[WPD80]

Well, you folks did great with me on the weapons qaulifications, I am in need of some more advice, this could be a long story so please take a drink now and read on:

My humble little village is blessed with a housing area for financially challanged folks! I have about 45 apartments that are spread out through a 1 block area in size. They are half Wood structures and half brick. I have been flooded with complaints of drugs and partys. The people whom are complaining will not call the police when the situation is developing, they are scared and wait to call the following morning when I come in.

I know several of these people and they are good hard working folks whom are trying to get ahead. I am limited in resources and man power. I have one officer on per shift, and I agree with my fellow officers that it is very unsafe at times for one officer, and zero radio communications when your out of the vehicle. Me and other officers have come in on our own time and made several attempts to thwart some of this activity, they will of course run, get caught and nothing will happen at the states attorney's level.

We are no longer finding cannabis, we now find crack/meth/and powder coke. Does anyone have any ideas on tactics to employ for this? Or have had anything similar in thier jurisdiction?

one other point, My SO has attempted to help as much as they can, however they too are short handed with three deputies per shift and over 900 plus miles to cover.

 

[CoCop]

You need to check with the Feds for additional funding. There are tons of Federal grants for just about everything under the sun.

There is a lot of Home Land Security money out there and you should be able to justify a need for portable radios for your staff. That should help with your Officer Safety issues.

As for your drug issues there are always state, county or local drug task forces that you can get involved. Check with the DEA for grant or help.

As for your community. You should reach out to them. Organize community meetings to let them voice their concerns. Help build a partnership.
With Christmas in the near future get with your local stores and buy toys for the kids then have your Officers pass them out to the kids. All of these things will help get them on your side.

 

[Custom Classic]

Aggressive traffic enforcement on vehicles coming and going from the housing site will make a good dent. We are all aware that cars that tend to be in these locations are not well maintained. Moving and equipment violations provide the justification to stop the car. After that a well trained officer can almost always find PC for the search. Pull over and search about 20 cars coming and going out of the place in a weekend and you'll see a significant drop in the amount of traffic. Lodge the ones who are in possession, suspended or wanted. Tow for no insurance, etc, etc.. Write all the small violations, the citations have a way of eventually becoming suspensions or bench warrants after they fail to pay or appear. It won't take long and they'll find a new place to play.

Yep, aggressive traffic enforcement can take care of a lot of different types of problems. I work in northern Illinois myself so if there is anything I can do to help don't hesitate to ask.

Tom

 

[Mike'sgooddeal]

I agree with Tom (Custom Classic), we've done the same thing in our troubled neighborhood. We also will occasionally call in the midnight shift early or hold afternoons over during the peak hours, allowing us to effectively double our manpower for a few hours. I can understand where the OT is limited though....

One additional tactic for us was to parner up with other communities. They will send and officer or two over for an evening and we will reciprocate. Several years ago we had the local (25 miles away) FBI field office come in with their agents on these evenings also. I'll tell you, a couple of aggressive agents will work wonders on the low level drug people and impress the good citizens as well. Hey, it's hard to complain against a rude FBI officer...who do you call??? I know some people get jumpy when talking about the feds, but we built some relationships with the field agents and they have helped us out on several cases.

One other thought, go to your council. We were able to get a nuisance housing ordinance passed where 2 convictions of various public crimes within six months allows us to seize the residence and cite the owner. Things like Disturbing the Peace and possession of drugs come to mind. Start serving the property owners (landlords) copies of this ordinance and call them and start talking about taking their rental away and many of the problem people magically start getting evicted. I can't say we have ever seized a multi unit rental, but we have buldozed a few houses and posted a nice sign on the vacant property saying "This property was seized and the house demolished by the City of XXX due to drug activity".

If juveniles are a problem, we have a parental responsiblity ordinance allowing the parent to be cited if there are two or more arrests within six months for anything. Curfew, truancy and bike larcenies got sharply curbed. We only had to run a few parents through court before they got the message.

 

[Powderman]

There are two concerns here to be addressed, IMHO.

The first thing to remember is that your stats are your friend. Step up enforcement in this area--remember the buzzwords, aggressive proactive patrol--and keep good records. Submit copies on a regular basis to your City Council--especially the times when you had to call in additional officers to cover. Hopefully, the recurrence of these incidents will convince them to give you more manpower.

The second concern is officer safety. Be careful--REALLY careful. You're dealing with a bunch of losers here who have little to lose--especially the meth heads. Make sure you have the tools to do your job--Tasers can be worth their weight in gold, especially when you run up against Joe Crankaddict who doesn't feel pain, even from a skillfully applied straight stick or ASP.

Be safe, be careful, and go home at the end of your shift.

 

[WPD80]

We do have portable radio's, our problem is the 9-1-1 dispatch center is 30 miles away. We have zero comm's when were out of the vehicle. The Illinois State Police has also come in and helped us. We have made a recent meth and coke bust here in town. The great part was, we seized a 2003 Harley fat boy. The agent that drove it away, rode up and down main street, parked in front of one of our local bars, and in full raid gear told all the folks standing outside that this now belongs to us!

But as you all know, they can't be here all the time. This is where my dilema now comes in. I have three other officers that our outstanding and all will voulnteer to come in and assist me. The idoits know this, and it is funny that when we get there, all the knuckleheads will go inside the apartments and you won't see nothing for hours. Then we leave and it is back.

I have done the aggressive enforcement. I continue with that everyday. If I can get any kind! of P.C. to stop a vehicle I do.....I just got some coke the other day, and some weed and a DUI the following shift. Once again, when I make the arrest and leave my town to book them, the mopes are at it again.

The folks whom give me information there tell me that it is like a fire alarm when the cops get close, they will scramble like rats to get inside. The county Sheriff's office will also try to come up when were gone, however that depends on thier call load as well......

Thanks to all for the Ideas, I have to get back to work now......Tom

 

[jnc36rcpd]

My first thought would be to send the council member who wanted to cut your firearms training budget into the project some weekend night. He might gain some perspective on why you need to keep training up.

Will Nextels or other cell phones work in the project? While not ideal, this may allow your officers to communicate with each other and the comm center. Another option might be to purchase some of the comparatively inexpensive personal radios. This might allow your officers to contact an off-duty officer at home. Again, not ideal, but it's better than being completely out of touch.

The National Institutes of Justice publish numerous how-to booklets that address law enforcement problems. If I'm not mistaken, one addresses the issue of drug trafficking in public housing. This might offer some suggestions. If the housing project is federally funded, you might contact the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of the Inspector General. HUD OIG agents have assisted local LEO's with drug trafficking cases in the past.

The Drug Enforcement Administration operates Mobile Enforcement Teams. These are geared to provide support to local agencies with drug problems such as you describe. While DEA resources are limited, it wouldn't hurt to discuss your problem with the local field office.

Good luck and be safe.

 

[WPD80]

Thanks for the advice, AH HELL we will work it out...... I am listening to my officers up there now making some warrant arrests....I talked with our states attorney, he has told us he will prosecute all our cases from there to the fullest extent....

My main proposal is to have the owners start a pass program, in which only the tennants will be allowed on the property after 10:00pm. Vistors will be required to obtain a pass from the manager. They ones found without passes, while we handle other calls will be arrested and charged with Criminal Trespass to Land.

Thanks again to all the replies on this.......I really did not want to get into this on a forum, however any help at this point is good help!


Thanks again to all!

Tom