UNSOLICITED MAIL

Kevin Collins thought it was a joke when he received the bright yellow index
card from the Hendersonville Police Department in the mail.

"Mr. Kevin Alexander Collins, it was reported to the Police Department that
your vehicle, a silver 1988 Mazda ... was recently observed in an area of
Hendersonville known for illegal drug activity," according to the message on
the index card. "We feel that you should be made aware that this area is
being watched by law enforcement and also that your vehicle is subject to
seizure and forfeiture if illegal drugs are found to be in the vehicle."

As he read the note, Collins said he began to realize it was no joke. "It
pretty much struck me as harassment right off," he said.

The notice irritated Collins so much that he wrote a letter protesting the
practice to Hendersonville Police Chief Donnie Parks. He also sent a copy to
Hendersonville Mayor Fred Niehoff.

Parks said notices such as the one Collins received are part of his
department's fight against illegal drugs and are not meant to harass anyone.

In the letter dated Dec. 6, Collins said he assumed he was spotted by
someone who thought he looked suspicious as he took a shortcut that runs
between Fifth Avenue West and Kanuga Road.

"Some friends and I have been working on a car in a garage on Fifth Avenue
West, and I have used this route to get home late in the evening," he said
in the letter.

Collins, a Hendersonville native, worked in Boone for a time after
graduating from Appalachian State University in 1998. The 25-year-old
recently returned to Henderson County. He said he has never used illegal
drugs.

"I returned home to Hendersonville in November 2001 with hopes of making my
home here, but once again I am questioning my decision, as apparently this
town has no desire to make its young people feel welcome," he said.

But Parks said the card the Police Department sent Collins was not an
attempt to harass him or make him feel unwelcome.

"He wasn't stopped. He wasn't interviewed. He wasn't questioned," Parks
said. "I don't know where he gets the idea he was being harassed."

The notices are an effort to warn people that they may be traveling in an
unsafe area and to let anyone who might be looking to purchase illegal drugs
know they are being watched, Parks said.

Niehoff said the notices also help warn parents and others who may have lent
their vehicles to other people that the vehicles were spotted in a
neighborhood known for drug problems and that the vehicles could be seized.

"Some people said, 'I'm glad you let us know, because that car was not paid
for,'" Niehoff said.

Parks said the Police Department began issuing the notices several years ago
at the request of a community watch group.

The notices are sent out after either a police officer or a resident spots a
vehicle that seems suspicious in a neighborhood the Police Department has
identified as a "hot spot" for drug activity, Parks said.

Such suspicious behavior could be a car cruising in the community or
stopping in front of people officers suspect are drug dealers. Parks said
the Police Department tries to instruct residents in the neighborhoods on
what types of behavior are suspicious.

"We haven't got many when people say a car came through and it looked like
they didn't belong," he said.

The note Collins was sent came after his vehicle was spotted recently on
First Avenue West at 1:26 a.m., Parks said.

Parks said an officer asked to have the card sent to Collins because his
vehicle stopped at a spot where officers conduct surveillance for drug
activity.

But Collins said he did not think he acted suspiciously while driving home
at night. "The only place I stopped was at stoplights and four-way stops,"
he said.

Collins also questioned why the Police Department issues notices to people
driving in areas known for illegal drugs rather than arresting the people
selling those drugs.

"You pass down those streets and see people standing on the corner at
midnight and 1 a.m.," he said. "Why aren't the cops busting those guys?"

Parks said police officers initiate investigations that stop both the buyers
and sellers of drugs.

"Everybody wants to see a problem solved their way, a way that makes them
comfortable. We have a job to do, and it's not easy and whether we want to
or not, we are going to offend some people," Parks said.

Deborah Ross, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union
of North Carolina, said the Police Department's notices are not illegal and
could be seen as a courtesy to people identified as suspicious.

"One part is kind of a nice thing. At least the police are telling people
that somebody called on them," she said.

But Ross said the notices do raise questions about what the intent of the
notices are and whether people who receive them will be targeted by police.

"It is not illegal to send the letter, but it raises issues about what law
enforcement intent is -- about whether it is giving information about
whether somebody informed on you or whether it is an effort to chill
people's right to move freely in their community," she said. "The fact of
the matter is you have a constitutional right to drive on the street
freely."

Collins said he began taking a different route from his friend's garage to
his home on Hidaway Cove off Kanuga Road after he received the notice.

His letter to Parks asks that his name be removed from the department's
surveillance list.

While the department keeps records of its correspondence, Parks said
Collins' name and the names of other people who receive similar notices are
not part of any data base or surveillance list.

"We sure don't do it to offend anyone. We are taking all measures possible
to keep the community safe," he said.