“We’ve cut off the head of the snake. This definitely makes it a lot harder for our children and residents to get drugs. We can go out all day and arrest people with marijuana or a sixteenth of an ounce of meth. Or we can go out and do an investigation like this for six months and affect thousands of people.” -- Tempe police Lt. Noah Johnson, East Valley Tribune story Tempe part of major drug bust connected to Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, July 6, 2012
On July 6 at a press conference Tempe police announced with the help of the Drug Enforcement Administration they’d busted 20 members of the Sinaloa Drug Cartel who’d been running drugs out of a residence near a Tempe police station. Police said the lengthy investigation resulted in 14 warrants served statewide and the seizure of $2.4 million dollars, 3 tons of marijuana, 30 pounds of meth, 14 guns, 10 vehicles and one airplane.
This is Tempe’s third case since 2009 against the global Sinaloa cartel that’s considered the biggest and baddest in the world. Its leader Joaquin Guzman is on Forbe’s list of billionaires. Guzman controls drugs in Arizona, the state he’s made a major transshipment in his hemispheric supply chain.
While the latest Tempe bust sounds like it might impact “thousands of people,” the feds estimate Mexican drug traffickers generate $20-$40 billion dollars annually from U.S. drug sales. Heroin production in 2009 was estimated at 110,000 pounds. Marijuana production is measured in the tens of thousands of tons. Drug availability, production and demand are up. A 2012 story in the Texas Tribune said “Mexican traffickers make $5 billion annually from meth.”
The May 22 edition of insightcrime.com reported Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent Matthew Allen testified before Congress, "approximately 23 percent of the narcotics and approximately 53 percent of the currency" linked to the drug trade and seized by ICE officials came from Arizona last fiscal year.
Unfortunately, the proverbial snake Johnson mentions has thousands of heads. There’s nothing in my 20 years working drug investigations or anything I can find that tells me this bust will “make it a lot harder to get drugs.”
Thousands of people, many of whom are associated with Arizona’s massive gang and career criminal population, work for the Sinaloans delivering an uninterrupted supply of dope to buyers.
Police officials love to tough talk after a drug bust. I’ve heard the same spiel for decades and all I can see that’s changed is Mexico-based drug businesses have gone from mom-and-pop operations to global criminal enterprises -- and Arizona has become an illegal drug super-store.
Big busts haven’t solved or even slowed the crime that’s linked to heroin and meth addicts.
Cops from across the state told me addicts commit as much as 85 percent to 90 percent of Arizona’s burglaries and thefts, and many criminals are high on heroin or meth when they commit armed robberies and murders. Most are career criminals. Many have warrants for their arrest.
Over a quarter of a million serious felony crimes were committed in Arizona during 2010. About 20 percent were solved.
While not politically correct, the one thing that has proven to reduce crime is targeting addicts for arrest.
Targeting users has been highly successful in reducing DUI related accidents.
The Arizona Republic reported on Jan. 25, 2012 that “Mesa police reported a 34 percent increase in drug arrests during the past two years.” Mesa targets addicts who commit crimes. Its crime rate is almost 20 points lower than Tempe’s.
Should Tempe police leave the Sinaloa Cartel to the DEA and ICE and concentrate on addicts with a “sixteenth ounce of meth” who are responsible for most serious crime?
We can argue all day about what to do about America’s ongoing drug problems.
But the one thing we do know for sure is when addicts who commit crimes are locked up, they’re not committing crimes in our cities.
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wm97 posted at 6:37 am on Thu, Jul 19, 2012.
Just to bring Mr. Richardson up to date, there is new research on this subject. It seems that some countries have managed to institute programs that have reduced drug-related crime as much as 80 percent. They also found that about the same percentage of addicts stabilized their lives and became gainfully employed taxpayers.
How did they do it? With treatment. For heroin, the Swiss have provided heroin maintenance programs. The cost is hugely lower because the addicts are outpatients rather than being locked in a prison. The programs are geared toward patients getting their lives together and paying their own costs for the treatment -- which makes it even more cost-effective.
Engaged Voter posted at 11:53 am on Mon, Jul 16, 2012.
Gosh, one week and no response from hillstreet...other than the predictable moronic insults and false claims of drug use (sorry weasel, those comments were removed).
And wonder of wonders, Leon and I are on the same side here!
Leon, you might want to ask hillstreet why he thinks busting marijuana users is a higher priority than finding justice for rape victims. Personally, I feel that anyone with that type of mindset has no business working in law enforcement.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 5:58 pm on Sun, Jul 15, 2012.
HAS MR. RICHARDSON TOLD US HOW MANY OF THESE MESA RAPE CASES (ALL SERIOUS FELONIES) HAVE BEEN SOLVED;
2002 = 129
2003 = 116
2004 = 124
2005 = 194
2006 = 203
2007 = 175
2008 = 161
2009 = 123
2010 = 124
TOTAL = 1478 FELONY RAPE CASES THAT WERE COMMITED IN MESA
MR. RICHARDSON'S MESA POLICE DEPARTMENT NEEDS TO SOLVE ....F.E.L.O.N.I.E.S.......BEFORE THEY GO AFTER............TOKERS & POT-HEADS.
wm97 posted at 9:41 am on Sun, Jul 15, 2012.
Just FYI, California is currently under Federal court order to release one-third of all its prison inmates because of overcrowding. Like the lawmakers in so many other states, they mindlessly passed a bunch of laws without even a moment's thought as to realistic planning. Also FYI, California is currently teetering on the verge of bankruptcy and there is no way that they can afford even one more prison cell.
So this idea of jailing the addicts is Dead On Arrival in California. Implement the plan and Arizona will be next. Arizona couldn't afford it, even if it was a good idea - and all the research shows that it is not a good idea.
wm97 posted at 7:56 am on Sun, Jul 15, 2012.
Just one little fact to help out Mr. Richardson's plan. A quick Google search shows that an estimated 22 million Americans use illegal drugs.
So, all we have to do to carry out his plan is to build about eleven prisons and jails for every one that now exists. We are already the world's biggest jailer, setting all the records. All we need to do is jail more than ten times as many people.
But wait, maybe that is overreaching. Maybe we could just get by with jailing the hardcore addicts. That is, we will leave the pot smokers alone. In that case, we might get by with just tripling the number of prison and jail cells.
Did somebody complain that all the states and cities are broke right now so there is no way in hell that we could afford this? Did someone mention that they can't even keep drugs out of the current prisons so locking addicts up only makes us pay for their room and board? Did someone mention that every major study of the subject in the last 100 years said that prison is the wrong approach?
Did someone mention that the Rand Corp. found that jailing addicts is one of the least cost-effective ways to deal with the problem? Did someone mention that the Rand Corp. actually found that jailing drug users actually INCREASES related social costs?
Never mind all that. We have a holy crusade to wage, given to us by lunatics from a different era. We can't stop the insanity now. It feels too good for all the self-righteous people fighting it.
wm97 posted at 7:49 am on Sun, Jul 15, 2012.
Mr. Richardson should also know that this isn't a new problem. As stated above, it began in 1914. Arguments about what to do about it aren't new, either. Over the past 100 years there have been numerous major government commissions around the world that have studied the problem and made recommendations for changes.
If Mr. Richardson really wants to know how to solve the problem, he should read them. They all reached startlingly similar conclusions, no matter who did them, or where, or when, or why.
In sum, they all concluded that the drug laws were based on ignorance and nonsense. At no time did the law makers ever look at the research and evidence and form a policy based on that evidence. In fact, quite the opposite was true.
They steadfastly ignored all the best research, even in the face of their own disasters.
Mr. Richardson doesn't have to take my word for this. He can read the full text of these studies himself at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer under Major Studies of Drugs and Drug Policy. He can find the full text of the largest study of the drug laws ever done by the US Government at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/nc/ncmenu.htm
I invite Mr. Richardson to read these materials. These are the largest and most comprehensive studies of the drug problem ever done. If he hasn't read them (and he apparently hasn't) then he really doesn't know the subject.
wm97 posted at 7:43 am on Sun, Jul 15, 2012.
Let's start with some basics so Mr. Richardson and everyone else can understand just exactly how we got into this mess.
Opium smoking was originally outlawed because of the fear that Chinese men were luring white women to have sex in opium dens. They didn't outlaw all uses of opium. Children could still buy the stuff over the counter in the store. They just outlawed the Chinese custom of smoking it in opium dens. At the same time, they outlawed the wearing of hair in pigtails and banned the Chinese from various businesses.
Cocaine was outlawed because of the fear that superhuman Negro Cocaine Fiends would go on a violent rampage and rape white women and shoot white men. It was believed that cocaine made them better marksmen and impervious to bullets, causing police departments across the nation to switch to larger caliber pistols. Caffiene was almost outlawed at the same time, for the same reasons.
Marijuana was outlawed for two major reasons. The first was because "All Mexicans are crazy and marijuana is what makes them crazy." The second was the fear that heroin addiction would lead to the use of marijuana-exactly the opposite of the modern "gateway" idea.
Only one MD testified at the hearings for the Marihuana Tax Act in 1937. The representative of the American Medical Association said there was no evidence that mj was a dangerous drug, and no reason for the law. He pointed out that it was used in hundreds of common medicines with no significant problems. In response, the committee told him that, if he wasn't going to cooperate, he should shut up and leave.
The only other "expert" to testify was James C. Munch, a psychologist. His sole claim to fame was that he had injected marijuana directly into the brains of 300 dogs and two of them died. When they asked him what he concluded from this, he said he didn't know what to conclude because he wasn't a dog psychologist.
Mr. Munch also testified in court, under oath, that marijuana would make your incisors grow six inches long and drip with blood. He also said that, when he tried it, it turned him into a bat. He then described how he flew around the room for two hours and then found himself at the bottom of a 200-foot-high inkwell.
Mr. Munch was the only "expert" in the US who thought marijuana should be illegal, so he was appointed US Official Expert on marijuana, where he served for 25 years.
The drug laws were absolute lunacy, passed by lunatics, from the very beginning. That much is beyond dispute. If Mr. Richardson wants to read up on the subject, I suggest he starts with the short history of the marijuana laws at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/whiteb1.htm This is funny and fascinating - not what you expected.
If he wants to do more reading, he can find numerous histories by different authors, as well as the full text of hundreds of original historical documents at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/history.htm
Anyone who thought that these drug laws were ever intended to serve any good purpose has been severely bamboozled.
wm97 posted at 7:31 am on Sun, Jul 15, 2012.
We know exactly when the drug-related crime problem started, and we know exactly why. The year was 1914. Prior to 1914, drug-related crime (except for alcohol) was all but unknown. By 1915, it was a major national problem.
There were addicts prior to 1914 - about the same percentage as today. But they didn't commit crimes to support their habits and there weren't any criminal drug gangs. Those problems arose within a matter of a few months.
The cause was the passage of the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act that prohibited the opiates and cocaine. Drug crime became a major problem immediately after its passage.
Mr. Richardson probably assumed that these drugs were outlawed because they were causing major problems in society. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. The drug prohibition law was the creation of a few lunatics who hid their real purpose from Congress. It is doubtful that any members of Congress realized that this law would become the disaster that Richardson writes of today.
Anyone who wants to know how this started can read the story in the first several chapters of Licit and Illicit Drugs at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/cu/cumenu.htm
KJDaVinci777 posted at 1:33 pm on Sat, Jul 14, 2012.
Let me try and explain the truthful comments by Bill R. .....All Bill is saying that in the real world 1) law enforcement is a holding action against the scourge of drugs 2) education, treatment has to be increased in dealing w/drug issues 3) prevention is also a significant force against the predators (drug dealers) 4) if you add the above and focus in reducing the demand for drugs in AMERICA progress can be made against the cartels...HOWEVER, in Arizona you are fighting a semi-losing battle AS LONG AS you continue to vote for corrupt - incompetent- officials like Evil subhuman Arpioa and pretty boy Babesue...Do not attack Bill when he is providing truthful logic...NOTE: cartels love jokester Arpaioa since his focus is on dishwashers and broken tailights...and landscapers...listen to Bill...[wink]
billrichardson posted at 7:24 am on Sat, Jul 14, 2012.
Thanks Dale.
billrichardson posted at 7:23 am on Sat, Jul 14, 2012.
tededitit,
The Mexican drug cartels, which are actually transnational criminal organizations that make money off of 20+ enterprises, no doubt love having the focus of attention on illegal aliens and the border. It allows them more opportunity to make money while the public and police have focused their attention elsewhere. Some in law enforcement are addicted to the bigger is better idea of fighting drugs. This is an idea that worked 40-50 years ago but not today. And is it realistic for city police to think they can hurt the Sinaloa Drug Cartel? I've been told by cops and prosecutors that the big incentive for the police to do big cases is so they can seize money. In this case a six month investigation with say 15-20 officers involved would probably cost more than the money seized. The money seized would be shared with the agencies involved. The cars and plane will be sold and the proceeds shared. It could take awhile for the money to get back to the departments involved. The last time I checked there was 60-70 million in RICO funds statewide. The money sits in the bank while the AZDPS can't run its crime lab properly, the state has no system for law enforcement to share information and organized crime in Arizona is growing like a well watered weed. I think there's something very worn with the system. Thanks for reading my column and taking the time to write.
Engaged Voter posted at 9:58 pm on Fri, Jul 13, 2012.
"Give me grief about not arresting aliens but when it comes to MJ well, wink, wink, it's ok for cops to look the other way. Double hypocrite."
Wink wink? Have you been drinking? WHO IS THE VICTIM IN MY EXAMPLE.
No victim, no crime. Yes, a violation of law, but not a CRIMINAL act.
25 years in law enforcement, and you don't think there's any difference between busting an illegal alien (who was arrested while drunk driving in a stolen car) and breaking down the door on the elderly woman with MJ in her own home.
Actually, it's worse than that . You want to go bust all those dangerous cancer patients but when it comes to human smuggling, a felony, it's okay for cops to look the other way. (see how that works? LOL) Does that make you a triple hypocrite? ;)
And thank you for the comparison to Russell Pearce. It shows, more than any other part of your posts, just how slimy and dishonest you are.
Dale Whiting posted at 8:45 pm on Fri, Jul 13, 2012.
Bill,
You are by far the best columnist on this paper, by far.
So samkat says we need to do a better job teaching our youth to stay away from drugs. And you agree. So do I. But what to do with those who have gone over the cliff? Must we lock them up and toss away the key? That's expensive.
I'm waiting for a reply. Samkat, you got any ideas?
tededitedit posted at 8:27 pm on Fri, Jul 13, 2012.
I think the flood of illegal aliens improves the "cover" that drug cartels thrive in and gives them ready access to cheap or slave labor. I'd also like Bill to explain why these operations take months and months before the "sweep". Don't authorities have enough evidence to make felony arrests and clear warrants on many, many criminals in all this time? If their answer is "they are looking for the head of the snake" then hasn't that myth been debunked already? And one last thing - what happens to all this confiscated money ($2.4 million on this bust alone)? If it goes directly towards law enforcement then I don't understand why so much tax money is still needed to fight crime.
hillstreet posted at 5:58 pm on Fri, Jul 13, 2012.
Busted for exposing you as a hypocrite. You and Russell Pearce (the MVD crook). The law is the law, the law is the law! Lets go after all those taco vendors and gardeners because is the law. But when it comes to MJ possession, a felony, well, that's different.
I knew if I let that hook floating out there long enough you'd bite. Give me grief about not arresting aliens but when it comes to MJ well, wink, wink, it's ok for cops to look the other way. Double hypocrite.
Engaged Voter posted at 5:42 pm on Fri, Jul 13, 2012.
"Busted."
Busted? For exposing you making false claims about me?
Okay.
Engaged Voter posted at 5:41 pm on Fri, Jul 13, 2012.
"All this blab about illegal aliens but you are ok with criminal posession of MJ."
Is that the best you can do? Lie about what I said? Kind of stupid, since my original comment is still there for all to see.
But as long as you bring up the subject of CRIME...
Please explain, in the aforementioned scenario, where a terminal cancer patient (who grows her own plants), who the victim(s) is/are.
NO VICTIM, NO CRIME.
(and if you're going to try and claim illegal aliens don't leave victims in their wake, turn in your badge immediately)
hillstreet posted at 5:11 pm on Fri, Jul 13, 2012.
EV, don't change the topic you hyprocrite. All this blab about illegal aliens but you are ok with criminal posession of MJ. After all the hooha about me selectively enforcing the law, you clearly state you are for the same. Busted.
downtownresident posted at 11:32 am on Fri, Jul 13, 2012.
I agree with Arizona Willie.
Engaged Voter posted at 11:13 am on Fri, Jul 13, 2012.
"one of those phony med MJ cards"
Yes, the woman who has less than 6 months to live (Stage 4 Esophogial Cancer) just wanted to get a phony card so she can "toke".
Hillstreet, you are a shame and an embarrassment to real law enforcement.
Shameful and pathetic.
Engaged Voter posted at 10:59 am on Fri, Jul 13, 2012.
Oh, and hillstreet...that "rule of law" you keep crowing about?
Human smuggling is a FELONY here in Arizona.
You DID know that, right??
Engaged Voter posted at 10:58 am on Fri, Jul 13, 2012.
How predictable - I mention MJ users (didn't even mention the medical MMJ aspect at all) and get accused by the wannabe cop hillstreet of being a drug user.
Falsely accused, I might add.
I wonder if he uses the same "detective skills" when apprehending suspects...
Leon Ceniceros posted at 10:10 am on Fri, Jul 13, 2012.
My Gawd.....when will these .....VENDETTA'S.....cease.
First is was Sheriff Joe...then the DPS Leaders...then Sheriff Paul Babeu....now it's the Tempe PD..........enough already.
By the way....I am still waiting to see how many of the....1478 RAPES....that occurred in Mesa between 2002 and 2010....were solved and the rapists sent to prison.
If that's to difficult....then how about the solved and prosecuted ....206 MESA RAPE CASES....for the year 2006 ????
or the 175 RAPES in 2007.....the 161 RAPES in 2008....the 123 RAPES in 2009 or the 124 RAPES in 2010.
Let's not be calling the kettle black before we talk about how clean the ...."pot".....is.
billrichardson posted at 6:23 am on Fri, Jul 13, 2012.
samkat,
I agree we need an extremely aggressive privation program that starts in early childhood. We also need real treatment for addicts and alcohol abusers. We cab't afford the loss of life and cost. We made the Mexican cartels what they are today. Until that happens targeting addicts who commit the vast majority of serious crime is the best way to reduce crime and keep it down until the other reforms kick in. Thanks for taking the time to read my column an comment.
Dale Whiting posted at 5:27 am on Fri, Jul 13, 2012.
Yes, Bill,
"The prison discussion and cutting costs are vast and complex." so vast that it reaches itself into your recommendation to arrest junkies. So you need to address it! Like "love and marriage" you don't get one without the other.
samkat posted at 9:28 pm on Thu, Jul 12, 2012.
It seems to me that some folks are placing the cart before the horse. We should be placing more emphasis on educating our children as early as possible and reinforcing the message with each grade they progress to throughout their 12 years of schooling. Obviously, that is not going to completely resolve the drug problem but it at least gives the kids at head start in understanding the ramifications of drug use.
My brother-in-law was in law enforcement in Ohio and although it was a small city, he was one of the forerunners in establishing a D.A.R.E program in their schools. I don't know if they have a similar program in our Arizona schools or not but knowing our flat earth republican legislators, I seriously doubt it.
I still remember my children telling us back in the 70s and 80s that the high school and middle school kids were actually pedaling drugs to the elementary school kids on the city buses to and from school.
Engaged Voter posted at 4:44 pm on Thu, Jul 12, 2012.
I wonder how many non-criminal marijuana users were turned into actual criminals who commit crimes by being incarcerated for simple possession by people like Bill and hillstreet.
Let's not pretend we don't know what incarceration does to people, especially those who are NOT gang related/hardened criminals.
Unfortunately, those are the type of statistics we will NEVER see.
Engaged Voter posted at 4:19 pm on Thu, Jul 12, 2012.
Nothing to say or comment on concerning Restaurant Sinaloa in Mesa, where illegal aliens hang out on a regular basis?
I wonder how deep in denial one must be to NOT see a connection here...the name of the place is Restaurant SINALOA!
Hello!
billrichardson posted at 4:00 pm on Thu, Jul 12, 2012.
Dale,
The bottom line is when heroin and meth addicts who commit crimes to support their habits are locked up they're not committing crime. The issues about legalization and treatment are different and very complex discussion. The treatment/legalization discussion has gone on for decades. To lower crime you lock up criminals. And when most of the criminals are junkies, you lock up junkies to lower crime.
The prison discussion and cutting costs are vast and complex.
Arizona Willie posted at 3:06 pm on Thu, Jul 12, 2012.
Drug users have enough problems without a prison sentence on their record which prevents them from getting any job other than in a car wash or landscaping.
Drug pushers -- different story -- they should get prison time.
Users should be sentenced to community service and required to report for so many days to details picking up trash along our streets and highways.
Being a simple user should not be a felony that ruins their life.
Incarcerating them just puts them in touch with REAL criminals and they get the opportunity to get a bachelors degree in real crime.
Simple marijuana possession should be a ticketable offense only. Some places just give people with a small amount a ticket. The fine could be big enough to get their attention -- but it is insane to put them in prison.
Engaged Voter posted at 3:03 pm on Thu, Jul 12, 2012.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/local/cop_shop/article_8b035a00-c942-11e1-be5c-0019bb2963f4.html
"Officials did not say which cartel they thought had built the tunnel. As U.S. authorities have tightened land crossings, tunnels have become a popular way for Mexico's cartels to smuggle drugs and people into the U.S."
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/local/cop_shop/article_ffb6db4c-cc67-11e1-9445-0019bb2963f4.html
"Raids last November on two tunnels linking San Diego and Tijuana netted a combined 52 tons of marijuana on both sides of the border. In early December 2009, authorities found an incomplete tunnel that stretched nearly 900 feet into San Diego from Tijuana, equipped with an elevator at the Mexican entrance."
Darn those Tribune editors, spinning stories about Mexican drug cartels (also referred to as CRIMINAL GANGS) being involved with illegal alien smuggling.
Can you say "owned"? LOL
Engaged Voter posted at 2:56 pm on Thu, Jul 12, 2012.
" I wonder how Engaged Voter will spin this to make it about ILLEGAL ALIENS?"
Gee, I was wondering when the rogue wannabe cop "I enforce only the laws I want to" hillstreet would chime in with his 2 cents...still waiting for the remaining 1½ cents.
Hillstreet, you will have to take your beef up with the Tribune authors, since THEY are the ones who reported the link between gangs and illegal aliens.
25 years on the force, and still in denial that the Sinaloa Drug Cartel has anything to do with illegal aliens. Shameful.
Dale Whiting posted at 2:43 pm on Thu, Jul 12, 2012.
One question, Bill,
Recently we've heard a lot about either decriminalizing marijuana or getting softer on abusers of all sorts of drugs. Don't drug users make up the majority of our growing prision population? Are you taking a stand against easing up on user enforcement? Or would you make the arrests, do the prosecution and then depend on some alternatives to hard prision time?
I'd love to get you take on this prison overcrowding vs. drug user proscution. Seems like we are looking at a two sided sword here.
hillstreet posted at 2:33 pm on Thu, Jul 12, 2012.
When I first saw this story of the big drug bust by Tempe police, I said to myself, " I wonder how Engaged Voter will spin this to make it about ILLEGAL ALIENS?
And there it is, Yahtzee!!!!
VofReason posted at 1:16 pm on Thu, Jul 12, 2012.
I hope the children of the Sinaloa Drug Cartel will at least be able to get in-state tuition. How can they seperate families like this?
Illbyrhuckeberry posted at 12:55 pm on Thu, Jul 12, 2012.
I remember when Phx got 2 tons of grass, DEA, Arpiao, Scottsdale and Tempe would all add that 2 tons to each of their annual totals. All because the dope was in Scottsdale, DEA had one agent at the bust, Apriao let us use his flash and Tempe had once issued a parking ticket to the van holding the grass.
Engaged Voter posted at 10:55 am on Thu, Jul 12, 2012.
chatmandu002 - I was thinking the same thing when that story broke:
http://eastvalleytribune.com/local/cop_shop/article_6b64a55c-c792-11e1-a41a-001a4bcf887a.html
I even linked it to Bill's piece claiming gang crime and illegal aliens were completely unrelated. Of course, no reply or rebuttal. ;)
I wonder if he'll comment on the illegal alien hangout in Mesa, conveniently named "Restaurant Sinaloa".
chatmandu002 posted at 10:35 am on Thu, Jul 12, 2012.
When I first saw this story of the big drug bust by Tempe police, I said to myself, " I wonder how Bill Richardson will spin this to make the Tempe police look bad?". We all know that Bill has a big beef with the Tempe police department. Sure enough he said that Tempe police shouldn't be helping the DEA or ICE to catch the big bad drug cartel guys. Bill wants the Tempe police to use their resources to only bust the little drug users. Way to go Bill, spinning a good thing into a bad thing.
Cerulean posted at 10:14 am on Thu, Jul 12, 2012.
I agree, Bill. I like to hear that local police are part of larger attempts to damper the multibillion $$$$ drug trade, that is good. However, I know that the best way to control those who are addicted and who are a danger to themselves and others, is jail. It is ugly. Meth, heroin and alcohol (for that matter) are ugly habits.
hillstreet posted at 8:53 am on Thu, Jul 12, 2012.
Another article I generally agree with, in as many months! This is getting too scary.
In my 25+ years in AZ LE it never fails to crack me up every time a big dope bust is made, and the brass running to the microphones to announce how we "crippled" drug trafficking. Yeah right.
The problem these announcements create is a message from the top to the troops that we only want the "big bust" and no, we are not interested in street level punks. This telegraphs a message to line staff not to bother with small stuff. What the public does not know is how many hours are wasted in investigations trying to catch the elusive "Mr. Big" that eventually lead nowhere.
Is just like chasing illegals, cops only want to do what gets the attention and what is fun, when not properly supervised. Us old timers have always known addicts are the #1 source of burglaries and thefts and a proactive stance on these arrests will reduce property crimes.
But arresting street dopers does not get your chief, or Arpaio, or Babeu, on the 5 o'clock news. Look at Pinal County SO response to crimes, is a joke. Try to get a PCSO deputy to respond to a burglary. But, if you say they are cartel members involved, you will get a swat team, Babeu in his best uniform looking for cameras, amd his entourage to hold his cape.
I miss real policing.....