They Admit it Doesn't Work

But keep right on doing it anyway.

Drug task forces in 2 Ala. counties count arrests

Associated Press • January 26, 2009

TUSCUMBIA - Drug activity in two north Alabama counties hasn't ended, but law enforcement officers point to hundreds of arrests in trying to curtail it.

Officers in drug task forces in Colbert and Lauderdale counties say they have completed two of their most productive years in arrests and drug seizures.

In Colbert County, the task force made 299 cases, which produced 96 felony arrests. The Lauderdale Drug Task Force made 766 cases, resulting in 430 felony arrests.

Lauderdale task force director Myron Crunk admits there are times when it seems the more you arrest, the more that are out there.

His unit has four agents who have completed a couple of large undercover operations, one which resulted in the arrest of 70 people.

I love this line...


Lauderdale task force director Myron Crunk admits there are times when it seems the more you arrest, the more that are out there.

Ding! Ding! Ding! We Have A Winner!

If the drug war was working then arrests should be going down to the point of non-existence because no one would be selling or using drugs if any of the stated objectives of the drug war were being met. But, every year there are more arrests and more drugs.

How much can police forces and drug task forces really want to wipe out drugs when their livelihoods depend on them?

Anti-drug efforts haven't worked

The Montgomery Advertiser is running an LTE today that I sent in recently.

Anti-drug efforts haven't worked


In response to "Drug Raid Nets Arrests Across the County" (03/07) I found a number of things very disturbing.

In January, Sgt. Jim Henderson vice president of the Alabama Narcotics Officers Association began protesting the federal government cuts to his budget on the editorial pages of many Alabama newspapers. He claimed the cuts would make drug task forces ineffective.

When have they ever been effective? Every year the number of drug arrests and the amount of drugs seized rises. If the tactics employed by Sgt. Henderson and other drug warriors were working, then shouldn't those numbers be going down?

Should they be rewarded for repeated failure with more cash? Only in government does something as asinine as rewarding failure happen. In the private sector they would be unemployed.

This article seemed to imply that execution of warrants was delayed in order to create a big media scene. I guess the safety and well-being of the public is only important when there is a government welfare check involved and when there is a media camera nearby.

Doesn't sound to me like they did this in the interest of public safety, but more as a measure of job security. But then again the drug war itself is job security. It is meant to be waged and not won.

The cops have no real interest in ridding their communities of drugs. If they were successful, that welfare check would dry up and they would be out of a job.

Drug task forces are equivalent to people who abuse the welfare system. Instead of doing real police work on serious crimes like murder, rape, child sex assault, robbery and vehicle theft they focus on rounding up low-level, nonviolent drug users because it's easy. And they get a government welfare check for doing so.

The Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center reports that crime clearance rates for 2005 were 19 percent. The drug warrior welfare cuts should be looked upon as a good thing.

Perhaps now police will get to work on solving real crimes.
Loretta Nall
Alexander City





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