibility of
drugs or drug tests are later questioned in court, they said.

"DPS is accustomed to handling tractor-trailer loads of drugs and they
don't have any place to store it," Hurst Police Chief Tim Wallace said.
"What we confiscate could be put in property rooms."

Kimbrough said task force members can use other drug labs and store their
own drugs as long as the labs are state-approved. However, he said DPS labs
will keep no more narcotics on hand than needed to ensure prosecution.

"It is not necessary by law or procedure to have the entire load in the
courtroom," he said.

Another guideline prohibits undercover officers from wearing masks while
executing search and arrest warrants, stating task force commanders and DPS
district captains will ensure that a sufficient number of officers are
available to conduct raids without undercover officers. Task force members
said that such warrants must often be executed immediately and that there
is no time to assemble officers.

Task force officials said they proposed guideline revisions that
incorporated the state's wishes and task force concerns.

"That was sent down and was flatly rejected," Ely said. "It's pretty much,
in my opinion, a line that has been drawn in the sand."

The narcotics coordination unit is the largest in the state and is among
Texas' most successful. It has about 75 civilians and officers from about a
dozen Tarrant County agencies and is divided into four districts.

In the fiscal year that ended May 2001, the task force made or assisted in
1,086 felony and misdemeanor arrests and seized 2,580 pounds of marijuana,
heroin, cocaine and methamphetamines.

Bill Russell, the coordination unit's commander, said that if funding
through the Byrne grant is lost, the task force will try to find other
sources to continue its narcotic enforcement.

Fort Worth and Arlington, the most productive sectors of the task force,
have considered pulling out if forced to adopt the new state guidelines.

"There would be a significant loss in program income because of the asset
forfeiture efforts of those two sectors," Russell said.

Fort Worth, which has one lieutenant, two sergeants, three detectives and
10 officers assigned to the task force, receives about $128,000 from the
Byrne grant, said Lt. Ric Clark, supervisor of the narcotics unit.
Arlington, with 14 officers assigned to the task force, receives about
$200,000, officials said.

Both departments also belong to other regional and federal narcotics task
forces.

"If we pull out of the county drug task force, it won't impact the citizens
of Arlington as much as the county as a whole," Arlington Deputy Police
Chief David Pugh said.

"It will especially be tough on the smaller cities who don't have the
resources to do their own [drug] enforcement," he said.

Ely agreed that leaving the task force could hurt the county's fight
against drugs.

"To me, the timing is poor," Ely said. "We're having a resurgence in meth
labs. The narcotics problem has not gone away. Now, probably as much as any
time, we need to be united and unified in our approach countywide."

Russell said that during today's meeting, the task force will also decide
whether to approve a merger with Cross Timbers, a narcotics task force of
officers from Parker, Palo Pinto, Young and Jack counties.

Under state administrative code, recipients of the Byrne grant must be
multijurisdictional and multicounty.

Staff writers Anthony Spangler and Domingo Ramirez Jr. contributed to this
report.