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Drug Abuse in J ackson County, Missouri Problem Assessment and Recommendations
A Report Prepared for
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Jackson County, Missouri
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December 1990
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BOTEC Analysis CORPORATION
Drug Abuse in Jackson County, Missouri Problem Assessment and Recommendations
By: Mark A.R. Kleiman Merle Frank Sarah Chayes Jesse Reiber
With assistance from : Jonathan Caulkins David P . Cavanagh Evan Cohen Jack Jerdan Tara O'Neill Jenny W. Rudolph
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report is the product of the insights, dedication and concern of the many individuals who seek to manage Jackson County's drug problem. These people generously shared their thoughts and time with the study team. While it is impossible to thank all of those who contributed to this study, we wish to acknowledge our appreciation by thanking the agencies and organizations for whom they work. Officials of Jackson County provided insights into the county's drug problems. The Jackson County Prosecutor's Office provided guidance during the study process, and thoughtful comments on several drafts of the report. We are especially grateful to Mr. Albert Riederer and Mr. John Kelly for their contributions. The Jackson County and Eastern Jackson County Drug Task Forces, members of the Circuit Court, the Jackson County Park Rangers and the personnel of the Regional Criminalistics Laboratory provided in-depth understanding of their roles and the difficulties which they face in trying to manage the drug problem. Their understanding of the situation provided the basis for many of the recommendations in this report. We would like to thank the Missouri Department of Probation and Parole and the Missouri Department of Mental Health's Division of Drug and Alcohol Abuse. These departments provided valuable information and data to the study.
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The drug problem manifests itself differently in urban and rural areas. Kansas City is the major metropolitan area in Jackson County. Those who helped clarify our understanding of the unique aspects of the city's drug problem include the City Prosecutor's Office, the Kansas City Police Department-especially SNU, DEU and Patrol Divisions, and the City Health Department. The Blue Springs Police Department, separate from Kansas City, provided similar information in their jurisdiction. Understanding the drug problem also requires insight about the treatment, rehabilitation and medical care of drug users. Among the treatment and counseling professionals to whom we owe thanks are the people of: Renaissance West, the Truman West Hospital, the Guadelupe Center, the Substance Abuse Treatment Center, the Assessment Center, the Baptist Hospital Chemical Dependence Center, and the Kansas City Free Health Clinic. Finally, we would like to thank the citizen's organizations, notably the Ad Hoc Committee and the East Area Coalition, for their help. The initiative of citizens groups, dedicated to strengthening and rebuilding community, provides the brightest hope for the lives and futures of communities which are overshadowed by the drug problem.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS PREFACE
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1. THE DRUG PROBLEM IN JACKSON COUNTY Crack Powder Cocaine Marijuana Methamphetamine Heroin Diverted Pharmaceuticals Other Drugs of Abuse Alcohol Poly-Abuse
13 18 19 21 22 23 24 24 25
II. CONSEQUENCES Effects On Users Effects On Others
27 27 30
TIL THE CURRENT RESPONSE State Legislation Local Legislation Law Enforcement Agencies: KCPD--Patrol Divisions KCPD--The Street Narcotics Unit KCPD--The Drug Enforcement Unit KCPD--The Regional Crime Lab Sheriff's Patrol Jackson County Park Rangers Jackson County Drug Enforcement Task Force Prosecution Agencies Jackson County Prosecutor's Office Drug Unit Jackson County Prosecutor's Office Forfeiture Unit Courts The Municipal Court The Circuit Court Corrections Prison Probation and Parole Treatment Community Organizations Programs: Community Organizations
35 35 38
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IV. TECHNOLOGY Overview Products and Uses Assessment and Requirements Analysis Law Enforcement Agencies
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1 13
39 41 44 46 48 48 50 51 59 61 64
65 67 69 71 71 73 73 74 75
Field Operations and Investigative Support Crime Lab Prosecution Agencies Courts Probation and Parole Other Data Conclusions V. EVALUATION AND MONITORING Law Enforcement Agencies Prosecutor's Office Data From Outside the Criminal Justice System Analysis and Decision Making APPENDICES Exemplary Statutes Alexandria, Va. Loitering Ordinance California Health & Safety Code Triple-Prescription Statute: New York State Intensive Enforcement on Retail Heroin Dealing in Lynn, Massachusetts Bylaws of the Criminal Justice Council of Santa Cruz The "Dragnet" Program
75 76 77 78 78 78 78 80 80 81 81 82 A A A A B C D ~~
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Jackson County has a serious drug abuse problem. The problem however, is not insoluble. The objective of this study, and indeed of the officials and residents of the county, is to make Jackson County an inhospitable location in which to sell, purchase or use drugs. Chapter I of this report illustrates the extent of the drug abuse epidemic in Jackson County. The county is the center of a market for crack cocaine with annual revenues of approximately a quarter of a billion dollars. The crack market, involving between 200 and 300 "crack houses" and various other dealing locations, is supported by a user base of 20,00025,000 frequent crack smokers, plus uncounted casual users. The county's residents and visitors also support smaller markets dealing in cocaine powder, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine, and substantial traffic in diverted pharmaceutical drugs. The level of crack dealing in particular is substantially above national rates: the metropolitan area, with less than one-half of one percent of the national population, appears to consume more than one percent of its total cocaine. Chapter II describes the consequences of the County's drug epidemic. illicit drug sales and use create a multitude of problems: death and injury from drug abuse, violence and neighborhood disruption associated with dealing, and crimes by users. Drug related crime includes non-drug offenses that are committed because of (or during periods of) drug intoxication. In-custody drug testing revealed traces of recent drug abuse in 57% of the males and 68% of the females arrested in 1989. Authorities indicate that 70% of all homicides are drug-related. The current enforcement response has many admirable elements, but has been overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the drug problem. Emergency rooms and treatment centers strain to meet the demands placed on them by abusers seeking treatment, those suffering overdoses, and the victims of drug shootouts. AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases plague the community, spread in part by the practices of needle sharing and prostitution for drugs. In one two month period, a doctor at Truman Medical Center identified 450 new born infants (about 15 % of the total tested) whose mothers had used cocaine within 60 hours of delivery. Children, the young and unborn, grow up in families that abuse or addict them. Seizing the initiative, the residents of Jackson County passed an Anti-Drug Sales Tax. The funds from this tax are adequate to finance a substantial increase in police work, prosecution, adjudication, and correction. But the scale of the problem remains daunting. Prospects for disrupting the trade at the wholesale distribution level seem dim, particularly since much of the high-level dealing which results in final sales in Jackson County takes place outside of the county. To reduce the burdens which drug dealing and drug use now put on Jackson County therefore, it is essential to make it more inconvenient and more risky to buy, sell or use drugs.
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This can be accomplished by disrupting the drug market at the retail, or street, level. This requires arresting, convicting, and punishing dealers, seizing their assets, and closing their dealing locations. Making it more risky to buy drugs requires taking actions aimed directly at users: some involving arrest, some not. Controlling offender/users requires that they be identified at arrest and requiring them as a condition of bail, probation, or parole to remain drug abstinent. Abstinence should be verified through frequent random urine monitoring, with predetermined and progressively serious sanctions for violations of the no-drugs rule. Prudence and justice alike require that enforced abstinence be supported by drug treatment services to help make that abstinence possible. Managing offenders in the community is a difficult process, for which techniques are still being developed. It involves shared responsibility among the courts, prosecutors, probation and parole officials, and the operators of drug treatment programs and programs of "community service" labor and restitution. The process cannot be made to work at all without a firm statutory base, firmness in administering sanctions, and an information system capable of keeping track of offenders across organizational boundaries. The response to drug abuse is discussed in Chapter TIL Legislative initiatives at the state level include a number of statutes banning the possession, simple delivery, and trafficking of controlled substances. There is also legislation which provides for the forfeiture of any assets involved in or resulting from the exchange of a controlled substance. In addition, there are local ordinances which ban the possession, sale, or use of most illicit drugs. BOTEC has, however, noted several areas where statutory coverage could be improved. Three different groups within the Kansas City Police Department are responsible for the vast bulk of narcotics arrests within the City. These include the uniformed patrol divisions, the Street Narcotics Unit and the Drug Enforcement Unit. In addition, the Jackson County Drug Enforcement Task Force addresses the narcotics problem in the suburban areas. Significant drug suppression activities are conducted in the community's parklands by the Each of these organizations is discussed, including Jackson County Park Rangers. recommendations and suggestions for improvement. The Kansas City Regional Criminalistics Laboratory plays a pivotal role in the prosecution of most major crimes in Jackson County. Its function is hampered by insufficient staff, inadequate equipment, and facility limitations which combine to create backlogs of three to four weeks. Narcotics cases cannot proceed without a certified laboratory finding of the substance recovered. Lab backups undermine the efficiency of the entire criminal justice process. Recommendations to relieve this situation are included in this discussion. Drug offenses referred for prosecution (other than those referred to federal or municipal authorities) are generally handled by the Jackson County Prosecutor's Drug Unit. This very busy six attorney team is projected to me some one thousand cases in 1990. The problems posed by this crushing workload and recommendations for improvement, are discussed in Chapter III. The Jackson County Prosecutor's Office also operates a two person Asset Forfeiture Unit. In 1989, this unit was responsible for 170 cases. Asset forfeiture can be a compelling economic disincentive for drug traffickers. Forfeiture opportunities have been under-exploited by Jackson County law enforcement agencies. Finally, chapter III examines the roles played by the Municipal and Circuit Courts, the prison system, probation and parole, drug treatment, and community organizations in the overall drug suppression effort. Recommendations for each are included.
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The success of the criminal justice system in meeting the challenges which are before it depends t in large measure t on communication and cooperation between different agencies within the system. During the course of its research t BOTEC determined that the entire Jackson County Criminal Justice System suffers from a lack of modem computerization. Accordingly t Chapter IV has been dedicated exclusively to the problems and opportunities of technological upgrade. The discussion includes suggestions for system-wide upgrades t as well as recommendations for specific computerization initiatives in the law enforcement agencies t the Prosecutor's Office t the courts t and the probation and parole agencies. Chapter V addresses the community's on-going need to monitor and evaluate its drug suppression efforts. Monitoring and evaluation are necessary for three reasons: to ensure that the agreed upon plans are being implemented; to identify unexpected results and new trends that may require mid-course corrections; and to measure the impact of the various initiatives on the problems they were intended to address. Chapter V also describes the types of data necessary to support monitoring and evaluation, emphasizing the decision maker's need for accurate t timely, and detailed information to identify case processing "bottleneckS" t develop activity objectives t and track the progress of changes within their organization. t
The drug problem is too large to be managed by public agencies alone. Jackson County is fortunate to have a wide range of vigorous voluntary organizations devoted to neighborhood and civic improvement. Many of these agencies have identified drug dealing and drug use as priority targets. They have valuable roles to play t both in organizing neighborhoods to be drug-resistant and in gathering information for the police t providing testimony in court t and supervising offenders in the community.
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SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS
LEGISLATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS TO TIlE STATE 1. Propose to the Missouri Legislature a statute prohibiting "loitering for the purpose of buying, selling, or consuming a controlled substance", with a very precise definition of the prohibited conduct. ( See Page 37). 2. Propose to the Missouri Legislature a statute empowering County Prosecutors to grant immunity from prosecution for testimony given before a Grand Jury, and to compel such testimony. (See page 37).
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3. Propose to the Missouri Legislature a statute prohibiting criminal conspiracy, perhaps modeled on the Federal RICO or continuing Criminal Enterprise statutes. (See page 37). 4. Propose to the Missouri Legislature a statute making objective evidence that a person is under the influence of an illicit substance grounds for an arrest. (See page 37). 5. Propose to the Missouri Legislature a statute requiring the implementation of a "tripleprescription" regulatory plan for licit pharmaceuticals. (See page 38 and Appendix A).
RECOMMENDED LOCAL ORDINANCES 6. Institute an administrative inspection warrant for violations of city property maintenance codes. (See page 38). 7. Retain City ordinances banning the possession, administration, and trafficking of cocaine, marijuana, and other drugs. (See page 39).
RECOMMENDA TIONS REGARDING TIlE KCPD PATROL DIVISIONS 8. New drug enforcement strategies, as they are developed by the Narcotics Enforcement Division, should include operations in which narcotics officers and patrol personnel work in tandem. (See page 40) .
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9. Increase the use of foot patrols in the higher density areas, such as housing projects and the Midtown apartment areas. (See page 40) . 10. Use post cards as a method by which to discourage out of neighborhood drug buyers who make "drive-through" purchases. (See page 40).
RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING THE KCPD STREET NARCOTICS UNIT 11. Reduce pre-filing case review time and "turn-around time". Next-day arraignment for all drug cases, as is common in other major metropolitan areas, would be ideal. In effect, all cases, and not just the particularly nasty ones, should be "walked through". (See page 43). 12. The Police Department's Crime Lab should adopt a 24 hour turnaround period as its objective for all drug analyses referred by field officers. The Department should equip and staff the Lab to succeed in this objective. (See page 43). 13. Additional resources, as they are added to the SNU, should be devoted to eliminating case backlog and reducing the delay in case filing before they are used to increase the overall number of cases taken on. (See page 43). 14. SNU should expand its operations to include strategic targeting of particular retail markets, and ventures that involve cooperation with other police units, citizen organizations, and prosecution. (See page 43) . 15. The Police Department should develop computer capabilities to provide automated templates for the various reports that must be filled out and for hotline information; updatable record-keeping for specific cases, individuals, and locations; and cross-referenced storage of statistical data. The SNU should use this technology to coordinate with other criminal justice agencies. (Please see page 43 and the Technology Chapter Recommendations of this report). 16. SNU effectiveness would be enhanced by a more adequate inventory of vehicles, communication and monitoring apparatus, buy money, and office equipment. (See page 43). 17. SNU should be allocated more high-quality administrative officers. Their work is crucial to the speedy and successful disposition of cases generated by the Unit's operational squads. (See page 43). 18. SNU should consider assigning an administrative officer as permanent liaison to the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office. This would increase communication between the two organizations, and would enable efficient problem resolution as difficulties arise. (See page 44). 19. SNU and the Prosecutor's Office should plan and work together to target specific drug trafficking areas, such as the bars in the Westport/Plaza area. (See page 44). 20. In order to help assure satisfactory outcomes in court, case officers on SNU's Administrative Squad should be released from the bulk of their other duties as their cases approach trial. (See page 44). 21. Members of SNU's administrative Squad should meet with members of the City Prosecutor's Office, and should continue to meet with the County Prosecuting Attorney's
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Office, to review guidelines for case filing, and to discuss specific examples of apparently misfiled cases. (See page 44).
RECOMMENDA nONS REGARDING THE KCPD DRUG ENFORCEMENT UNIT 22. Reduce pre-filing case review time and "turn-around" time. Next-day arraignment for all drug cases, as is common in other major metropolitan areas, would be ideal. In effect, all cases, and not just particularly nasty ones, should be "walked through". (See page 45). 23. In order to help assure satisfactory outcomes in court, case officers on DEU's Administrative Squad should be released from the bulk of their other duties as their cases approach trial. (See page 45). 24. Members of DEU's administrative Squad should meet with members of the City Prosecutor's Office, and should continue to meet with the County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, to review guidelines for case filing, and to discuss specific examples of apparently misfiled cases. (See page 45). 25. DEU and the Police Department's Case Review Office should maintain a high standard for the quality of cases they file at the city level. In instances of questionable stop and poorly compiled case materials, they should decline the file and notify the arresting officer of the reason. (See page 45). 26. The DEU should mount efforts to curb the traffic in licit pharmaceuticals. While it may not rise to the level of the area's crack cocaine problem, the over-prescription and abuse of pharmaceutical drugs appears to be entrenched. Even without a "triple prescription" program as recommended above, undercover "sting" operations could significantly disrupt this corner of the area's drug market. Unlike most illicit drug traffickers, physicians and pharmacists have much to lose and the mere publicity of an enforcement effort could yield substantial results. (See page 45). 27.
DEU's Administrative Squad should be allocated additional personnel.
(See page
45). 28. DEU should assign a permanent liaison to the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office, as they do to the US Attorney's Office. (See page 45). 29. DEU and the Prosecutor's Office should plan and work together to target specific drug trafficking areas, such as the bars in the Westport/Plaza area. (See page 45). 30. Additional resources, as they are added to the DEU, should be devoted to eliminating case backlog and reducing the delay in case filing before they are used to increase the overall number of cases taken on. (See page 45).
RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING THE KCPD REGIONAL CRIME LAB 31. Chemists who work on drug samples should be trained in the operation of the new Gas Chromatograph which the lab currently has in storage, and that machine should begin operating as soon as possible. (See page 48).
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32. The lab should purchase another Gas Chromatograph in order to increase its overall capacity. (See page 48). 33. The lab should hire another chemist to work full-time on narcotics cases. (See page 48). 34. The lab should extend its business hours and should keep at least one automated Gas Chromatograph working around the clock. Options to implement this recommendation include rotating and weekend shifts and the use of part-time lab assistants. (See page 48). 35. Compensation should be re-examined in order to make the lab more competitive with private industry. (See page 48). 36. The lab should develop and implement an improved filing and tracking system for drug samples. (please see the Technology chapter of this report and page 48). 37. If at all possible, additional work space should be made available to chemists, and the lab should be reconfigured to allow the staff some degree of privacy. (See page 48).
RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING THE PARK RANGERS 38. The Senior Rangers should be provided with the additional 520 hours of law enforcement training required for them to be commissioned as fully qualified Peace Officers under Missouri law. (See page 50). 39. The Park Rangers and the Sheriff's Department should negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding to flesh out the details of their concurrent jurisdiction. Law enforcement agencies in the relevant jurisdictions should abide by the terms of the understanding. (See page 50). 40. Police units planning drug enforcement or other major operations in the parks should notify the Rangers. (See page 50).
RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING ENFORCEMENT TASK FORCE
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JACKSON
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41. Task Force operatives should join members of the Street Narcotics Unit undercover squad in their six-week training program, and should also cross-train with them on their job. (See page 51). 42. The Jackson County Drug Enforcement Task Force should be among the recipients of the new automatic notifications of case dispositions and sentencing dates for all cases in which they have been involved. In addition, all of the recommendations that we made above regarding improved communications between the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office and the Police Department can be applied to the Task Force. (See page 51). 43. The Jackson County Drug Enforcement Task Force should plan and work together with DEU, SNU and the Prosecutor's Office to target specific drug trafficking areas, such as the bars in the Westport/Plaza area. (See page 51).
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44. Reduce pre-filing case review time and "tum-around" time. Next-day arraignment for all drug cases, as is common in other major metropolitan areas, would be ideal. In effect, all cases, and not just the particularly nasty ones, should be "walked through". (See page 51).
RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING THE JACKSON COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE DRUG UNIT 45. Provide the Unit with more personnel. It is currently scheduled to expand to 20 attorneys; these should be supplemented with sufficient administrative staff members. (See page 54). 46. Reduce pre-filing case review time and "tum-around" time. Next-day arraignment for all drug cases, as is common in other major metropolitan areas, would be ideal. In effect, all cases, and not just the particularly nasty ones, should be "walked through". New prosecutorial resources should be dedicated first of all to achieving that goal. (See page 54). 47. Install a state of the art information system. This is crucial to the Drug Prosecution Unit's--and indeed the whole office's--speed and efficiency. Examples of information systems tasks include: automatically generated case file receipts, log-in forms, disposition records, and similar forms; on-going records of where defendants are in the system, cross-referenced with data from the courts, and Department of Corrections, and other prosecuting bodies; and compilation of statistical data (e.g., the number of dilaudid cases filed in 1990, the number of cocaine trafficking cases that pled guilty, etc.). (please see the Information Systems section of this report and page 55). 48. Salaries cannot be made to compete with those of the private sector, but should be able to compete with other public sector prosecutors. (See page 55). 49. A full-time attorney must be hired to be in charge of the training of newly hired attorneys and the continuing legal education within the office. (See page 55).
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50. The training program should capitalize on the present knowledge of experienced assistants in the office as well as former assistants, as well as the potential of the area Law Schools to be of assistance. (See page 56). 51. A formal initial training program should be designed and implemented. (See page 56). 52. The practice of "postmortem" discussions of the reasons for results in certain cases should be expanded. (See page 56). 53. All incoming attorneys should receive special training in aggressive use of innovative legislation and trial procedures, as well as in the particular characteristics of the Jackson County Circuit Court and Prosecutor's Office policies. These sessions should be supplemented by mid-career and continuing legal education throughout the course of a lawyer's tenure. 54. An experienced and well-respected trial lawyer should be hired to design the training program and supervise the practical education of all new lawyers. 55. For at least their first six weeks in the office, new attorneys should attend court as assistants to more experienced prosecutors. When they begin trying their own cases, they
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should do so under the close supervision of their tearn leader, or another senior attorney who should observe their litigation and provide extensive feedback. 56. High-quality work should be rewarded. Case dispositions should be kept on record and consulted during management review; lawyers with high success rates should be held up as models for new members of the trial team and be involved in their training. Whenever lawyers lose a case, their immediate supervisor should meet with them to discuss its particulars, and discover what went wrong and what might have been done better. 57. New resources should be deployed to reduce the case loads of attorneys in the Unit. The average per attorney should be brought down from 35 - 40 to about 25 cases. (See page 56). 58. Drug prosecutors should litigate drug cases exclusively ( with the exception of those homicides or assault charges that are related to drug cases they are working on). (See page 56). 59. The Unit should consider assigning its newest attorneys to the duties of screening and pre-trial proceedings, leaving the more experienced lawyers to negotiate at preliminary hearing and litigate cases in Circuit Court. (See page 56). 60. Prosecutors should be encouraged to ride along with the SNU TAC Squad at least once. This would afford them a much better understanding of the pressures and complexities of street level enforcement, and would help them develop better advice on how such operations could be improved. (See page 56). 61. Prosecutors should catalog examples of faulty stop, search, or case-reporting techniques that they encounter. (See page 56). 62. The current Drug Unit Supervisor (or someone from the Prosecutor's Office mutually agreed upon by the Office and the Police Department) should have some involvement in the training of new narcotics officers. This role could include providing detailed legal guidance on crack house investigation techniques, as well as on more routine stop, search, and arrest procedures. (See page 56). 63. The current Drug Unit Supervisor, or an agreed representative of the Prosecutor's Office, should participate in formulating the Police Department's overall anti-drug strategy. (See page 56). 64. The Drug Prosecution Unit should assign its attorneys liaison responsibilities with the various law enforcement units responsible for narcotics arrests. (See page 56). 65. Cross-designate prosecutors. Communications and case flow might be improved if attorneys could be cross-designated. Cases that originate in a state warrant often develop federal charges; federal-level investigations often produce state-level spin-offs; cases often fallon the margin between the city and the state. If attorneys from the two offices concerned could collaborate in these circumstances, successful prosecution would be more likely, the effects of successful prosecution would be more far-reaching, and better relationships would be established between the Municipal and County Prosecutor's Offices, and between the County Prosecutor's and US Attorney 's Offices. (See page 56). 66. The Jackson County Drug Enforcement Task Force should plan and work together with DEU, SNU and the Prosecutor's Office to target specific drug trafficking areas, such as the bars in the Westport/Plaza area. (See page 57). 6
67. Implement a "Deferred Prosecution Program" in the Drug Unit. At its core, this initiative would involve screening police referrals to identify offenders who may respond to incentives short of prosecution, and then offering those individuals an opportunity to remediate themselves during the statutory period for the filing of charges. Failure to meet the agreed upon terms of remediation would result in vigorous prosecution (for the original and all subsequent offenses) to the full extent of the law. This program would be particularly effective if used in conjunction with industry-sponsored "employee assistance programs", consensual urine testing, and community-based drug treatment. (See page 58). 68. Additional resources, as they are added to the Jackson County Drug Prosecution Unit, should be devoted to eliminating case backlog and reducing the delay in case filing before they are used to increase the overall number of cases taken on. (See page 59).
RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING THE JACKSON COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE FORFEITURE UNIT
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69. Add staff. Two more attorneys and another administrative staff person would seem to be the minimum personnel required to handle the increased case load likely to be generated by new police resources. (See page 60) . 70. Provide additional equipment. Currently, all records are kept in a combination of file folders, legal pads, and ledger books. Obviously, the Forfeiture Unit will benefit with the rest of the office from a new information system. However, an interim, desk top computer with "off-the-shelf' software would enable the Unit to more effectively manage its work until a permanent system is implemented. (please see the Technology Chapter Recommendations section of this report and page 60). 71. Develop more forfeiture cases. Police departments, which benefit most from forfeitures, should encourage their officers to focus on efforts that are likely to produce them. Forfeiture statistics should be incorporated into the annual reports of all Jackson County law enforcement agencies. (See page 60).
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72. Keep the Forfeiture Unit abreast of criminal drug cases' status. If possible, related cases should be tried in tandem, so that forfeiture proceedings can most effectively contribute to an overall strategy to combat the drug problem. Forfeiture can be thought of as a concurrent sanction for possession cases. (See page 61). 73 . When a drug case with related assets seems cut-and-dry, or when the defendant is likely to plead guilty, the forfeiture attorney should be advised, so that she can file exclusively under RSMo. 195.140, in which the burden of proof to rebut the presumption of forfeitability is on the claimants. (See page 61). 74. When drug charges are dismissed or acquitted where there is an associated forfeiture case, the Forfeiture Unit should be notified so that it can drop its 195 case. (See page 61). 75 . The laws of the County should be amended to allow the County Prosecutor's Office to receive funds generated by successful forfeiture actions directly. (See page 61). 76. The 80% - 20% agreement should be respected by Circuit Court Judges in their allocation of forfeited resources. Otherwise, police will simply take their forfeiture cases to federal court, where they receive a greater allocation. The result would be fewer additional
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resources for the County 's anti-drug efforts, and less opportunity to include forfeiture as a component of state-level drug enforcement strategy. (See page 61). 77. In implementing federal forfeiture rules, all county agencies contributing to a successful case should share in forfeited assets. (See page 61).
RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING THE MUNICIPAL COURT 78. The ordinances in Section 18 of the Kansas City Code banning the possession, delivery, and administration of cocaine should be retained. (See page 63). 79. The agreement that led to P.I. 89-8, regarding the filing of cases at the city and state level, should be retained. (See page 63) . 80. When City Prosecutors receive a case file for review that contains charges above the agreed level, they should decline prosecution and refer the matter for handling in the state court system. When they have clear evidence of a faulty stop, the matter should be rejected. (See page 63). 81. The Municipal Court should keep records of OWl and BAC convictions. The state and city should agree upon a threshold for automatically "bumping" city-level cases up for state prosecution. This agreement should be triggered when a suspect has accrued the agreed upon number of prior convictions. (See page 63). 82. City prosecutors should cull from their dockets first-time cocaine offenders and other defendants that fit a deferred prosecution profile, and refer them to the state's Deferred Prosecution Unit once it is formed . (See page 63). 83. Resources from the deferred prosecution portion of the Jackson County Anti-Drug Sales Tax should be assigned to Municipal Court to assist in this process. (See page 63).
RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING THE CIRCUIT COURT 84. Judges should become more involved in bringing about treatment of drug-involved offenders. When appropriate, sentencing should mandate treatment for drug offenders and others who show indications of a substance abuse problem. (See page 65). 85 . A study should be undertaken to ascertain the weight and sentencing differences between state and federal courts. (See page 65). 86. Formal time limits should be set for the delay between arraignment and trial. If the new drug docket becomes overloaded, an adjunct judge (necessary in any case to provide for change-of-judge motions) should be called in to help clear the backlog. (See page 65). 87. More effective and efficient docket management would help in alleviating some of the pressures which the judicial system faces. (See page 65).
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RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING THE CORRECTIONS SYSTEM 88. A comprehensive drug-treatment program should be made available to inmates at the Jackson County Detention Center. (please see Correctional Services Group, Inc. "Detention Capacity Assessment Study", Chapter VI, for detailed recommendations, and page 67). 89. A program of general education should be established, offering high school equiValency classes, and training in special topics, such as information technology or mechanics. (See page 67). 90. The work-release program that was discontinued in 1987 should be reinstated. If possible, it should include more than just manual jobs; it should serve as a practical training ground for some of the skills taught in the educational programs. Prisoner's wages could be applied to some of the fees they owe. (See page 67).
RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING PROBATION AND PAROLE 91. Abstinence from illicit drugs and waiver of 4th Amendment Rights to search and seizure should be a condition of probation or parole. (See page 69). 92. Drug treatment should be available for all and mandatory for many drug-involved offenders. (See page 69). 93. The Department of Probation and Parole should obtain the funding required to institute routine random urine testing to monitor probationer's abstinence. (See page 69). 94. The Department should establish and publicize a regular set of graduated sanctions for missed or dirty tests. (See page 69). 95. Funding should be provided to allow for a reduction in average case load per officer, and the expansion of intensively supervised probation. (See page 69). --'
96. The Department, perhaps in cooperation with a Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, should investigate the possibility of adding some kind of public, supervised labor to the sentences of certain drug-involved probationers. (See page 69). 97. Circuit Court judges should back up the policies set by the Department of Probation and Parole, realizing that lenience or inattention is likely to contribute to recidivism. (See page 69).
RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS 98. Groups should be funded on the basis of the actual services they provide, and money should be distributed throughout the county. Care should be taken that one or two umbrella organizations are not allowed to exercise a prejudicial control over the distribution of funds . (See page 70). 99. Members of the Ad Hoc s leadership should meet with members of the police department and prosecutors to discuss ways in which citizens can be helpful to specific law enforcement activities. (See page 71). I
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100. Establish a Jackson County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. The County Legislature should appropriate the necessary administrative staff for this Council. Define its membership to include agency heads and policy makers from the country government and each of the community's incorporated cities. Charge the Council with responsibility for developing and evaluating criminal justice programs that cross agency and jurisdictional lines. (See page 72).
RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING INFORMATION SYSTEMS 101. Conduct an in-depth, multi-agency systems assessment and requirements analysis to determine the detailed information system needs of the police, prosecution, court and other organizations that handle drug abuse cases. An action plan which; (1) identifies specific computerization objectives, and (2) provides for integrating these new systems into existing operations with minimal disruption, should be a result of this analysis. (See page 74). 102. In preparation for the detailed system assessment and requirements analysis recommended above, conduct a detailed multi-agency survey to document: (1) the number and skill level of potential law enforcement data system users; (2) the number and location of sites from which access to the system will be required; (3) the number of police reports and other source documents that will be entered into the system each day/week/month; (4) the quantity, type and application of all information system components currently being used; and (5) a subjective assessment by the system's prospective users describing whatever specific features and capabilities they feel should be designed into the overall plan. (See page 76). 103. The Prosecutor's Office should convene a working group to develop and prioritize a menu of information system features to support its litigation and related activities. Special consideration should be given to sharing data bases with police, correctional, and probation/parole authorities. (See page 77). 104. Convene a standing "Information System User Committee" composed of agency representatives to establish implementation priorities and timetables. This group should also serve to monitor the overall implementation effort, as well as the degree to which installed components are meeting each agency's needs. (See page 79).
RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING MONITORING AND EVALUATION 105. Design and implement measures to support an on-going agenda of monitoring and evaluation. These measures should include capturing necessary data from criminal justice system agencies and other sources in the community. Once captured, careful analysis will be needed in order to identify case processing "bottlenecks", develop activity objectives, and track the progress of changes within the various organizations. (See page 80)
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PREFACE Jackson County is the center of a market for crack cocaine with annual revenues of approximately a quarter of a billion dollars. The crack market, involving between 200 and 300 "crack houses" and various other dealing locations, is supported by a user base of 20,00025,000 frequent crack smokers, plus uncounted casual users. The county's residents and visitors also support smaller markets dealing in powder cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine, and substantial traffic in diverted pharmaceutical drugs. The level of crack dealing in particular is substantially above national rates: the metropolitan area, with less than one-half of one percent of the national population, appears to consume more than one percent of its total cocaine. Illicit drug sales and use create a multitude of problems: death and injury from drug abuse, violence and neighborhood disruption associated with dealing, and crimes by users: violent crime under the influence and property crime to pay for drugs. The current enforcement response has many admirable elements, but has been overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the drug problem. Funds from the Anti-Drug Sales Tax are adequate to finance a substantial increase in police work, prosecution, adjudication, and correction. But the scale of the problem remains daunting, and prospects for disrupting the trade at the wholesale distribution level seem dim, particularly since much of the high-level dealing which results in final sales in Jackson County takes place outside of the county. In order to reduce the burdens which drug dealing and drug use now put on Jackson County, it is essential to make it more inconvenient and more risky to buy drugs and to identify and control drug-using drug dealers and drug-using property and violent criminals. Making drugs less available requires actions against retail-level dealers: arresting, convicting, and punishing them, seizing their assets, and closing their dealing locations. Making it more risky to buy drugs requires taking actions aimed directly at users: some involving arrest, some not. Controlling offender/users requires that they be identified at arrest and requiring them as a condition of bail, probation, or parole to remain drug abstinent. Abstinence should be verified through frequent random urine monitoring, with predetermined and progressively serious sanctions for violations of the no-drug rule. Prudence and justice alike require that enforced abstinence be supported by drug treatment services to help make that abstinence possible. The police can easily arrest more drug offenders than the prosecutors and judges can take through trial or than the prisons and jails can hold. This fact increases the value of non-arrest sanctions and threats. It also makes essential a system of pretrial diversion and prosecution 11
which provides a serious measure of punishment and control for diverted offenders and which administers swift and sure sanctions for violations of the terms of diversion . The same principle applies to those convicted but not sentenced to incarceration. To provide a serious measure of punishment and control for those convicted but not incarcerated, a full range or continuum of intermediate sanctions of increasing weight should be developed specifically for application to those convicted but not incarcerated. Managing offenders in the community is a difficult process, for which techniques are still being developed. It involves shared responsibility among the courts, prosecutors, probation and parole officials, and the operators of drug treatment programs and programs of "community service" labor and restitution. The process cannot be made to work at all without a firm statutory base, firmness in administering sanctions, and an information system capable of keeping track of offenders across organizational boundaries. The drug problem is too large to be managed by public agencies alone. Jackson County is fortunate to have a wide range of vigorous voluntary organizations devoted to neighborhood and civic improvement, many of which have identified drug dealing and drug use as priority targets. They have valuable roles to play, both in organizing neighborhoods to be drugresistant and in gathering information for the police, providing testimony in court, and supervising offenders in the community.
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I. THE DRUG PROBLEM IN JACKSON COUNTY It is difficult to arrive at a precise picture of Jackson County's drug problem. People often hide the details of their drug abuse from official scrutiny. Such sources of data as do exist are notoriously unreliable: users' self-reports of their activity tend to be inaccurate, and usually only those who are arrested, or who enter treatment, are asked about their habits. What follows represents our best assessment, based on interviews with a wide range of citizens and officials, and on reviews of available records.
Crack Crack cocaine--cocaine in smokable form--is the predominant illicit drug of abuse in Jackson County, but it is the most notorious. Its users come from every class, position, and age group: one of the youngest recorded users is 9; a well-known dealer is 68. Crack has crowded out powder cocaine as the "hard" drug of choice in Kansas City. It takes the blame for the newly threatening characteristics of the drug scene: for the violence, the lost productivity and neglect, the spread of disease.
Users Drug treatment professionals in Jackson County have seen their clinics swamped with crack abusers in the last two or three years. Some of the users state that they consciously chose crack over alcohol, whose effects on their families they had experienced and wished to avoid. At the Police Department's Regional Criminalistics Laboratory, 95% of the some 3700 samples chemists will analyze this year will test positive for cocaine, and the "vast majority" of those will be crack. In 1985, only 5-10% of the 300 drug samples the lab received proved to be cocaine. 1 Based on arrestee drug testing and on information about the size of the market, we estimate that Jackson County has beiween 20,000 and 25,000 frequent crack users, roughly half of the estimated number state-wide
1 Interview with Gary Howell, Director of the Regional Crime Lab, July 10, 1990. 2 In the last quarter of 1989, 40% of the male arrestees and 55% of the female arrestees tested in the Kansas City jails showed signs of having used cocaine (primarily crack) in the previous 36-48 hours. The total number of arrestees for the year was approximately 96,000. This suggests that if there had been a test after each arrest, there would have been approximately 40,000 positive results. Adjusting for mUltiple arrests per arrestee brings the figure down to approximately 25,000. Assuming that 80% of arrested cocaine users are frequent rather than casual users gives an estimate of about 20,000 frequent cocaine users arrested over the year. In addition, there are certain to be some frequent cocaine users who are never arrested. For the statewide estimate, see Committee on the Judiciary , US Senate, "Hard-core Cocaine Addicts, Measuring-and
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Crack smokers run the gamut. They can be found in virtually every subgroup of Jackson County's population. The:>,: are more likely to be white than b~ck, 3 more likely to be employed than unemploYf'~ more likely to be under than over 35, more likely to reside in Kansas City than outside. Particularly worrisome is the spread of crack addiction into populations where drug abuse of any kind used to be rare. "Almost all of our female clients," said Helen Lewrndowski, Executive Director of Renaissance West Drug Treatment Clinic, "are crack users." Crack's disproportionate attractiveness to women makes it more likely than other drugs to affect the family structure, the health of infants, and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. (Please see the "Consequences" Chapter of the report.) The young are another group especially jeopardized by crack's popUlarity. In 1988, 32% of Kansas City's arrestees between the ages of 15 and 20 tested positive for cocaine, primarily crack. Crack's mode of administration is familiar--kids know about smoking. A dollar or two will get them something, even if it's just a hit off someone's pipe. And crack is used widely. Potential users do not have to be the initiates of an exclusive subculture to obtain it. For these reasons, crack is far more accessible to adolescents and children than are other similarly destabilizing drugs, such as heroin or methamphetamine.
Dealing Locations And Styles "Crack Houses" are the most common retail outlets for crack cocaine in Jackson County. Occasionally, crack houses are set up in derelict buildings: abandoned dwellings with no electricity and plaster coming off the walls in chunks. More often, however, they are just houses: pots hanging up in the kitchen, pictures of children arrayed on the mantelpiece, a television in the carpeted living room. Normally they look non-threatening, hardly distinguishable from other houses on the street. Only if a search warrant has been served on Fighting--the Problem," May, 1990. For arrestee data, see National Institute of Justice, Research in Action, "1988 Drug Use Forecasting Annual Report," March, 1990. (Hereafter cited as DUF, by date of publication.) 3 Conversations with treatment professionals. 4 DUF, March, 1990 pp. 22-23, and personal observation, and cf. Abba, below, and MDMH ADA Division, ADAMIS Reports. 5 Abba Industries, "Profile of Noninstitutional Provider Environments and Discouraged Chemically Dependent Persons in Jackson County," in Center for Management Assistance, "Substance Abuse Needs Assessment for Jackson County, Missouri" presented to the Jackson County Anti-Drug Sales Tax Fiscal Commission June 28, 1990, pp. 1,3,4, and Missouri Department of Mental Health, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division, Western Region ADAMIS reports for FY 1988-89. Abba's study represents an admirable attempt to obtain information on drug abuse and associated needs through discussions with abusers themselves. Its results are interesting and valuable, but cannot be taken to represent a cross-section of the County's drug abusers. Of 49 respondents, 36 were black, 6 were Hispanic, 3 were Caucasian, 1 was Asian, and 1 was Native American. Almost all of them lived in Kansas City's inner city. Not only is this sample too small from which to draw any conclusions as to distribution, but it obviously oversamples certain populations. 6
Conversations with members of the Kansas City Police Department and drug treatment professionals.
7 Interview, July 3, 1990. 8 DUF, March, 1990, p. 7.
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them in the past do they tend to be fortified. There are pockets of crack houses. The areas in which these are most frequent are the "inner city" of Kansas City, and the jurisdiction of the Eastern County Task Force. Inside, between one and five sellers sit in front of dinner plates or a piece of mirror cutting chunks of crack into little pieces with razor blades, or weighing them out and packaging them into tiny ziploc baggies. Some make deals with buyers who come to the dooror cover them with a 9mm. automatic as they choose the rock they want to buy. Buyers are regularly allowed to choose among baggies or unpackaged rocks; they regularly have to make that choice at gunpoint. Bargaining is common: the standard $20 for a 114 gram rock turns out to be flexible. Buyers rarely get turned away for having only $13 or $15 in their pockets: they might get a smaller rock, or the powdery residue of the cutting process, but they'll get something. Some houses are set up as smoking dens, where just a couple of dollars can buy a "bump", a drag off a common pipe. While the purer crack and the larger quantities are to be found inside these houses, it is sometimes difficult--or very unpleasant--to get there. 9 For buyers who prefer to remain in their cars, a collection of "street goofies" usually loiters at the curb outside, loosely connected to the main dealer in the house. They serve as lookouts and sell on commission, paid in cash or rock. Often they will adulterate their wares to increase the margin of profit. "Turkey dope," wax or soap or salt packaged to look like crack, turns up frequently on the streets. Entrepreneurs run some of these houses: people with their own source of supply or connections to a Los Angeles courier or a powder dealer in Blue Valley Park. Other houses receive periodic visits from a runner who supplies them a half-ounce or an ounce at a time. At a little over 28 grams, an ounce cuts up into about 115 rocks, or some $2,300 worth. One dealer may supply five to ten houses in this way, paying his workers on consignment. These higher level dealers are basing themselves increasingly in Kansas, where they perceive that law enforcement is less rigorous, and ferrying their supplies across the state line.
Apartments in the Midtown area, in the area from 31st to 39th and Gilham to the Southwest Trafficway, work much the same way as the houses do. The high vacancy rates in the area's apartment buildings make it relatively easy for dealers to set up shop. At both the houses and the apartments, buyers usually have to be trusted customers to get indoors, or be introduced by a friend of the seller. Housing Projects also contain active retailing sites. At least three of Kansas City's six housing developments have well-known street drug markets, where open-air dealing is the norm. At TB Watkins, a number of buildings may operate after the fashion of crack houses, but most transactions take place on the streets. Buyers park their cars some fifty yards from their sellers and walk over. Both buyers and sellers at TB Watkins tend to be black teenagers. Suburbanites from north of the river continue to travel Independence Avenue to the Riverview complex. That project's notoriety as Kansas City's "hot" drug market has attracted neophytes as well as established users. Street dealers have been responding to their location's popularity with "tourists" by selling more and more "turkey dope." In the meantime, the Housing Authority of Kansas City last year prevailed upon City Council to rechannel traffic, so that cars approaching the development from Independence Avenue must negotiate three oneway streets to reach the heart of the dealing area. These changes may displace the suburban traffic to other markets deeper in Kansas City. 9
A sign confiscated from a Kansas City crack house reads, "Do not talk. Drop ' $' and get out. Ain ' t nothing here worth dying for. "
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Traffic into Pennway tends to come from across the state line, from Wyandotte County. Black Disciple Gangsters, from the same area, struggle with Westside Hispanic gangs for turf and control of the crack market. The Hispanic dealers share a distinctive culture and style. They are also reported to be less showy and belligerent than many of their Black competitors. Curbside dealing, also exists in various areas. In spite of intensive street-level enforcement efforts, pockets of curbside drug dealing do persist in Kansas City, and not only in the housing projects. They are visible around 45th and Forest, the 3200 block of East 60th, 5th and Troost, and along the Paseo.
Parks are also popular places to buy and sell drugs, and specific drugs are often associated with individual parks. Volker, for example, is known for marijuana, and Blue Valley for wholesale quantities of powder cocaine. Swope Park, one of the more dangerous in Because of their Kansas City, offers many secluded roadways where cars can idle. combination of inaccessibility and visibility of approach, parks are difficult areas to patrol.
Saloons in the Westport/Plaza area, as well as along the state line, reportedly serve as bases for retailers of powder cocaine, catering primarily to a young, white, often well-to-do clientele. As one interviewee remarked, "The yuppies buy their dope at the Plaza, where they do the rest of their shopping. They stick with what's familiar." This market is difficult to penetrate, and has not received much law enforcement attention, so its precise characteristics are less well-known than those of the crack houses. However, it is clear that crack as well as powder cocaine is retailed there. Personal Introduction. It is becoming increasingly common for regular customers to establish relationships with "their" dope man, usually a runner for one of the houses. When the customers wflt something, they telephone his beeper number; he calls back, and they put in their order 1 These buyers, willing to spend a few extra dollars, avoid the risk of approaching known drug-trafficking neighborhoods in person. Some people act as freelance intermediaries. Asked where "rich people from Mission Hills" buy their crack, an informant said, "they come to me, the ones I know, and I get it for them."
Prices $20-$30 per 114 gm. rock is the standard price we heard during the course of our study, yet black market prices characteristically flex in response to risk. The relatively haphazard packaging of crack in Kansas City encourages this flexibility.l1 Undercover officers, unfamiliar to their sellers and not looking particularly "strung out," are likely to be charged a high-end price; regular customers may pay less. Gram and ounce prices fluctuate similarly, ranging from 1~100-$130 per gram, and $1,200-$1,500 per ounce. A kilo (35.7 oz.) sells for $20-$25,000.
10 Between January and April of 1989, the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office won forfeiture of 8 pagers.
11 In Philadelphia, for example, crack is sold in stoppered vials, powder in taped bags. Each gang has its own color cap or tape; advertising as to quality is common; raffle tickets (winner gets 10 free "caps") and half-price days are standard. 12 N t hese pnces · . I'me Wit . h those m . ath er metropo I'ltan areas. ate: are m
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Quantities Any estimate of the quantities of a product that change hands on a black market in a given period, or their value, or the number of people the market might employ, would, for obvious reasons, be extremely approximate. The following are the best figures we could derive based on the available data. Kansas City has about 250 active crack houses and 50 more in the jurisdiction of the Eastern Coun~ Task Force. A reasonable assumption is that each of these houses sells about 1,000 "hits"l on each busy weekend night and about 200 hundred "hits" on each weekday night. Thus, in one week, each of these 300 houses retails an average of about 3,000 hits of crack. The 300 houses together retail about 900,000 "hits" of crack each week or about 45,000,000 "hits" of crack annually. Since the retail value of one "hit" of crack is about $ 5.00, the total retail sales of these crack houses amounts to about $ 250,000,000 annually. Crack houses however, are not the exclusive retail outlet for crack in Jackson County. If they account for 75 % of the trade, then the total annual retail market in crack is close to $ 335,000,000. At a retail value of roughly $ 100 per gram, or about $ 100,000 per kilogram, this amounts to a retail trade of about 2,000 kilograms of pure cocaine HCL. This is more than 1 % of the estimated total U.S . cocaine market, for a county with less than 112 of 1% of the U.S. population.
Dealing Organizations Groups involved in narcotics trafficking in Jackson County run the gamut of organizational structures. They range in size and sophistication from lone individuals who use their own kitchen to convert powder cocaine to crack for resale to large organizations that have been in the drug trade for years. In addition, the area also appears to support individuals and groups with close ties to the narcotics and street gangs of Los Angeles. Law enforcement officials tend to downplay the degree to which drug dealing here is structured. Street dealing seems fluid and disorganized: dealers arrested or jailed are quickly replaced; houses, if subjected to intensive pressure, may close, but others open nearby or a few streets over. "The loyalty is to the money," say police personnel, "rather than any individual or group." LA Gangs and Other Large Interstate Organizations merit special discussion. These sophisticated organizations are responsible for at least some of Kansas City's crack trade. Apparently, much of the cocaine arrives in Kansas City already "cooked" into crack. Dealers, when caught, are reportedly found to have connections with groups in Los Angeles, Dallas, or Detroit. Police report that it is also common for drug wholesalers to use subtle labeling devices to indicate which portion of a shipment is to be handled by which supplier. These facts may imply that Kansas City's dealers represent a second tier in larger organizations which are based out of state. Whereas in Philadelphia or Brooklyn, NY, for example, the laboratory where workers "cut the 'caine" would be located in an outlying suburb and would supply some ten street-comers in one neighborhood, Jackson County the "lab" is located in Los Angeles, and supplies some ten houses in Kansas City. LA gang-members appear to have assumed a leadership role in Jackson County. The loosely confederated groups known as the Crips and Bloods reportedly became active here around 1987, replacing the Jamaican posses that law enforcement successfully suppressed. 13 A "hit" is the smallest commonly retailed unit of crack. A "hit" is about 0.05 grams of crack and retails for about $ 5.00.
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The Californians quickly modified their behavior From the LA norm. Finding that Kansas City youths, in the words of one investigator, were simply not willing to die for a couple of feet of 63rd Street, they became less territorially based. They also dropped some of the mutual antagonism that is their trademark elsewhere. Kansas City graffiti sport Crip and Blood insignia on the same wall, a sight that would be unthinkable in Los Angeles. Now that the LA gang-members have themselves attracted intensive police attention, their presence in Kansas City has become less obtrusive. It is not negligible, however, and no one knows how much influence LA-based gang-members wield over local gangs and other groups which they supply with crack.
Local Gangs also play a role, some of them as offshoots of the original Crip/Blood presence in Kansas City. Others whose names are well known, like the 9th Street Dawgs, are more involved in robbery and vandalism than they are in drug trafficking and gun violence. Others still, like the Black Disciple Gangsters, are primarily based across the line in Kansas. There is specUlation that members of that group killed two people not long ago in Swope Park, and they are known to compete with Westside gangs in the area of the Pennway Housing Project. Much of the gang-related graffiti in Kansas City is nearly a year old, but the gangs still exist, and still retail drugs, especially in the housing projects. Other Groups involved in Kansas City 's crack market include: the Mafia, and gangs of Cubans, Colombians, and Jamaicans.
Powder Cocaine
Users Before the arrival of crack, cocaine was seen as a genteel drug, a rich person's drug. Its users were typically white, upper-middle class professionals in their late twenties or early thirties. Users of powder cocaine in Jackson County today fit a similar description. Most of them live not in Kansas City, but in the eastern part of the county, where in 1989, the Jackson County Drug Enforcement Task Force confiscated 1,183 grams of cocaine, but only 482 grams of crack. Other users do not reside in Jackson County at all. They may work downtown, but they live over the line in Johnson County. Since powder cocaine users are unlikely to be arrested or to enter publicly-funded treatment programs, they are hard to count. Projections from national estimates suggest that there are about 10-20,000 regular users of powder cocaine in and around Jackson County. Regular users of powder cocaine who find that the drug does not afford them the same "high" it used to due to their growing tolerance for its effects, seeking to recreate the original feeling, sometimes step up the level of their abuse, by using more or by changing the way they use it. They might start smoking it, in the form of crack, freebasing it or, they can begin taking it intravenously. 14
14 Interview with Judy Chase, Missouri Department of Probation and Parole, August 2, 1990, and cf. Abba, p.
5.
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Dealing Locations And Styles Powder cocaine is not sold hand-in-hand with crack on the streets here as it is in other parts of the country. It is rarely to be found in the drug houses of Kansas City. Less obvious than crack dealing, cocaine dealing is harder to find, harder to enforce against, harder to describe.
Private Homes are often used as bases for powder cocaine transactions. This is because buyers and sellers often have long histories. They are often found to have gone to school together and to share common friends. Exchanges between them may take place in one or the other's home. Hotel rooms are sometimes used to protect dealers or buyers. In these cases, the suburban entrepreneur may buy a quantity of cocaine in Kansas City, package it in doses for resale, and reserve a room whose location he indicates to buyers when they call him. Bars, particularly in the Westport/Plaza area and along the state line, are reported to be used by powder cocaine dealers. Although more commercial, these outlets share many of the characteristics of those mentioned above. "Not just anyone can buy dope from a dealer in a Westport bar," agree undercover officers. A relationship of trust between seller and potential buyer takes time to establish, and is often based on past contact or mutual acquaintances. Blue Valley Park, in the far northeast part of town, has also been identified by police as a powder cocaine area. Apparently, dealers there trade in wholesale quantities. Buyers either intend to crystallize it into crack themselves and distribute it in Kansas City, or to take it to the suburbs for resale to powder customers. Westside. The other exception to Kansas City's overwhelming preference for crack is among Hispanic youths who live on the Westside. Among those Hispanic youths who are narcotics abusers, the preferred drug, after alcohol and marijuana, seems to be powder cocaine. 15
Prices Cocaine tends to be more expensive than crack, in part because its dealers and users usually come from more risk-averse groups, and because the link between source of supply and eventual consumer is more tenuous. One quarter of a gram reportedly costs between $30 and $40, a gram about $100, and an "eight-ball" (which contains 118 ounce or 3.5 grams) costs about $300.
Quantities If powder cocaine users in Jackson County consume their share of the national total, then collectively they spend about $60,000,000 a year on cocaine, or about one fifth to one quarter what is spent on crack. The figure is probably conservative, since it is not adjusted for those who abuse the drug heavily.
Marijuana From the viewpoint of treatment personnel, marijuana is the most popular illicit drug of abuse in Jackson County. It is common outside as well as inside Kansas City, and is smoked 15 Interview with John Fiero, Director of Community Services, Guadelupe Center, July 24, 1990.
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regularly by those who first encountered it in the '60s as well as by children who typically use it to initiate their abuse of illicit drugs. Drug treatment personnel are unanimous in their opinion of how widespread marijuana use is. In 1989, 824 clients in publicly funded treatment cited marijuana as their primary drug of abuse, as compared to 696 for cocaine. 16 So accepted is marijuana use, in fact, that drug treatment professionals often find their clients misreporting it. "They hardly see it as a drug," commented one official from the Missouri Department of Probation and Parole. When asked about their drugs of abuse, clients neglect even to mention marijuana, unless asked specifically. Then their answers might range from "Oh, yes ... socially," to "Four or five joints a day." This attitude and the underreporting that is its consequence may help account for the discrepancy between the exw.pence of drug treatment professionals and the less dramatic testimony of other indicators. 1 Other factors in this difference may include the lower crime rates of many marijuana abusers, as well as the fact that many of them do not use marijuana exclusively--they smoke cocaine or drink as well, and so are counted among the substantial number of "poly-abusers" that characterize the drug-dependent population. The inconsistency with which marijuana users appear in statistical compilations precludes attempting any precise estimate of their numbers, but projections from national figures suggest that more than 100,000 people in the metropolitan area use marijuana once a month or more, with about 2025,000 using it on a weekly or a daily basis. That suggests a total market of about $30,000,000 per year. Dealing Locations And Styles Marijuana is often sold and used in parks. Rangers find minors using it in Longview or Blue River Park almost every day. (This problem is discussed is greater detail in the "Current Response" Chapter of this report). Some of Kansas City's parks also number among venues for outdoor dealing of marijuana. In the parks as elsewhere, the bond between marijuana dealer and buyer tends to be rather personal and friendly, unlike that common between crack dealer and buyer.
Bars, particularly in the area between 35th Street and 50th Street from Main to Prospect, as well as those in the vicinity of some of the area's industrial plants, are known haunts for marijuana retailers. Sales may take place inside, or among individuals congregating on the street corner out front. Houses. Not all of Kansas City's drug houses sell crack. "Weed houses" exist as well, which tend to sell marijuana exclusively. If law enforcement agents find any cocaine at all when they serve search warrants on them, it is usually some trivial quantity, enough to use but not to sell.
The workplace has also emerged as a drug trading venue. According to several members of private investigating firms which companies have retained to investigate the extent of dru! abuse among their employees, exchanges of marijuana commonly take place in factories. 1
16 Without denying the validity of the observations of treatment personnel, there is some possibility that marijuana abusers may constitute an unrepresentative sample of the clients whom they see. While many people interviewed agreed on the prevalence of marijuana use, not all agreed that it is the most popular illicit drug in use in Jackson County. 17 Cf. DUF, May 1990; MDMH data sets, August, 1990.
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Places where people congregate, such as cafeterias and parking lots, provide convenient locations for the exchange of marijuana.
Prices Marijuana generally sells for $20-$30 per 114 ounce bag, which contains enough marijuana for about 10 joints, somewhat below current average national prices. Marijuana available in Jackson County of late has reportedly been rather strong, but also rather expensive. According to one informant, what went for $17 or $18 a year ago now costs $25 . In fact, in early July, sources of supply seemed to have dried up altogether for a time.
Dealing Organizations Marijuana grows virtually wild in the rural areas of Jackson County, and is cultivated further south in the foothills of the Ozarks, to yield much higher THC content. Because of the variety of sources of supply, marijuana marketing lends itself to the involvement of individual entrepreneurs. Few large-scale organizations are known specifically by their involvement in the marijuana trade, except perhaps for motorcycle gangs, which deal in marijuana as well as methamphetamine. Dealers without access to a plantation may buy quantities ranging from 114 oz to a pound from one of Kansas City's houses.
Methamphetamine The other major drug of abuse produced locally is methamphetamine (otherwise known as "speed" or "crank"), a synthetic stimulant that is usually injected, snorted, or dissolved in liquid and swallowed. Ice, the smokable form of methamphetamine, has yet to make major inroads on the Kansas City market.
Users Unlike crack or marijuana smokers, "meth" users tend to belong to a distinct group: white, from lower income brackets, living in northeast Kansas City or suburban areas of the county, and often affiliated with a motorcycle gang or acquainted with its members. Meth users are a close-knit group, usually bound by ties other than those created by the buying and selling of methamphetamine. Figures for the abuse of this drug are too low in every available data source to allow us to attempt an estimate of the total number of users, or the revenues of the market, but the drug is cheaper than cocaine, and the user base very much smaller.
Dealing Locations And Styles Home-made laboratories. Methamphetamine is produced in home-made laboratories, by combining and heating precursor chemicals whose purchase in the United States is restricted but not impossible. The process is a smelly one, giving off an odor so distinct that in other manufacturing centers, an experienced law enforcement officer's testimony that he smelled it constitutes probable cause for a search warrant. Consequently, Jackson County's meth labs tend to be out in the country, where fresh breezes and the infrequency of passers-by decrease the risk of detection. Some methamphetamine may be produced in Kansas City.19 One drug 18 Interviews with Chuck Willis and Greg Bell of Pinkertons, July 2 and 5, 1990, and Lee Gitlin of ALCOPS, July 2.
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substance abuse counselor recalled a young client who recently offered to write out the recipe for her. Once the methamphetamine is produced, it can be sold on-site, or transported by motorcycle to areas where riders congregate, or to other retail outlets. "Meth Houses". Meth houses will occasionally be the object of a Street Narcotics Unit search warrant. The officers noted that the occupants of meth houses are among the most resistant, insolent, and violent of any they encounter.
The Oak Grove Truck Stop. Approximately twenty miles east of Kansas City on Route I-70, the Oak Grove Truck Stop stretches for close to a mile. Eighteen-wheelers arranged in rows idle while their drivers congregate at the numerous service stations, bars, and family restaurants. Methamphetamine dealers, including some of the truck drivers themselves, reportedly use the truck stop to sell their wares.
Heroin Heroin is less in evidence in Jackson County than we had anticipated. In part, this may reflect the fact that heroin abuse does not reach law-enforcement statistics as easily as crack abuse does. Some heroin is ~81d in "shooting galleries," where users pay to have a dose administered on the premises. Such environments are difficult for undercover agents to penetrate. Heroin, furthermore, has a very different effect on its users than do crack or methamphetamine or PCP, and tends to appeal to a different kind of person. Its users are not typically involved in violent crime (other than robbery), and so do not attract as much law enforcement attention as do crack smokers. Users Most heroin users in Jackson County are 30 years old or over; 21 they are almost as likely to be white as black; and they are often employed.
Based on the rule that only about 116 of heroin abusers nationwide are in methadone ~:s~~~qance, we estimate that there were roughly 2400 heroin addicts in Jackson County in
Dealing Locations And Styles We were not able to obtain a picture of the ways heroin is typically bought and sold, but one informant did say that the addicts he knows never have any trouble obtaining the drug. 19 The fact that the drug is available, as is knowledge of how to produce it chemically, suggests that in city manufacture of at least small quantities cannot be ruled out. 20 "Shooting Galleries", which are often located in abandoned buildings, are places used by LV. drug abusers to "shoot up", (ie:, inject) their drugs. 21 Interview with Helen Lewandowski and Peisha Roumas, Renaissance West Drug Treatment Centers, July 2, 1990; & phone discussion with Keith Spare, Rodgers South Program Manager, Substance Abuse Treatment Center, October 25, 1990. Abba, p. 10; and cf. DUF, March, 1990, p. 8. 22 MDMH ADA Division ADAMIS Reports.
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Prices Heroin in Kansas City sells for about $35 per bag ($lOO/gram), but is of notoriously poor qUality. Interviewees agreed that what is available, usually Mexican Brown, is not desIrable but differed as to whether it is "too cheap" or prohibitively expensive. One way of reconciling the divergent testimony is to remark that for users to obtain the desired effect from low-purity heroin, they need to increase their dosage. Therefore, cheap, low-grade heroin is in fact prohibitively expensive to use if it takes double or triple the customary dose to ward off withdrawal. Treatment professionals and police officers agreed that the preferred heroin substitute in Jackson County is dilaudid.
Diverted Pharmaceuticals Dilaudid is only one of a number of drugs, legal if taken by prescription under a doctor's supervision, that are bought and sold on the black market and abused in the homes of Jackson County. This is the County's invisible problem. Treatment and law enforcement reach a smaller fraction of the people who abuse prescription drugs than they do of any other group of drug abusers. Prescription drug abusers largely come from environments or situations that tend to deny the existence of problems. This enables those who exhibit symptoms of abuse to stigmatize substance abuse treatment. As a result, abusers seek treatment only rarely. Because they are seldom violent or sociopathic, and their brand of narcotics violation does not fit the current stereotype, they do not attract the attention of law enforcement agencies. Yet their numbers are not insignificant, and the effect of their substance abuse on their dail! lives, their families, and their health, can be as severe as that of more well known substances. 3
Users Users of diverted licit pharmaceuticals tend to differ depending on the drug in question. One group of drugs, the opiates, serve as a substitute for heroin, and is particularly common in northeast Kansas City. Codeine, valium, and other sedatives appeal to elderly suburban women, but conservative people of all kinds favor prescription drugs for their apparent purity and regulated dosage.
Dealing Locations And Styles Before licit pharmaceuticals can be retailed on the black market, they must be procured. Occasionally, doctors themselves are the dealers, simply writing out prescriptions in the names of friends or associates. In addition, Paramedics are sometimes used by drug abusers as sources of licit pharmaceuticals. Con-artists take advantage of doctors' inattention and cracks in the system. A number of scams are prevalent in Jackson County. Some people pay patients to "doctor shop", obtaining several prescriptions from a number of different doctors, or they call a medical pool, claiming to be a patient of one of the off-duty doctors. Another scheme involves training children to the symptoms of hyperactivity in order to draw ritalin prescriptions. While fraudulent prescriptions are the most common way abusers obtain these 23 Nationally, emergency rooms report more accidents involving licit pharmaceuticals than they do for any other drug except alcohol. Methadone, traditionally prescribed to stabilize heroin-depeodant patients and for relief of severe pain in terminal patients, is available not only in clinics, but also for purchase on the streets, while dilaudid is the most common and prized heroin substitute. In 1988, more Jackson County residents in publicly funded treatment cited "other opiates" as their primary drug of abuse than cited heroin.
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drugs, some employ the more direct method of simply robbing a pharmacy. Two such holdups occurred in Kansas City, Kansas during the course of the summer. Once they obtain a quantity of pills, dealers sell them either to customers with whom a relationship has been established, or in a somewhat more commercial setting, as with dilaudid in northeastern Kansas City. Prices
Dilaudid #4s, which cost about .75 each when bought with a prescription at a pharmacy, sell for $30-$50 on the black market.
Other Drugs of Abuse Other substances available in Jackson County, but accounting for a much smaller fraction of its drug-abusing population, are worth mentioning either because of the notoriety of the few incidents in which they figure, or because of the lack of widespread attention that they receive. LSD
Some officials think this drug may be gaining in popularity, especially among young people. It can often be found where marijuana is for sale, and shows up occasionally in Eastern Jackson County. LSD is sells for approximately $8/"pane". PCP
This extremely dangerous drug is relatively rare, but leads disproportionately to violent and dangerous situations. It is retailed from Kansas City houses like crack, and is often used to lace marijuana cigarettes. The price of PCP is approximately $3,OOO/ounce. Inhalants Junior and senior high school students, particularly in northeast Kansas City and outcounty, often turn to inhalants when they have access to nothing else. Almost anything will do, from the proverbial glue or solvent, to gasoline, to any spray they can find in the kitchen cabinet or buy from the local hardware store. This form of substance abuse is among the most damaging to non-regenerating brain tissue.
Alcohol The substance whose abuse is by far the most widespread, with by far the most destructive consequences in the aggregate to its abusers and those around them, IS a licit one: alcohol. It is alcohol that is responsible for the most "drug-induced xiolence," the greatest number of accidents and cases of toxicity recorded in Jackson County. 2 24 "Drug-induced violence" includes instances of domestic violence while intoxicated or as a result of intoxication, physical assaults committed while intoxicated, traffic collisions resulting from driver intoxication, and other cases of bodily injury or property damage that result from the actions of persons who are under the influence.
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In August of 1990, the number of Jackson County residents seeking publicly-funded treatment for alcohol abuse swamped the number citing abuse of any other drug: there we~ 5,400, as compared to about 1,000 for cocaine, and 1,900 for all other drugs combined. Treatment professionals and community leaders see alcohol abuse ~~ a particular problem among certain subsets of the ~pulation: Hispanics on the Wes~ide, lower-class whites in the northeast,27 suburbanites,2 the young and Native Americans. 9 The observations of treatment professionals indicate that the incidence of alcohol abuse is on the Ibse in Jackson County, especially as cocaine abuse seems to be leveling off or even falling. This is the County's worst substance abuse problem, and signs are that it is getting worse, yet it is very difficult to control by law enforcement. Buying and selling alcohol is legal and scarcely controlled, breaking the law under its influence brings no add-on sentence. Only driving while drunk and drinking too young (or giving drinks to those underage) are illegal and subject to law enforcement pressure, and that pressure should be as firm and consistent as possible.
Poly-Abuse Just as drinkers often smoke, abusers of other substances often take a number of different drugs with different frequencies. At times, however, they mix their drugs, smoking "primos"-marijuana cigarettes laced with PCP or crack, for example, or dissolving pills in beer and drinking the mixture. Poly-drug users face special risks resulting from drug interactions. Poly-drug abusers are also among those with the worst criminal records and those hardest to cure of drug abuse. Poly-abuse results in a disproportionate number of the County's drug toxicity mentions. At the medical examiner's office, for example, autopsies revealed an average of more than 2 drugs per cadaver, when drugs were deemed the cause of death. It is the prevalence of poly-abuse that makes treatment professionals loath to break their discussion of drug abuse down by drug. "We prefer to think in terms of addiction," say Helen Lewandowski and Peisha Roumas of Renaissance West. People may have a "drug of choice," they agree, but often use other substances at the same time or experiment with new ones. Sometimes they cycle through drugs, as they "bum out" or get bored. Sometimes they use one 25 MDMA Data Sets 26 Interviews with Mary Gomez Lona, Helen Lewandowski and Peisha Roumas, John Fiero, July 10, 3, and 24, 1990.
27 Interviews with Cecile vanThullenar, The Assessment Center, and Christine Gurman, State Pretrial Release, July 31 and August 25 , 1990, among others. 28 Interview with Chief Howard Brown, Blue Springs Police Department and Jackson County Drug Enforcement Task Force, June 29, 1990. 29 Interview with Senior Park Rangers, July 1990, and Abba, p. 5. 30 Interview with Linda Hanson of Baptist Hospital's Chemical Dependency Treatment Center, June 27, 1990, among others. For cocaine, see DUF, May 1990, and figures from Truman West Medical Center, provided by Dr. William Watson.
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to mitigate the effects of another. What is significant, believe treatment professionals, is not what drugs these people abuse, but that they abuse drugs.
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ll. CONSEQUENCES
The problems associated with drug trafficking permeate Jackson County. Emergency rooms and treatment centers strain to meet the demands placed on them by abusers seeking treatment, those suffering overdoses, and the victims of drug shootouts. AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases invade the community, aided by the practices of needle sharing and prostitution for drugs. Children, the young and unborn, grow up in families that abuse or addict them. Productivity in the workplace suffers. While some of the drug problem's consequences can be quantified in lists of injuries, incarcerations, economic costs, or infant addicts, the full psychological and social effects are beyond measuring, and add to the pressures on law enforcement agencies and community leaders struggling toward a solution. We have divided this section into a discussion of the consequences of drug abuse to abusers themselves, and its consequences to those around them.
Effects On Users Drug Poisonings
Damage to the health of their abusers is one of the most obvious effects of illicit narcotics. Habitual drug use almost invariably entails high risk. Long-term dependencies on "street" drugs, overdoses by occasional users, or the ingestion of excessive quantities of pharmaceutical drugs all contribute to drug-related medical emergencies. Accurate and comprehensive data on drug-induced medical emergencies are hard to come by. The most powerful statistics available are provided by the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), a nation-wide survey of hospital emergency rooms sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. DAWN reports the total number of drug related emergency room episodes occurring in more than 700 emergency rooms in cities throughout the United States, with a sample size of over 20 metropolitan areas. Unfortunately, Kansas City has not been represented in the DAWN report since 1987. 1 DAWN also collects information from medical examiners around the country. Kansas City is still included in this sample. In the latest report, for calendar year 1988, 2 out of 1 The decision not to include Kansas City hospitals in DAWN data gathering efforts was made by DAWN on the basis of their desire to collect information from other regions of the country. Dr. Watson keeps similar statistics for Truman West, but it is unknown whether doctors with privileges at other Kansas City hospitals keep similar statistics.
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Kansas City's 6 coroners and m~ical examiners reported 1,196 fatalities in total, 32 of which were attributed to drug abuse. Among these 32 dea~s, there were 72 drug mentions, generating an average of 2.25 drug mentions per death. Thus, most deaths resulted fro~ poly-drug use. The total Kansas City area population covered by these reports is 801,500. However, since these statistics are based only on 2 out of 6 medical examiner jurisdictions, the true number of drug-related deaths throughout Kansas City could be three times as great for 1988. These figures also ignore deaths resulting from drug-related violence. We were able to procure additional information abo~t drug-related emergency room episodes in Kansas City from Truman Medical Center-West. Since Truman West is Just one of many hospitals in the area, its emergency room data is not necessarily indicative of the drug abuse problems of Jackson County as a whole. Additionally, because of its size (the hospital's bed capacity is 300 and the emergency room treats 37,000 patients a year) and unique location, the Truman is not necessarily representative of any of the area's other medical centers. Nevertheless, the data provided by TMC is still useful. Truman Medical Center-West is located near areas known for active drug trafficking, violence, and drug abuse. While it treats relatively few cases of poisoning among upper- and middle-class users, its emergency room statistics do provide a close-up picture of the effects of substance abuse on those populations among whom it is most apparent. Trends in the number of drug-associated emergency room visits to TMC are at least somewhat indicative of drug abuse patterns throughout the city and the county. At first glance, Truman Medical Center figures are rather encouraging. Cocaine-related emergencies are actually on the decline. While the number of such emergencies rose steadily between 1984 and July of 1989, from July, 1989 to July, 1990 the number decreased markedly. 1989 was so bad that one doctor estimated the proportion of all emergency room episodes that were cocaine related to be around 1 %. To look at it another way, a new victim of medical complications due to cocaine tbuse was delivered to the Truman Medical Center Emergency Room just about every day. From this all-time high of around 170 cocainerelated cases between January and July of 1989, cocaine admittance rates between July and December of 1989 decreased to approximately 150, and to approximately 100 from January through July of 1990. While the decreasing trend of cocaine-related emergencies gives room for optimism, the pure bulk of drug abuse episodes at TMC from March of 1988 through July 31, 1990 reminds us that the war has not yet been won. During this two-and-a-half year period, TMC's Emergency Room served 87,048 patients. Of these, 688 were diagnosed with some sort of non-dependent abuse of an illegal narcotic such as cocaine, LSD, or one of the opiates. An · 2 Kansas City as mentioned here includes those counties which are part of Kansas City, coroners and medical examiners being appointed on a country wide basis in Missouri. 3 National Institute on Drug Abuse, Data from the Drug Abuse Warning Network, 1988 Annual Data, p. 82. 4 Cities roughly similar in size to Kansas City provide an interesting comparison: Atlanta (population 1,072,900, ME reported 108 drug abuse deaths), Indianapolis (population 842,400, ME reported 18 drug abuse deaths) , New Orleans (population 1,012,100, ME reported 39 drug abuse deaths), Norfolk (population 633,800, ME reported 19 drug abuse deaths), San Antonio (population 988,800, ME reported 89 drug abuse deaths). 5 We wish to thank Dr. William Watson of the Truman Medical Center for his meticulous record keeping, and for his cooperation and eagerness in sharing his findings . 6 These informal estimates were provided by Dr. Watson.
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additional 133 patients were diagnosed as suffering from dependence on illegal drugs. 289 were treated for poisoning by sedatives or hypnotics, such as over-the-counter drugs, b~bit~rate~, or antidepressants and 25 for opium, heroin, methadone, codeine or morphine polsonmg. Additional information provided by Dr. Watson at TMC suggests that the potential severity of cocaine-induced emergency room visits is greater than generally considered. In the period between January, 1988 and November, 1989, 115 of the 480 cocaine-related emergency room patients required an EKG, often when the patient complained of chest pains. Of these 115, 67 demonstrated EKG abnormalities, revealing problems with their cardiac function. Apparently, heart froblems may be a more common consequence of cocaine overdose than generally realized. AIDS
The diffusion of AIDS by means of shared needles is a new and disconcerting consequence of some forms of drug abuse. Heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamine users often tum to intravenous injection to get their "high". Such a practice provides an easy path for the spread of mv infection. In 1989, methadone clinics in the Kansas City metropolitan area served 556 heroin addicts. This figure does not account for such treatment resources as hospitals and private doctors; nor, of course, does it account for the number of IV drug users who inject other drugs, or do not seek treatment. The Missouri Department of Mental Health, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division (ADA) estimates that the total n~mber of IV drug users is 6 to 10 times as great as the number of IV drug users in treatment. This would mean between 3,300 and 5,500 actual IV drug users. Accounting for private facilities and unreported users, the HIV / AIDS program at the Kansas City Health Depwrnent calculates the range of 1989 Greater Kansas City IV drug users as 2,940 - 7,340. 1 Using separate data, the Missouri ADA scales down from an estimated 22,000 IV drug users statewide to reach an estimate for the Kansas City area of approximately 5,770 IV users, a figure that fits into the range provided by the Kansas City Health Department. 11 Further studies that strive to determine the proportion of IV drug users who have contracted the AIDS virus put the figure between 2.5 % and 5 %.12 Based on the range of 2,940 - 7,340 IV drug users, there were between 110 and 275 HIV infected IV drug users in 1989.
7 Emergency Department Computer Patient Log, Truman Medical Center West. 8 Dr. William Watson, Official Abstract Form , 1990 AAPCClAACTICAPCC Annual Scientific Meeting. 9 HIV/AIDS program, Health Department of Kansas City, Update on HIV Seroprevalence in the Kansas' City Metropolitan Area , 1989. 10 Ibid. 11 Missouri Department of Mental Health, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse. 12 Ibid. , HIV I AIDS program.
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Data from past years indicates that the incidence of mv in IV drug users is on the rise. In the period from July to December 1987, 0.6% of IV users had the HIV infection; from Januarv to December 1988, that rate grew to 2.4%; between January and October 1989, it was 3.2% .13 In just one year, 1988-9, the Kansas City Health Department raised its estimated range of mv infected IV drug users from 52-91 to 111-276. Among the AIDS-infected population, the number of cases that can be specifically linked to needle-sharing provide a warning to intravenous drug users. Of the reported 961 individuals stricken with AIDS in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, 44 - almost 5 % - owe their susceptibility to the disease to their IV drug use. Another 71 people - 7.4 % of the total were both IV drug users and homosexuals, and so their infection could have as easily been due to the one cause as the other. Many of these figures may be underestimations. People tend to under-report such behavior as homosexuality or the sharing of hypodermic needles. Secondly, some drug users consider the term "IV drug use" to be exclusively associa:e'/ with heroin, and therefore neglect to report IV drug use when they are injecting another drug. 4 AIDS is also spread via prostitution. IV drug using prostitutes are thus a particular threat to public health.
Effects On Others
Crime A short look at the daily news demonstrates the reach of drug-related violence. One headline proclaims "Two Wounded on Flora Avenue", while another details the story of a 16 year old boy and a 27 year old man who fell victims to a shotgun blast fired from a passing car. Later that week, the news reported that five firebombs were thrown into the house at 3750 Flora; the story was prefaced with the headline, "Friends Testify Suspect was Using Drugs". Another report told of a 16 year old who killed a drug dealer who sold him counterfeit crack, and still another provided details about a youth who admitted to committing a murder less than 12 hours after he was brought in on charges for another drive-by shooting. These headlines, taken from one randomly chosen weekday during the summer, ;.ive a picture of the dismayingly habitual violence that drugs have brought to Kansas City. 1 The association of violent crime with drug trafficking is particularly applicable to Kansas City, but the eastern County is not free from drug-related crime. There, according to Chiet Howard Brown, theft is the most common and damaging criminal offshoot of the drug trade. 1
13 Ibid 14 Abba Industries, "Profile of Noninstitutional Provider Environments and Discouraged Chemically Dependent Persons in Jackson County, in Center for Management Assistance, "Final Report and Recommendations on a Substance Abuse Treatment Needs Assessment for Jackson County," June, 1990, p.5. 15 Articles appeared in the Kansas City Star, Wednesday, June 27, 1990. 16 Interview, June 29, 1990.
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The degrees and ways in which drugs and crime might be linked are various, and the relationship is difficult establish precisely. In the words of one police official, "When a drugdealing gang-member beats up his girlfriend, does that constitute drug-related violence, or domestic violence?" One gauge of the degree to which crime in general is drug-related is the percentage of arrestees testing positive for drug use at the time of arrest. Such data, provided by the National Institute of Justice's Drug Use Forecasting program, indicates that for calender year 1989, 57~ of males and 68% of females arrested in Kansas City displayed traces of recent drug use. While these figures might seem high, a look at other cities puts them in perspective. In 1989, Kansas City was one of the five DUF cities lowest in drug use among its male arrestees. In the previous year, it was tied for last place. Metropolitan centers such as New York, Philadelphia, or San Diego witnessed drug abuse in about 80 % of all their male arrestees. Trends over time also give reason for optimism. Though the updated 1989 figures show a slight increase from 1988 (from 54% to 57% for men), a graph of drug use among arrestees sampled between 1988 and 1989 shows a marked decline, particularly among women. These trends in DUF statistics can be taken to imply either that drug abuse in general, or that the frequency of drug-induced crime, is on a down-swing. Data derived from the Kansas City Police Department, however, paint a more disconcerting picture than that offered by the DUF statistics. Narcotics arrests have shot upwards, from 500 in 1980 to over 4200 in 1989. 18 Over the same ten-year period, many crimes liable to an association with illicit narcotics have also shown clear upwards tendencies. Arrests for larceny, vandalism, weapons offenses, aggravated assault and "other assaults," motor vehicle theft, offenses against family/children, and murder have all been occurring with increasing frequency throughout the 1980s. Many of these offences correlate to drug use and drug trafficking. Guns, for example, ars reported to figure pervasively among the furnishings of Kansas City crack houses. 1 Vandalism, motor vehicle theft, and assault are all crimes that can be drug-linked, and whose victims can include non-drug users as well as users. The predominance of drug-related crimes even led one Kansas City police officer to declare, perhaps overstating the case, "I just don't see any criminal that's not a doper."
17 DUF, May, 1990. Note: there are a number of reasons to use care in drawing conclusions from DUF data. One limitation is the sample size: researchers could test only 128 male arrestees during the course of only 8 weeks of 1988. As a result, infrequent yet important criminal violations, notably homicide, may be underrepresented in the findings. Decreasing trends in drug-using arrestees do not necessarily imply decreasing drug problems throughout the city; there could be merely less drug-related crime, or reduced success on the part of the criminal justice system in apprehending drug-related offenders. 18
Again, these figures measure only arrests. Thus, they could indicate either a population of offenders that is maintaining its size but getting ·sloppy· , a more determined and capable police force, or indeed a worsening situation. So, while we cannot be scientifically sure of an exacerbated drug-related crime problem in Kansas City, it does appear that the last few years have seen a more violent, active, and widespread drug market.
19 According to George Rodriguez, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, guns in Kansas City and Missouri are relatively easy to buy. There are even more firearms in Kansas City than in Washington D .C., the "murder capital" of the nation. (Interview, June 29, 1990.)
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The most frightening of these trends is the increasing murder rate. The correlation between the homicide rate and narcotics activities cannot be precisely established, but officers from both the Police Department and the Prosecutor's Office concur that around 70% of homicides are in some way drug-related. The common possession of handguns by anyone involved in dealing drugs in Jackson County lends credence to their estimates. Such a situation can have powerful effects on the community at large. When reductions in the prevalence of drug abuse are unapparent to the naked eye, and drug-related crime reaches out beyond the periphery of the inner city to encompass burglaries or muggings in neighborhoods unaccustomed to them, the shocked community looses faith in its criminal justice system. In the areas hardest hit by flagrant street dealing, citizens can become inured to violence, accustomed to drugs, and disdainful of the law and its representatives. Drunk Driving Another form of drug-related violence has for its weapon not guns or knives, but automobiles. In 1988, 32% of fatal automobile accidents reported by the KCPD's Traffic and Operations Division were alcohol related. In 1989, the proportion jumped to 55%. These homicides can be blamed directly on the substance abuse of inebriated drivers, and figures for non-fatal accidents are likely to be at least as high. Drug Damaged Infants The most disheartening consequence of illegal narcotic activity is to be seen in the number of infants who are born damaged by the effects of cocaine. Women who use cocaine or alcohol during pregnancy often also deprive their unborn children of needed nutrients, and often transfer their drug dependency to the unwitting infants.
Over one two month period, a doctor at the Truman Medical Center tested 3,000 new births for traces of narcotics. About 450 of them tested positive for cocaine (at above 300 ng/ml), demonstr~ing that 15% of the mothers and newborns had used cocaine within 60 hours of delivery. 0 These results could err on either the low or the high side of the true numbers. Some mothers may have avoided cocaine use as their delivery grew immanent, while others may have gone out of their way to "coke up," in order to ease the pain of labor. Since these figures account only for a short time frame at one specific hospital, they are not statistically representative of Kansas City'S crack baby problem; yet the 15% figure gives us some informal indicator of the preponderance of drug use among pregnant women. For the sake of perspect!ve, it appears that the national range for cocaine damaged infants lies between 0.4% and 32%. 1 Crack seems to be the drug of choice for pregnant women. Of the 450 babi~~ tested The positive for drug contamination, approximately 75 % were involved with crack. difference was made up by 5-10% alcohol abusers, and 15-20% abusers of miscellaneous other drugs.
20 Test performed by Dr. Mahmoud S. Ahmed of the Truman Medical Center. 21 Interview with Dr. Ahmed. June 28. 1990. 22 Interview with Helen Lewandowski. Executive Director. and Peisha Roumas. Renaissance West. Inc .• July 3. 1990.
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Child Abuse Drug abuse, particularly the abuse of alcohol, often leads to increased family violence. Trends in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area indicate that both alcoholism and child abuse are on the rise. The director of the Baptist Medical Center Care Unit notes, for instance, that in 1984 alcoholism was the predominating problem among the treatment center's patients. Toward the middle of the decade, alcoholism was eclipsed by the abuse of a newly popular drug: cocaine. However, in the last year or so, cocaine ~revalence has decreased, while alcohol has recaptured much of its former constituency. At the Assessment Center, (a non-State supported screening and placement agency), Cecile van~ullenar estimates that more than 50% of clients who abuse an illicit narcotic also abuse alcohol. 4 Alcohol abuse is on the rise throughout Jackson County. The Missouri Department of Mental Health, Division of Alcohol & Drug Abuse, tracks admissions into publicly-funded treatment centers. 1989 saw a total of 6,436 admissions for alcohol abuse, up from 5,555 in 1988, 4,915 in 1987 and 3,752 in 1986. Meanwhile, reported offenses against family and children have also shot up, from approximately 80 in 1980 to upwards of 340 in 1989. Thus, child abuse and alcoholism, invariably associated in the minds of therapists and social workers, have risen in tandem over the last number of years. Abuse of illicit narcotics must also play a role in the violence against children and family members--reported and unreported--that occurs in Jackson County each year.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases The intensity of drug trafficking throughout Jackson County may have led to an increase in sexually transmitted diseases. As mentioned above with respect to HIV infection, this problem affects a wider range of people than just drug abusers, since it includes non-drug using prostitutes and non-drug using customers of prostitutes. Randy Gould, Program Coordinator at the Swope Parkway Health Center dubs the increasingly common phenomenon of trading sex for drugs as "survival sex. "is Young women addicted to crack desire the drug so acutely that they willingly trade sex for it. Such practices increase the chances for the dissemination of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and AIDS, especially since women in these circumstances are less likely than average to use safe sex practices. Mr. Gould points out that "survival sex," given its random, desperate, and incautious nature, increases the chances of harmful consequences, and thus the demands placed on the resources of the County's treatment facilities. Other factors connect STD' s to drug activity. Drug or alcohol intoxication clouds reasonable judgement in sexual relations with a lover or a prostitute; intoxicated individuals are more likely to trade sex for drugs, to ignore the need for contraception, participate in risky sexual activities, or to share needles. STD's in general travel along the same paths as HIV infection: from drug dealer or IV user to prostitute or drug addict, and then along to the population at large.
23 Interview with Linda Hanson, director of the Baptist Medical Center, June 27, 1990. 24 Interview with Cecile vanThullenar, Coordinator, the Assessment Center, July 5, 1990. 25 Interview, July 9, 1990.
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IV drug users, moreover, already a high risk gr~gp for HIV infection, are among the Thus, they pass along their risks of groups least likely to participate in cautious sex habits. all kinds of infections to prostitutes and lovers, who can transmit them to the community at large. The program manager of the Kansas City Health Department's Se yally Transmitted Disease Program reports that over 70% of its patients also use illegal drugs.1 Such activity is "highly related" to sexual diseases. In particular, syphilis and a new strain of penicillin resistant gonorrhea have been on the increase since 1986.
26 Information provided by Rhonda Weimer, IVlDrug Outreach Program Director of the Kansas City Free Health Clinic. 27 Interview with Jim Lee of the Kansas City Health Department, September 4, 1990.
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ID. THE CURRENT RESPONSE
State Legislation
General Authority Missouri narcotics laws are divided by targeted offense. They include statutes banning the possession, simple delivery, and trafficking of controlled substances. These statutes assign a classification to the various offenses, ranging from Class A Misdemeanor, for possession of marijuana under 35 grams, to Class A Felony without probation or parole, for trafficking first degree in large amounts of heroin, cocaine, crack, LSD, PCP, marijuana, or methamphetamine. It is these classifications that determine the range of allowable sentences if a verdict or plea of guilty is reached for the offenses in question.
Sanctions The Missouri Code contains other statutes that can be used to increase the severity with which drug offenders are treated. RSMo.195.285 and 195.295 raise the class of a felony offense if the offender has pled or been found guilty of a drug-related felony in the past. If a narcotics sale takes place at gunpoint, an additional charge of Armed Criminal Action can be added to the Sale charge. Missouri law includes a number of statutes that allow for the strict punishment of people convicted of narcotics offenses, as well as some laws that assist attacks on their means of doing business. What are lacking, however, are certain tools that might make it easier to bring drug offenders to trial, and to convict them once there. Federal authorities have available certain legal tools which are not available to state authorities. Witness immunity and conspiracy statutes as well as specific sentencing guidelines are examples. By comparison, state agency enforcement sweeps of open air drug dealing must rely on trespassing ordinances as the underlying legal authority for the sweeps, since more specific legal authority for such action is missing. Recently, state statutes were reconfigured in order to strengthen the capabilities of state authorities. The state now has a wiretapping statute and an upgraded sentencing schedule for drug statute violations. There has been a perception on the part of the Kansas City Police Department (KCPD) that drug dealers are handled more stringently by the federal, as opposed to the state, judiciary. This perception however, overlooks the fact that cases brought to
35
these two judicial systems are of different weights. That is, the federal judicial system tends to get cases involving defendants who are large, or volume drug dealers, whereas state cases tend to represent drug dealers of lesser magnitude. As a result, penalties handed out by the two judicial systems are indeed different in their severity. Part of this perception on the part of the KCPD has been self-fulfilling. There has been a history of a close working relationship between the KCPD and federal authorities on certain cases. In these cases the KCPD spent time preparing federal authorities prior to the arrest of suspects. As a result, federal authorities were well prepared to proceed judicially when arrests were made. On the other hand, when dealing with the state judiciary, there was a tendency on the part of the KCPD to amass a number of cases without informing the State Prosecutor's Office before hand. These would then be turned over to the State Prosecutor's Office as a group. Lack of foreknowledge and opportunity to prepare for such case loads prior to their arrival, made the State Prosecutor's Office appear slow in processing these cases in the eyes of the KCPD. This, in tum, reinforced the KCPD's inclination to take drug cases to the federal rather than the state judicial systems. It would be useful to develop a data collection system which monitors both the state and federal judicial systems with respect to both offenses and severity of punishments. This data would help clarify the types of cases handled by both systems, and perhaps suggest a mutually agreeable triage of cases by "weight" between the two judicial systems.
Asset Forfeiture Three sets of statutes set out the forfeiture authority of the state of Missouri. RSMo 195.140 and .145 are specifically aimed at narcotics trafficking. They provide for the forfeiture of any assets involved in or resulting from the exchange of a controlled substance or an imitation controlled substance, including money, real property, vessels and vehicles. Under 195.140, "any moneys ... found in close proximity to forfeitable controlled substances ... are presumed to be forfeitable under this section. The burden of proof shall be upon the claimants of the property to rebut this presumption." RSMo 613 .607 is more general, stating that all property involved in criminal activity is subject to civil forfeiture under the Criminal Activities Forfeiture Act (RSMo 613.600-613.645) In either case, claimants to the property in question must be served with a copy of the petition requesting forfeiture. If they contest the action, their challenge can be heard in a jury trial under the 195 statute, but not under the 613 statute. Under the 613 statute, seizure normally follows the issuing of a writ of seizure upon the granting of the forfeiture petition, but can also come as an incident to lawful arrest before a petition is ever filed. When a seizure occurs this way (as it does in most drug cases), it must be reported to the Prosecuting Attorney within three days. He must immediately file a petition for forfeiture, and the burden of proof for all its allegations is upon the investigative agency. After a judgment of forfeiture, the court may order "retention [of the property] for official use by any agency of the state or political subdivision," its sale, or its transfer to an innocent party with an interest in it, or "any disposition ... which is in the interest of justice and adequately protects innocent parties."
36
RSMo 195.130 provides that any structure involved in a narcotics violation constitutes a public nuisance. If the owner's awareness can be proven, then the property can be closed for a year. Owners or occupants who "keep or maintain" rooms or structures that are used for the purposes of violating narcotics statutes are guilty of a Class C felony. Upon conviction, the property is subject to forfeiture under {he Criminal Activities Forfeiture Act. For further discussion of the issues and procedures involved in forfeiture actions, please see Prosecutorial Bodies: Jackson County Prosecutor's Office, Forfeiture Unit, below. Licit Pharmaceuticals The problem of prescription drug abuse could be substantially reduced through a triple-prescription regulatory plan. Such plans, currently used by eleven states, require that prescriptions for widely abused drugs be sequentially numbered and pre-printed with the provider's DEA registration number. Each form comes with two no-carbonpaper copies, one of which is kept by the physician. The patient takes the other two copies to the pharmacy. When the order is ftIled, the druggist keeps one copy and sends the other to the pharmacy regulatory agency. The regulatory agency, which generally operates at the state level, enters the prescription data into a computer system. Routine analysis of resulting data base enables the regulators to promptly detect any irregularities or patterns that indicate abuse. In cases that result in prosecution, computer output that shows the suspect physician to have prescribed more dilaudid (or any other abused pharmaceutical) than his or her peers in the community can a powerful effect upon the judge and jury.
The sanctions accompanying a triple prescription program are also worth mentioning. In addition to the traditional criminal justice system penalties, convicted offenders would also suffer license revocation and loss of livelihood. In comparison with dealers in the drug culture's "black market", they would be very hard for abusers to replace. Finally, the cost of the program could be at least partially off-set by "user fees", whereby each prescription carries with it a small charge that is billed directly to the providers.
RECOMMENDATIONS: ~
Propose to the Missouri Legislature a statute prohibiting "loitering for the purpose of buying, selling, or consuming a controlled substance," with a very precise definition of the prohibited conduct. (The Alexandria VA ordinance is one good model; see Appendix A)
~
Propose to the Missouri Legislature a statute empowering the Jackson County Prosecutor to grant immunity from prosecution for testimony given before a Grand Jury, and to compel such testimony.
~
Propose to the Missouri Legislature a statute prohibiting criminal conspiracy, perhaps modeled on the Federal RICO or Continuing Criminal Enterprise statutes.
~
Propose to the Missouri Legislature a statute making objective evidence that a person is under the influence of an illicit substance grounds for an arrest. A model
37
based on § 11550 of the California Health and Safety Code, is included in Appendix A. ~
Propose to the Missouri Legislature a statute requiring the implementation of a triple-prescription regulatory plan for licit pharmaceuticals. The New York State statute could provide a model for that legislation.(See Appendix A).
Local Legislation
General Authority Kansas City ordinances currently ban the possession, consumption, or sale of most controlled substances, including cocaine and marijuana. Some controlled substances are omitted from these ordinances (among them LSD and a number of prescription drugs). The omissions, when taken in conjunction with the minimum quantity thresholds in the State courts, present the possibility that arrests involving small quantities of these drugs may not be prosecutable in any forum. The result is that lowlevel possession or low level dealing of the omitted substances is effectively free from law-enforcement pressure of any kind. Where such substances are rare, the omission may not be very significant. In the case of a substance whose abuse causes concern, however, lack of a city ordinance banning it is, or would be, detrimental to an integrated effort to combat drug abuse in Jackson County. Zoning Laws Zoning laws are sufficiently broad to allow their application to the rehabilitation of neighborhoods suffering from the effects of flagrant drug dealing. Control of land use may offer a powerful tool to control the drug problem. However, under current procedures inspectors from Kansas City's Neighborhood and Community Services Department cannot check a building for violations of the building or public health and safety ordinances without being invited in, either by the occupant or by police officers who have served a search warrant. If a building does prove to be in violation, the Department can order its owner to make the necessary repairs within a stated period of time, or demolish the building. Empty buildings can be boarded up, and uninhabitable ones posted as such. Owners who cannot make necessary repairs to their buildings are liable for the cost of demolition plus a $630 administrative fee, or they lose their property to the city. Nonetheless, the cost of demolition is such that some 400-450 buildings currently await destruction. This process is long and costly for the city. Authorizing an administrative inspection warrant would speed it up considerably, as well as affording the Department access to a greater number of unsafe and unsavory buildings. Just engaging in the inspection process, may be enough to disrupt the routines of occupants engaged in illicit activities.
RECOMMENDATIONS: ~
Institute an administrative inspection warrant for violations of city property maintenance codes.
38
~
City ordinances banning the possession, administration, and trafficking of cocaine, marijuana and other drugs should be retained.
Law Enforcement Agencies: KCPD--Patrol Divisions Three different groups within the Kansas City Police Department are responsible for the vast bulk of narcotics arrests in the city: the uniformed patrol divisions, the Street Narcotics Unit, and the Drug Enforcement Unit. In the uniformed patrol divisions, officers are split along geographical boundaries into five divisions: North, South, East, Central, and Metro. The bulk of the city's reported crime occurs in the last three districts, whose uniform divisions each have an attached Tactical Unit, trained in high-pressure operations. Central, Metro, and East Divisions' drug arrests are likewise more numerous than the other divisions'. Patrol officers' drug arrests usually occur in the course of one of two procedures. Sometimes, a routine stop for a domestic disturbance or a car check will tum up a rock or two of crack or a marijuana cigarette on the person of the detainee. This happens quite infrequently, however. According to one Metro patrol officer, it might lead to about 20% of drug arrests in the field. The greater number of drug arrests result from special operations. Periodically, one squad on a watch will get a "wild-car" assignment, and be allowed to range freely throughout the district, without responsibility for answering calls. The squad sergeant can assign a particular focus: staking out for DWIs, for example, or making contacts in known drug areas. If they do decide to concentrate on drug trafficking, the squad chooses a location where street dealing is particularly active; the officers do their best to park where they can watch the action undetected and move in quickly, or radio information to other cars stationed nearby. If, in either scenario, patrol officers find what they believe to be narcotics in the possession of an arrestee, they immediately field test the substance. A positive field test constitutes probable cause for arrest. A positive field test and possession of less than 250 grams of marijuana or less than I gram of cocaine permits fIling in Municipal Court. Filing at the State level however, requires a laboratory analysis of the drug found on the arrestee. Police can hold an arrestee for up to 20 hours in an effort to obtain the laboratory analysis required to filing at the state level, however resource short falls normally prevent the laboratory analysis from being completed in this time period, thus the suspect is released from custody. In this regard, filing at the municipal level, where a laboratory analysis is not required, has advantages.
The Police Department can and does exercise discretion as to whether to refer cases to the municipal or state level. For example, while suspects with no prior record who are found with less than 250 grams of marijuana or less than I gram of cocaine might routinely have their cases filed at the municipal level, suspects holding these lesser amounts of drugs might have their cases filed at the state level if it was found that they had long prior drug records. When such arrests occur in the daytime, the Drug Enforcement Unit's Administrative Squad determines whether or not to refer the case to the Prosecutor's Office, and handles the requisite paperwork. After business hours, however, it is the officer in charge of the district's Crimes Against Property desk who makes a
39
preliminary determination as to whether city or state level charges will be filed. Then, the next morning, the Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) takes over the case processing. Patrol divisions can be involved in narcotics enforcement in two other ways. The tactical units connected to East, Central, and Metro divisions are responsible for executing any search warrants that DEU obtains. Also, they may join the Street Narcotics Unit (SNU) on operations. Normally, SNU will call in one of the tactical units when there is a warrant out on each of two houses that are in close proximity to one another or seem to be linked. In these cases the two squads execute the two warrants simultaneously, though SNU maintains responsibility for processing the arrestees and evidence in both houses. Finally, not all enforcement efforts need result in arrests. In areas of blatant curbside dealing, judicious use of a squad car's sidebeam, or questions called out to loiterers, can prove quite effective in breaking up a market, even if only temporarily. We encountered several officers, notably in Central and Metro divisions, who make it their business to know their neighborhoods: they are aware of who is on probation, who has warrants out or a prior narcotics conviction; they stay alert as they patrol the streets, not only to calls that come across the radio, but also to what is going on around them. The vast bulk of arrests by uniform patrol officers are city cases, either marijuana possession or paraphernalia cases, or small amounts of cocaine. Patrol officers represent an extremely valuable resource for combating visible narcotics trafficking, particularly if their efforts are coordinated with those of other dedicated units. As it stands, patrol officers' efforts tend to be self-initiated and sometimes haphazard. These officers' intimate familiarity with the neighborhoods they patrol, and with the histories and habits of their residents, are crucial to a wellconstituted anti-drug effort.
RECOMMENDATIONS: ~
New drug enforcement strategies, as they are developed by the Narcotics Enforcement Division, should include operations in which narcotics officers and the relevant patrol squad work in tandem.
~
Increase the use of foot patrols in the higher density areas, such as housing projects and the Midtown apartment areas.
~
Use post cards as a method by which to discourage out of neighborhood drug buyers who make "drive-through" purchases. Foot patrols or local citizens can make note of the licence numbers of strange vehicles which seem to frequent their neighborhood. The the address of the vehicle owner may then be found and a post card sent to the owner. The post card states that their vehicle has been seen in the neighborhood frequently and that the neighborhood is known for illicit drug trade. These post cards are an inexpensive way in which citizens can help remove the illusion, on the part of drug buyers, of anonymity when purchasing drugs.
40
Law Enforcement Agencies: KCPD-The Street Narcotics Unit The Street Narcotics Unit was formed about a year and a half ago, to allow the police to respond more effectively to citizen concerns about drug trafficking. At the time, open curb-side dealing was quite widespread, and the activities of the Drug Enforcement Unit, aimed at mid- and upper-level dealers, were not making a visible impression. SNU's stated purpose was to target street-level dealing directly, and to serve as a resource for citizens concerned about conditions in their neighborhoods. At first, SNU concentrated on open-air dealing, employing various tactics: buybust, execution of warrants, and sweeps. Gradually, these efforts did lead to a reduction in street-side transactions, so that now the predominant retail outlets for drugs in Kansas City are the houses. With this change came a change in SNU's tactics: the Unit is currently devoted almost exclusively to serving search warrants. The Unit, which operates almost exclusively at night, is composed of one undercover and one TAC squad. Armed with marked money and body microphones, the Undercovers perform two functions each night: they try to make a "confirmation buy" just before a warrant is served, and they buy from new locations to generate new search warrants. It is the TAC Squad's job to execute warrants, and collect and report the evidence. Undercover officers, usually in the company of an informant or following up reported tips, may knock on ten or twelve doors in the course of a night, trying to make a buy. Valuable hotline tips are those that include the maximum of information: which door in a house to approach, name of the seller, password if any. Just an address is not sufficient and can be dangerous, because the wrong approach will alert sellers. At houses where something is "going on," the situation is always tense. Sellers are nervous in the company of newcomers, and more often than not their guns are cocked. The temptation is to put the money down, take a rock, and get out right away. But such behavior can be even more tell-tale. Undercovers must often spend long minutes in crack houses, bargaining and "talking trash", as their anxious partners listen over the wire from a car outside. When an undercover officer succeeds in purchasing narcotics, he or she immediately writes out a report of the events. The next morning, SNU's administrative officer takes the report and files for a search warrant with the Associate Judge of the Circuit Court, who almost invariably grants it. The Unit has ten days to serve the warrant, but usually makes an attempt that same night.
-
After a briefing in which the characteristics of the house and its occupants are described, the two squads go out. The TAC Squad conceals its vehicle near the target, and waits for an undercover officer to make a second, or "confirmation," buy at the location. As soon as they hear the signal, they must move in and break through the door of the house. Their first concern is to dlsarm (often) and secure its occupants. Then they turn to collecting evidence, photographing the suspects and location, drawing maps, and filling out reports. Each executed warrant leads to a minimum of two hours' work on site, and at least as much back at Unit Headquarters, where the undercover who made the original buy looks through photographs of the detainees and fills out a Suspect Identification Report to add to the case file as it is completed. All reports are reproduced in eight copies for distribution to the appropriate personnel.
41
In the past, SNU filed its cases with the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office immediately, adding lab reports on evidence recovered as they came in. Shortages of resources however, meant that certain information, such as laboratory reports, simply did not get to court in a timely manner. This necessitated seeking continuances in court. In response to this problem, an administrative officer now must wait to file the case until he receives test results, often after a month or more. Meanwhile, apprehended suspects are released almost immediately, not to stand trial until three to five months later. On rare occasions, in cases of violence or prior criminal activity where the case has significant importance to the Police Department, an officer will shepherd a case: going to the Prosecuting Attorney's Office and getting a Criminal Complaint against the offenders while they are still in custody, and with it, obtain a warrant for their arrest. SNU appears to be responsible for about as many state-level narcotics cases as the At the outset, the Unit's efforts balance of the Kansas City Police Department. achieved noticeable results, and its officers felt proud to be part of a valuable operation. In the last year or so, however, much of that feeling has eroded. The frustration that has come to charge the air at the Unit's Headquarters can be attributed to the following perceptions: •
Delay in the handling of cases. SNU's work results in 5-15 arrests per night, disruption of a known narcotics trafficking venue, and forfeiture of significant amounts of money, weapons, and, on occasion, buildings. However, the time required by outside agencies (e.g., the Crime Lab and at the Prosecuting Attorney's Office) to complete their processing and review functions generally exceeds the maximum 20-hour investigative detention period. As a result, most offenders are released and back in business within a day. It was noted that these delays are most often the result of staff shortages and overwhelming case loads. With respect to the Prosecuting Attorney's Office, significant improvements have been made within the past six months. This situation, more than anything else, accounts for the officers' sense of the futility of their efforts. They know that just arresting offenders will have little impact on Kansas City's drug problem. Only if arrested offenders are prosecuted immediately and punished when proven guilty, does police work bear fruit. Currently, the Unit finds itself hitting houses over and over again before warrants for the arrest of their occupants are issued. And the procedure grows more difficult and more dangerous each time it is repeated. Asked if any of the drug houses in Kansas City are fortified, one TAC Officer answered ruefully, "Yeah, sure. The ones we've hit before. "
•
Lack of a Coordinated Strategy. The SNU should develop tactical street-level objectives that contribute to the accomplishment of an overall strategic goal. This may involve some departure from its previous practice of planning operations predominantly on the basis of citizen complaints. However, better strategic planning could lead to more positive system-wide impacts and would serve to make each new initiative build upon the Unit's previous successes. We are aware that the SNU's mission is being re-examined, and hope that this recommendation will be given due consideration in that process.
42
•
Inadequate Equipment. Like virtually every agency we studied, SNU is in desperate need of a good information system. Lack of automation hampers the collection and storage of data that could be vital to the formulation of strategy, it hampers SNU's ability to track targets and actions taken against them, and it slows down the process of completing the paperwork that attends every executed warrant. (Please see the Technology Chapter Recommendations section of this report).
RECOMMENDATIONS: ~
We recommend that SNU's first priority be to drastically reduce turn-around time. Next-day arraignment for all drug cases, as is common in other major metropolitan areas, would be ideal. In effect, all cases, and not just the particularly nasty ones, should be shepherded.
~
The Police Department's Regional Crime Lab should adopt a 24 hour turnaround period as its objective for all drug analyses referred by field officers. The Department should equip and staff the Lab to succeed in this objective.
~
Additional resources, as they are added to SNU, should be devoted to eliminating case backlog and reducing the delay in case filing before they are used to increase the overall number of cases taken on. 1 (Please refer to the appropriate sections for a more detailed discussion of these recommendations.)
~
SNU should expand its operations to include strategic targeting of particular retail markets, and ventures that in~olve cooperation with other police units, citizen organizations, and prosecution.
~
The Police Department should develop computer capacities to provide automated templates for the various reports that must be filled out and for hotline information; updatable record-keeping for specific cases, individuals, and locations; and cross-referenced storage of statistical data. The SNU should use this technology to coordinate with other criminal justice agencies. (Please see the Technology Chapter Recommendations section of this report.)
~
The SNU appears to be under-equipped. Morale and operational effectiveness would be enhanced by a more adequate inventory of vehicles, communication and monitoring apparatus, office equipment, and buy money.
~
SNU should increase its quota of high-quality administrative officers, and accord them adequate support and respect. Currently, the myriad of tasks required to get a case into the courtroom is not performed efficiently enough. This work is crucial
1 Given the fact that the Crime Lab and the Prosecutor's Office are already overwhelmed by the current volume of police referrals, it is clear that the new police resources made available through the AntiDrug Sales Tax could swamp the system if they were not employed to provide adequate "balance". 2 The Dragnet Program, now underway in Kansas City and three other metropolitan areas in the United States, will address these suggestions.
43
to the speedy and successful disposition of cases generated by the Unit's operational squads. ~
The Unit should consider assigning one administrative officer on permanent detail to the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office, to serve as a kind of liaison. Doing so would tend to increase communication between the two units, and would provide a point person to handle difficulties as they arise.
~
SNU and the Prosecutor's Office should plan and work together to target specific drug trafficking areas, such as the bars in the Westport/Plaza area
~
In order to help assure satisfactory outcomes in court, case officers on SNU's Administrative Squad should be released from the bulk of their other duties as their cases approach trial.
~
Members of SNU's Administrative Squad should meet with members of the City Prosecutor's Office, and should continue to meet with the County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, to review guidelines for case filing, and to discuss specific examples of apparently misflled cases.
Law Enforcement Agencies: KCPD-The Drug Enforcement Unit The Drug Enforcement Unit (DED) serves two distinct purposes. Its investigative squads, consisting of 6 detectives and a sergeant each, pursue long-term operations against the suppliers and organizers of Kansas City's drug trafficking networks. It was this unit's activities that led to the large cases against Jamaican posses in the mid1980' s, and then against the LA gang-members that replaced them. "The best cases," according to Maj. Dennis Shreve of the Narcotics Division, "are the ones the detectives develop themselves, using their own sources of information about who is dealing what and how best to get inside the organization." To develop such a case, officers must go deep undercover, establishing social and professional relations with members of the target group. Building the trust necessary to glimpse the workings of a drug-dealing organization requires weeks of elaborate play-acting and expenditure of resources, to no immediate end. Evidence and information has to be collected methodically and completely, so that when a Grand Jury indictment is sought, it is sought in conditions that will optimize the results of prosecution. These investigations are costly in money and time. In the pursuit of this case or others like it, DEU detectives regularly calion federal law enforcement agencies for assistance, particularly the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) and the FBI. They also frequently enlist early investigative participation from the US Attorney's office. Although their results have been impressive, the actual effect of DEU operations on Kansas City's drug problem has yet to be measured. When asked whether the DEU's obviously effective targeting of mid- and high-level dealers has resulted in any marked disruption of the market on the streets, a Captain in the Unit replied that it has not: other groups always seem to materialize, replacing those that are taken out. The DEU' s other function is administrative, and is carried out by a separate squad. This squad's nine officers are responsible for flling not only those cases generated by
44
the DEU itself, but also all state and federal charges resulting from the activities of district patrol officers, as well as city-level charges involving drugs other than marijuana or cocaine. In 1989, the DEU handled 302 state cases, close to 70% of which originated from a field arrest. Of the 44 federal cases it filed, only about a third came from the field, the rest resulting from DEU's own work. Between January 1 and May 1 of 1990, the Unit fJled 38 Federal and 87 State cases.
Apart from its case-management duties, DEU's administrative squad takes part in many on-going investigations, performing functions that undercover detectives cannot. Two of its officers, paid for by a grant, are devoted exclusively to interdiction, and are detailed full-time to KCI Airport, and the bus and train terminals. The others share such activities as wiretapping, surveillance, and research in bank and telephone records. When DEU executes a search warrant, it is the Administrative Squad that performs the search and processes the evidence. Their case filing and case preparation duties must be fit in around these activities.
RECOMMENDATIONS: ~
We recommend that DEU's first priority be to drastically reduce tum-around time. Next-day arraignment for all drug cases, as is common in other major metropolitan areas, would be ideal. In effect, all cases, not just the nasty ones, should be shepherded.
~
In order to help assure satisfactory outcomes in court, case officers on DEU's
Administrative Squad should be released fro"} the bulk of their other duties as cases to which they are assigned approach trial. ~
Members of DEU's Administrative Squad should meet with members of the City Prosecutor's office, and should ' continue to meet with the County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, to review guidelines for case filing, and to discuss specific examples of apparently misfiled cases (so long as Municipal Court continues to take these cases).
~
DEU and the Police Department's Case Review Office should maintain a high standard for the quality of cases they file on the city level. In instances of a questionable stop or poorly compiled case materials, they should decline the fJle and notify the arresting officer of the reason.
~
The DEU should mount efforts to curb the traffic in licit pharmaceuticals. While it may not rise to the level of the area's crack cocaine problem, the over-prescription and abuse of pharmaceutical drugs appears to be entrenched. Even without a "triple prescription" program as recommended above, undercover "sting" operations could significantly disrupt this comer of the area's drug market. Unlike most illicit drug traffickers, physicians and pharmacists have much to lose and the mere publicity of an enforcement effort could yield substantial results.
~
As is the case with SNU, DEU's Administrative Squad needs additional personnel.
3 Cost figures for expenditure by federal courts on drug cases are not available.
45
~
DEU should also consider assigning a permanent liaison to the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office, as they do to the US Attorney's Office.
~
DEU and the Prosecutor's Office should plan and work together to target specific drug trafficking areas, such as the bars in the Westport/Plaza area.
~
Additional resources, as they are added to the DEU, should be devoted to eliminating case backlog and reducing delay in case filing before they are used to increase the overall number of cases taken on.
Law Enforcement Agencies: KCPD--The Regional Crime Lab The Regional Criminalistics Laboratory is pivotal to any criminal proceeding in Jackson County, and particularly to the prosecution of drug cases. With the exception of marijuana violations and possession cases involving less than a gram of cocaine, no narcotics charges can be filed, nor any drug offender prosecuted, until the Crime Lab has completed its analysis of confiscated evidence. This year alone, the Crime Lab will analyze approximately 3700 samples of suspected illicit narcotics. How efficiently these samples are processed will significantly affect the impact law enforcement can have on the drug problem in Jackson County. When police officers make a narcotics arrest, and once they have collected the evidence and filled out the requisite reports, the first thing their administrative officer must do is send samples of the apparent narcotic to the Crime lab for analysis to prove that it is in fact a controlled substance. In the interim, the otherwise complete case file waits in the police unit's headquarters. Once at the laboratory, drug samples will be analyzed by one of three chemists. About 80% of the time of these chemists is assigned narcotics Their supervisor contributes approximately one half of his time. 4 Under current procedures, it takes about an hour and fifteen minutes to complete the analysis of a single sample, including the paperwork. The backlog at the lab, however, is such that any given sample will spend between a day--for "rushed" samples crucial to important cases--and 2-3 months-for a low-priority street arrest. A number of factors complicate the Crime Lab's processing of evidence. To begin with, the lab is not responsible merely for the analysis of drug samples. All forensic investigations required by the Kansas City Police Department are conducted by the lab, including blood, fingerprints, hair and tissue samples, photographs, etc. Drug cases are often complex, and include a number of components that all require lab work. According to Gary Howell, the lab's director, it is cases like this that narcotics units frequently "rush".'5 Secondly, the physical weight of the narcotics recovered in the course of an arrest often determines the level of charges that can be brought, or the severity of add-on sentences that can be requested. In these cases, the lab is responsible not only for 4 Interview with Gary Howell, Director, Regional Criminalistics Laboratory, July 10, 1990.
5
Ibid.
46
verifying that a sample in fact contains an illicit substance, but also precisely how much is there. The importance of the Regional Crime Laboratory cannot be over-emphasized. In narcotics cases, the most important piece of evidence is often the illicit drug itself. Because no narcotics case can proceed without a certified laboratory finding as to the nature of the substance recovered, a backlog at the lab chokes up the entire criminal justice process. While brown envelopes stack up in the lab's evidence room, offenders return to the streets and continue selling or using illicit drugs. As of August 1990, the standard backlog at the Crime Lab was 3-4 weeks. We feel that this backlog is attributable to the following:
•
Inadequate and/or obsolete equipment. Technology is an important factor in how efficiently a laboratory functions. Highquality instruments help in three ways: first, they improve the accuracy of analysis; second, they expedite the process, allowing for more work to be done in a shorter period of time, and they can be kept running around the clock. Third, although acquinng new machinery often necessitates the retraining of laboratory personnel, it is likely to be a cost-effective use of time. A chemist might spend two weeks learning how to operate a Gas Chromatograph, but because of the new machine's efficiency, the work would be made up by the end of the following week. With the equipment currently in use at the Crime Lab, one chemist completes an average of 6.5 samples a day. We believe that newer technology could increase the lab's capacity several fold even without additional personnel.
•
Inadequate stafrmg. While equipment contributes to a laboratory's optimal functioning, adequate staffing is also crucial. Like most civil service agencies, the Regional Crime Lab suffers from a high turnover rate among its professional employees. Industrial opportunities in the area offer much better pay and comparable benefits. Most young chemists see the Crime Lab as a good place to amass the practical experience necessary to obtain a more desirable job. The Crime Lab, as a result, expends its resources helping people over the steep part of their learning curves, but never reaps the benefit of its investment.
•
Pbysical organization. Even with good equipment and an adequate staff adequately paid, a lab cannot function up to its potential unless it's physical layout is properly engineered. Although the Regional Crime Lab is well organized (especially given its limited space), its evidence room (where confiscated drug samples are held) is a conspicuous exception. The room measures roughly 14' x 11', with metal shelves on three of the four walls: different shelves roughly A number of allocated to different law enforcement units. cardboard boxes lie here and there on the floor, and it is not immediately apparent what "system" keeps track of evidence once it reaches the room. When asked, laboratory personnel responded that "everybody pretty much knows where to find things." While the bags containing samples are clearly labeled and marked, it is easy to 47
imagine how an increase in narcotics seizures could reduce this room to chaos.
RECOMMENDA TIONS: ~
Chemists who work on drug samples should be trained in the operation of the new Gas Chromatograph that the lab currently has in storage, and that machine should begin operating as soon as possible.
~
The lab should purchase another Gas Chromatograph.
~
The lab should hire another chemist to work full-time on narcotics.
~
The lab should extend its business hours and should keep at least one automated Gas Chromatograph working around the clock. Options to implement this recommendation include rotating and weekend shifts and the use of part time lab assistants.
~
Compensation should be re-examined in order to make the lab more competitive with private industry.
~
The lab should develop and implement an improved filing and tracking system for drug samples. (please see the Technology Chapter Recommendations section of this report.)
~
If at all possible, additional work space should be made available to chemists, and the lab should be reconfigured to allow the staff some degree of privacy.
Law Enforcement Agencies: Sheriff's Patrol Both interview and documentary data were unavailable from this agency, and many questions about the scope of their role in suppressing the area's drug problem remain unanswered. As a result, we know little beyond that the Sheriff's Office serves a major role in executing warrants of arrest, and is primarily responsible for law enforcement in the unincorporated areas of the county.
Law Enforcement Agencies: Jackson County Park Rangers Thirty-six park rangers, four Senior Rangers, and one overall supervisor bear the responsibility for patrolling the 22,000 acres of parkland in Jackson County that do not fall within the Kansas City limits. According to Chapter 50 of the County Code, "Jackson County Park Rangers shall strive to assure the convenience and safety of all persons using county parks as permitted by this chapter." With only a college degree and 120 hours of law enforcement training, Park Rangers cannot be commissioned (in Jackson County, a Class A county) as officers of the law. They carry neither guns nor nightsticks; they have no power of arrest. Their authority extends only to writing up tickets (which carry a maximum fine of $100) for
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the violation of county ordinances, and escorting undesirables to the outskirts of the park. Rangers, states the Code, "shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the officers of the Sheriff's Patrol to enforce all park regulations set out in Chapter 50," and "on observing any violation of any county ordinance, or the laws of the United States or the State of Missouri, the Jackson County Park Rangers may notify the Sheriff, the Highway Patrol, or any appropriate law enforcement authority of the United States, the state, or the county, or of the city in which the park is located. "6 Jackson County parks are often scene to violations of the listed ordinances. Overwhelming evidence suggests that they serve as a convenient location for the sale and abuse of alcohol and illicit drugs. Rangers catch minors in possession of marijuana or alcohol on a daily basis; they find needles and empty cocaine packets in park shelters, and spot the same expensive cars cruising past them on park roadways day after day. License checks often tum up long criminal records in the names of their owners. Blue River Parkway is notorious for assaults, and Longview Park is suspected to be a retail drug market favored by upper-class buyers. In accordance with Chapter 50 of the County Code, Park Rangers have little recourse in dealing with these conditions except to tum for help to other law enforcement agencies. Yet they often receive little response. The Grandview Police Department, for example, whose jurisdiction includes Longview Park, assigns only one patrol car to the area for one hour per day. According to the Rangers, the Sheriff's Patrol is even less forthcoming. A number of anecdotes describe the situation: one two hour wait, with a drunk-and-disorderly offender in custody, for a Deputy to arrive; the Department's refusal, when called, to send a deputy to arrest a group of four vandals; routine unwillingness to run license numbers when Rangers radio them in. When other agencies do execute law enforcement operations in the parks, they often fail to notify the Rangers. Undercover activities, presumably mounted by Jackson County Drug Task Force operatives, routinely take place without the Park Rangers' knowledge. In the face of this lack of cooperation, the Rangers are reduced to their own resources, which are meager. They ask offenders to spill beer or drugs out on the ground and then escort them to the park borders. In one extraordinary case, a Ranger forced vandals to sign a pledge that they would pay restitution for the 900 or so dollars I damage they had done to park shelters. Without the support of a commissioned law enforcement body, however, such an agreement is unenforceable. The rangers could write tickets for possession, but because these tend to be city-level charges in areas of county jurisdiction, they rarely get prosecuted. Jackson County prosecutors and judges don't have the time. "In ten years," said one Senior Ranger, "I have not written one ticket for possession." Finally, the County's parkland includes a number of areas--the cliffs at Blue River Parkway, for example--that pose a particular danger to unarmed rangers on patrol. Not surprisingly, they tend to avoid these altogether. The result is that the parks have developed into a series of enclaves where law enforcement is minimal. They provide low-risk venues for drug trafficking, appealing to middle-class or youthful consumers who live in the surrounding areas. The Senior Rangers we interviewed agreed that almost any drug could be purchased in a park on weekends. 6 Jackson County Code, Chapter SO, Sections SOOS.l, SOOS.2, and SOOS.4.
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RECOMMENDATIONS: ~
The Senior Rangers, at least, should be provided with the additional 520 hours of law enforcement training required for them to be commissioned.
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The Park Rangers and the Sheriff's Department should meet to draft a Memorandum of Understanding to flesh out the details of their concurrent jurisdiction. This process should, perhaps, take place under the auspices of a supervisory group, such as a Jackson County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, should one be established, or the Jackson County Drug Task Force, which could arbitrate any disagreements that might arise and enforce the resulting understanding. Law enforcement agencies in the relevant jurisdictions should abide by the terms of the understanding.
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Police units planning drug enforcement or other major operations in the parks should notify the Rangers.
Law Enforcement Agencies: Jackson County Drug Enforcement Task Force The Jackson County Drug Enforcement Task time, as officials witnessed a rapid increase in county, it became clear that Kansas City was the resources needed to combat the illicit drug trade. cities and towns organized the Task Force.
Force was formed in 1986. At that narcotics trafficking throughout the municipality that could mobilize the So officials from the County's other
The idea behind the Task Force was that pooled resources would create a measurable impact on the drug problem in the combined jurisdictions. In 1989, the Task Force made 102 drug arrests and seized $23,000 which was forfeited to the State. The Task Force is a multi-jurisdictional enforcement unit responsible for the 13 suburbs of Kansas City. Its board of directors, made up of the police chiefs of the 13 Kansas City suburbs, meets once every month. The chiefs of the five largest cities (Independence, Grandview, Lee's Summit, Raytown, and Blue Springs) and the County Sheriff constitute the executive board, which meets every Thursday. Currently, the operational staff consists of two sergeants, eight field operatives, one intelligence officer, and one administrative assistant. The sergeants plan the day-to-day operations of the eight field operatives, while allocation of resources is determined by the board of directors. The Task Force is strictly focused on the illicit drug market in the 13 suburbs of Kansas City, targeting low-level and mid-level dealing in particular. Because all of its operations are undercover, its officers are based in a safe house. Generally, investigations are developed from information collected by the intelligence officer or via tips from area police departments, including Kansas City'S. Drug dealing in suburban areas is more discreet than it is in Kansas City's Central Patrol Division, for example, and so investigations take longer in the eastern part of the county, and require a greater degree of delicacy. Most buying and selling is done out of private homes or hotels, making it difficult for law enforcement agents to target a specific area. This characteristic is unlike Kansas City, which hosts some open-air dealing and numerous known drug houses that are relatively easy to buy from. The Task Force has never encountered an open-air market. 50
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As a result, most of its arrests follow transactions that take two or three months to develop. Generally, an operation starts with some type of tip or intelligence information. From this material, the field operatives develop a relationship with an informant, who they hope will lead them to a seller. The operatives then attempt to buy drugs from this seller at least two or three times. If the purchases are successful, and a search warrant is desired, it is served by one of five special units from the Independence, Blue Springs, Grandview, Raytown, or Lee's Summit police departments designated for this purpose.
RECOMMENDATIONS: ~
Task Force operatives should join members of the Street Narcotics Unit undercover squad in their six-week training program, and cross-train with them on work days. This would prepare Task Force members for a greater variety of situations and provide them with a larger reservoir of experience from which to draw. Such training could be supplemented by sessions with the Drug Enforcement Unit, whose undercover operations resemble those of the Task Force more closely.
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The Jackson County Drug Enforcement Task Force should be among the recipients of the new automatic notifications of case dispositions and sentencing dates for all cases in which they have been involved. All other recommendations that we have made regarding improved communications between the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office and the Police Department can be applied to the Task Force.
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The Jackson County Drug Enforcement Task Force should plan and work together with DEU, SNU and the Prosecutor's Office to target specific drug trafficking areas, such as the bars in the Westport/Plaza area.
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Reduce pre-filing case review time and "tum-around" time. Next-dayarraignment for all drug cases, as is common in other major metropolitan areas, would be ideal. In effect, all cases, and not just particularly nasty ones, should be "walked through".
Prosecution Agencies: Jackson County Prosecutor's Office Drug Unit The Drug Prosecution Unit in the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney's Office currently consists of four full-time prosecutors for drug offenses, including the supervisor. In addition, there is one full-time vehicular assault/homicide attorney who tries Driving-While-Intoxicated (DWI) homicides and an occasional sale or possession case under the auspices of the Drug Unit, and one part-time attorney who handles both drug and drug related offenses. Together, these six lawyers will review some 1200 cases in 1990, and fIle about 1000. The Unit's responsibilities reflect a "vertical prosecution" philosophy. The Unit reviews the cases, presents them in either a preliminary hearing setting or a Grand Jury setting, and then brings them to trial. "Vertical prosecution" was adopted because of the need for proficiency in "search and seizure" law as applied in drug cases, as well as the need to protect the very sensitive nature of information acquired in drug investigations.
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Narcotics offenses take one of two routes to formal charging. These are the filing of an Indictment or Information, the official charging instruments in the State of Missouri. The majority of these offenses (about 90%) arrive at the County Prosecutor's Office in the stacks periodically delivered by the Jackson County Drug Task Force (JCDTF) , or the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department's Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) and Street Narcotics Unit (SNU). These stacks may include as many as 80 cases, fld are usually two to three months old when presented to the Prosecutor's Office. If the case in this category is a possession charge, the defendant has usually been arrested and released due to the statutory requirement that a suspect who has been arrested be officially charged or released within twenty hours of his arrest by a law enforcement officer. If the case in this category is a sale charge and the defendant has never been arrested on the basis of the sale, he is probably not aware that his is the subject of an investigation.
Once files are logged in at the Prosecutor's Office, the Drug Unit Supervisor assigns them for review to one of the previously mentioned attorneys who comprise the Unit. While the Unit's goal is to review each case in less than one week, the demands of trials, preliminary hearings, and Grand Jury investigations, combined with the unpredictable delivery times and quantities of new cases (up to 40 every other day) , have frustrated the Unit's attempts to attain this goal with any notable consistency. If a decision is made to file a case which has arrived in the manner of the first category, it will be presented to the Jackson County Grand Jury for indictment. The Grand Jury serves for a six month term, March to September or September to March, and meets once every two weeks during its term. It hears fifteen to twenty drug cases per docket, which is about half of the total docket. The Grand Jury can be called into special session at any time, however, or its term can be extended at the Prosecutor's request. Upon return of an indictment, a warrant is issued for the arrest of the suspect (who is now a defendant) by the Circuit Court Judge to whom the Grand Jury returns indictments. Warrants issued as a result of indictment generally take about three weeks to successfully serve. After arrest, defendants will be arraigned within ten days. This procedure includes notifying the defendant of the charges against him, allowing him to formally enter his plea, appointing an attorney if he does not have or cannot afford one, and notifying him of his first trial date. The second route to formal charging is more immediate. This involves the police presenting a case for expedited review, either as an "in-custody" (where the suspect is in the custody of the police department and the statutory time lImit of 20 hours has not yet expired), or by simply requesting that a warrant for a particular suspect be issued immediately. "In-custody" cases receive the highest priority of any cases reviewed in the Prosecutor's Office. In cases where police request a warrant for a particular 7 The age of these cases is usually due to some combination of time consuming procedural requirements, staffmg limitations in the referring agencies, and processing time requirements at the Regional Crime Laboratory.
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suspect be issued immediately, it must be noted that the police are often quite familiar with their suspects, and that there are some suspects the Narcotics Officers do not want left on the street. These include offenders with serious criminal records, offenders who violently resisted arrest or threatened undercover officers during a drug transaction, offenders with connections out of town (who would be unlikely to stay still for long once released), and offenders who would be extremely difficult to locate if they were released. Two of the Unit's prosecutors are on 24 hour duty to review these types of cases. These attorneys can be reached by beepers and their home phone numbers are provided to the police departments. When the police want an expedited review of a particular case, a detective hand carries the file to the appropriate attorney, who determines if and what charges should be filed. The attorney then prepares a Complaint (the formal charging instrument in the Associate Circuit Court) and a Warrant Information form. The detective then takes these documents, along with a written statement of Probable Cause, to one of the nine Associate Circuit Judges. The Judge reviews the Probable Cause statement and the Complaint, and then makes a decision whether or not to issue a warrant for the individual named in the Complaint. If the warrant is issued, the defendant is served and brought into the Associate Circuit Court where he is arraigned. The Associate Circuit Judge then sets the case for a preliminary hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence that a crime was committed and if the defendant has committed it. If the judge so determines, he "binds the case over", or transfers it to the Circuit Court for the issuance of an Information, arraignment, and assignment to a trial dOCket. Bond can be set or modified at any stage of the proceeding. The Prosecutor has the option, even after a Complaint has been filed, to submit the case to the Grand Jury for Indictment instead of going through the preliminary hearing process. The Unit's workload skyrocketed between 1988 and 1989. Case referrals which averaged under 200 per year increased to over 700. By mid-1989, the situation forced the Prosecutor's Office to take all drug cases to the Grand Jury. This decision was due to staff shortages among the prosecutors, in the police departments, and in the Regional Crime Lab. Quite simply, it became impossible to meet the demands of both trial and preliminary hearing schedules. Preliminary hearings were held four days a week. There was a 9:30 a.m. docket which lasted until 12:00 p.m., as well as a 1:30 p.m. docket that lasted until 3:30 or 4:00 p.m. It was not unusual for the Unit to have hearings set on every docket in a given week. Unit attorneys and police officers could spend entire mornings or afternoons waiting to present one 10 minute hearing. As mentioned before, a Grand Jury could hear 15 to 20 cases in the same three hour period. With growing trial dockets, the attorneys usually had five to ten cases that could be called to trial during the week in addition to the five to ten preliminary hearings that were scheduled. If an attorney with a preliminary hearing was called to trial, another attorney would be required to duplicate his work in getting prepared to handle the hearings. Occasionally, all of the Unit's attorneys would be in trial and no attorney was left to handle the preliminary hearings. As more, but less experienced, manpower was added, formal guidelines on the disposition of cases was also solidified. Juries began to return more severe punishment
53
and assistant prosecuting attorney's minimum prison sentences for plea offers increased. Public Defenders chose to take advantage of the manpower allocation of the respective agencies in retaliation for the increased minimum levels of plea offers. The Public Defender's Office retaliated with an across-the-board policy of hampering cases in preliminary hearing. "Sure, if the prosecutor wanted ten years for a probation profile," reflected one ex-public defender about past practices, "we'd get sticky with the evidence. Otherwise, we might let the lab report go, for the purposes of the hearing, while questioning the stop or whatever. Now it's become fashionable to file motion after motion to suppress evidence in preliminary hearing." The current Regional Defender did not deny the existence of such a policy. In response to increased severity on the part of the prosecution, he said, the defense plays the only chip it has: inconvenience. On top of their responsibilities for case review and preliminary procedures, each prosecuting attorney handles a trial docket of between thirty and forty cases, with some two or three days that they are available to spend in preparation for each one. The Drug Prosecution Unit has increased its commitment to moving cases quickly. Still, it is difficult to adequately emphasize the importance of speeding up this process. If an arrest leads to a few hours in City Jail, and then no further action for months, it is almost worse than no arrest at all. Dealers, contemptuous, are back in business within a day, spreading the word that a SNU bust doesn't really mean anything after all. If an arrest warrant is issued half a year later, the action is too removed from the original event to seem to be its consequence. In the words of one ex-SNU officer, "The only way to really make a difference is Swiftness and certainty to make these guys disappear. They have to just disappear." of punishment, even more than its severity, are the most effective deterrents to crimi' On this Jackson County prosecutors, Kansas City Police officers, academic studies, and people on the streets all concur. In addition to easing the scheduling demands of the understaffed Unit, and avoiding the obstructionist strategy on the part of Public Defenders, there is another reason for reliance on the Grand Jury process. Protection of undercover officers and informants. If undercover officers and informants had to testify in a preliminary hearing, their identities would be revealed in a crowded courtroom, and their identity and safety would be compromised.
RECOMMENDATIONS: ~
Provide the Unit with more personnel. It is currently scheduled to expand to 20 attorneys; and should be supplemented with sufficient support staff.
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We recommend that the Office's first priority be to drastically reduce tum around time. Next-day arraignment for all drug cases, as is common in other major
8 See ego Alfred Blumstein, Jacqueline Cohen, and Daniel Nagin, eds. Deterrence and Incapacitation: Estimating the Effects of Criminal Sanctions on Crime Rates, National Research Council: Washington, DC, 1978.
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metropolitan areas, would be ideal. In effect, all cases, and not just the particularly nasty ones, should be shepherded. New prosecutorial resources should be dedicated first of all to achieving that goal. ~
Install a state of the art computer system. Crucial to the Drug Prosecution Unit's-and indeed the whole office's--speed and efficiency is a state of the art computer network. The Prosecutor's Office needs a system that will automatically generate case ftle receipts, log-in forms, disposition records, and other critical data; it must keep on-going records of where defendants are in the system, cross-referenced with data from the courts, the Department of Corrections, law enforcement and United States District Attorney's Office, and other prosecuting bodies; and it must be able to compile statistical data (e.g., the number of dilaudid cases ftled in 1990, the number of cocaine trafficking cases that pled guilty, drug related homicides and burglaries, etc.). (Please see the Technology Chapter Recommendations section of this report.)
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Salaries, while they cannot be made to compete with those of the private sector, can be made competitive with other prosecutor's offices, allowing attorneys who so choose to remain in the service of the County Prosecutor's Office.
Three to four years is the typical tenure of most attorneys in the Prosecutor's Office. Jackson County has lost a number of skilled prosecutors over the past year or two to the US Attorney's Office and private practice. One key factor in their decisions has been money. $25,000 is not much for an incoming attorney to make; team leaders, with their added duties and responsibilities, cannot count on $35,000. As a result, employment at the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office is seen as a kind of internship by law school graduates on their way to more lucrative positions. In addition to an improvement in salaries to the attorneys there also needs to be a formal training program for new and experienced attorneys. Due to the sparse funding of the Prosecutor's Office, and the fact that prior to the current administration assistants were part-time, training of new and experienced attorneys has had an informal structure. Funding has not been there to have a full-time attorney on staff to handle training. With the large influx of new attorneys the hiring of a full-time attorney in charge of training and continuing education is a must. The informal continuing legal education program within the office must be transformed into a permanent program. The training program should result in a more timely disposition of cases since experience has proved to be a factor in the ability to determine the strengths and weaknesses of cases, and their probable dispositions. The training program would' accelerate the development of new attorneys. In the absence of experience, training and incentives can help equip lawyers to handle the variety of situations they must face, and encourage them to exert maximum effort every time they prepare for a case and walk into the courtroom. Although conscientious supervisory attorneys do their best to make do, in the absence of external support and policies designed to attract and keep quality employees, they can have only limited effect. •
A full-time attorney must be hired to be in charge of the training of newly hired attorneys and the continuing legal education within the office.
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The training program should capitalize on the present knowledge of experienced assistants in the office as well as former assistants, as well as the potential of the area Law Schools to be of assistance.
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A formal initial training program should be designed and implemented.
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The practice of "postmortem" discussions of the reasons for results in certain cases should be expanded.
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All incoming attorneys should receive special training in aggressive use of innovative legislation and trial procedures, as well as in the particular characteristics of the Jackson County Circuit Court and Prosecutor's Office policies. These sessions should be supplemented by mid-career and continuing legal education throughout the course of a lawyer's tenure.
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An experienced and well-respected trial lawyer should be hired to design the training program and supervise the practical education of all new lawyers.
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For at least their first six weeks in the office, new attorneys should attend court as assistants to more experienced prosecutors. When they begin trying their own cases, they should do so under the close supervision of their team leader, or another senior attorney who should observe their litigation and provide extensive feedback.
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High-quality work should be rewarded. Case dispositions should be kept on record and consulted during management review; lawyers with high success rates should be held up as models for new members of the trial team and be involved in their training. Whenever lawyers lose a case, their immediate supervisor should meet with them to discuss its particulars, and discover what went wrong and what might have been done better.
Comment: Heavy case loads also reduce prosecutors' efficiency. Jackson County prosecutors regularly handle two to three times as many cases as do Assistant US Attorneys. The lawyers are overworked, and as they find that they are unable to adequately familiarize themselves with the details of each case, unable to design the plea arrangement best tailored to its specifics, unable to· make most effective use of evidence, they can become frustrated. Police and judges remark on the effects on the quality of their work. There are two ways of reducing case load: assigning fewer cases per lawyer, and reducing lawyers' competing duties. ~
The policy in the assignment of new prosecutorial resources should be that they be deployed so as to reduce the overall case load across the Drug Prosecution Unit. Bringmg the number down from 35-40 to about 25 would be a significant improvement.
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Drug prosecutors should continue to litigate drug cases exclusively (with the exception of those homicide or assault charges that are related to drug cases they are working on) .
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The Unit should consider assigning its newest attorneys to the duties of screening and pre-trial proceedings, leaving the more experienced lawyers to negotiate at preliminary hearing and litigate cases in Circuit Court.
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Comment: These last two suggestions would have two effects. Police case officers and attorneys alike have pointed out the undesirable effects of drug prosecutors' divided attention, and these changes would allow them to focus exclusively on their trial dockets. They might also allow for expanded use of preliminary hearings, and for experienced lawyers to short-circuit them where appropriate. "Most drug cases get pled," says Charlie Rogers, head of Kansas City's Regional Defender Office, "but pled late." Good lawyers with enough time can negotiate for waiver of hearings, or even for plea, once the hearings are initiated. Those that did take place could allow for the early dismissal of poor cases, whose faults may have gone unnoticed in the 8 112" x 11" manila folder that prosecutors screen--sometimes it takes seeing witnesses on the stand to realize that they are finicky or their testimony soft, or that a stop was in fact unlawful. ~
Prosecutors should be encouraged to ride along with the SNU TAC Squad at least once. This would afford them a much better appreciation of the pressures and complexities of street level enforcement, and would help them develop better advice on how such operations could be improved. 9
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Prosecutors should continue to catalog examples of faulty stop, search, or casereporting techniques that they encounter.
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The current Drug Unit Supervisor (or someone from the Prosecutor's office mutually agreed upon by the Office and the Police Department) should continue to have some involvement in the training of new narcotics officers. This role could include providing detailed legal guidance on crack house investigation techniques, as well as on more routine stop, search, and arrest procedures.
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The current Drug Unit Supervisor, or an agreed representative of the Prosecutor's Office, should participate in the formulation of police strategy, either as part of a Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, as a member of the Dragnet Steering Committee, or by means of private meetings with the chief of the Narcotics Division.
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The Drug Prosecution Unit should assign its attorneys liaison responsibilities with the various law enforcement units responsible for narcotics arrests.
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Cross-
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The Jackson County Prosecutor's Office Drug Unit should plan and work together with SNU, DEU and the Jackson County Drug Enforcement Task Force to target specific drug trafficking areas, such as the bars in the Westport/Plaza area.
9 The attorneys would have to disqualify themselves from prosecuting the cases they observed in the field.
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•
Implement a "Deferred Prosecution Program" in the Drug Unit. At its core, this initiative would involve screening police referrals to identify offenders who may respond to incentives short of prosecution, and then offering those individuals an opportunity to remediate themselves during the statutory period for the filing of charges. Failure to meet the agreed upon terms of remediation would result in vigorous prosecution (for the original and all subsequent offenses) to the full extent of the law. This program would be particularly effective if used in conjunction with industry-sponsored "employee assistance programs", consensual urine testing, and community-based drug treatment.
Comment: Although traditional notions of "justice" are premised upon the vigorous prosecution of lawbreakers, the reality-induced practices of our contemporary court system are quite different. Plea agreements are overwhelmingly the rule, often with the accompaniment of summary probation and participation in an appropriate counseling program. Even these dispositions often require significant resource expenditures by criminal justice agencies. Further, these cases contribute to the constricting bottleneck that clogs our courts as the dockets become more crowded. Non-judicial handling under a "Deferred Prosecution Program" may offer essentially the same outcomes at a substantially reduced cost to the criminal justice system. Selected individuals could also be required to waive their right to trial should they breach the terms of the agreement prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations. 10 These individuals would, of course, be free to refuse the program and take full advantage of their constitutional right to trial. However, those who elect to avoid prosecution would be bound by all of the agreed upon terms of the contract, and should they fail to meet any of the agreed upon terms, would face full legal sanction for the original and all subsequent offenses. Some offenders who have not yet "hardened" may benefit from the incentives offered by a conditional "second chance" . Examples are most likely to include offenders concerned about the stigma of a criminal conviction, offenders who cannot afford the financial losses likely to result from time in court and jail, and others who wish to keep their records clean and the impacts upon their families to a minimum. Many of these individuals would probably be willing to "contract" with the Prosecuting Attorney for future behavior changes in exchange for non-prosecution. Because most criminal cases have an underlying connection to substance abuse, this program might be particularly effective if used in conjunction with consensual urine testing, voluntary counseling, community-based drug treatment, and/or industrysponsored "employee assistance programs". Additional" contracts" could include victim restitution and community service. Individuals who elect to participate could be charged an administrative fee to help off-set the costs of the program. If successful, the advantages could be considerable. In cases where the defendant does not breach the agreement, costs would be reduced in the Prosecuting Attornel and Public Defender's Offices, and would be virtually eliminated in the courts. 1 In addition, law enforcement agencies would benefit from a reduction in court-related 10 In effect, this waiver would be an admission of guilt. 11 Although Public Defenders would no doubt continue to provide early representation in many of these cases, the need for their services would virtually evaporate for candidates who successfully complete their "contracts" with the Prosecuting Attorney 's Office.
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overtime expenses, judges would have more time for other matters, incarceration costs would be reduced, and jail overcrowding would be commensurately relieved. Even in cases where defendants do violate their agreements, trials would not be necessary because of the waivers obtained by the Prosecuting Attorney upon entry into the program. Costs would therefore be lower even when the program fails . The effective administration of a Deferred Prosecution Program would require the development of special resources and capabilities in the Prosecuting Attorney's Office. Criteria would be needed to identify and select appropriate program candidates. The actual instrument of the agreement (Le., the "contract") would have to be developed and approved by both the Prosecuting Attorney and representatives of the Defense Bar. Judges would have to be briefed on the program and the role they would be called upon to play when a defendant breaches a covenant. Agreements and working relationships would have to be formed between the Prosecuting Attorney's Office and the counseling program providers. Consensual urine test facilities, employee assistance programs, and community-based treatment programs that would be utilized by the program's participants, and methods would have to be developed to monitor each candidate's progress and assure compliance with the terms of their agreements. On-going monitoring and performance evaluation would also be necessary to provide managers and policy makers with information on how well the program is working. At minimum, data should be collected and assessed on: the rates and volumes of the program case load; the success and failure rates of its subjects; the resource commitments needed to accommodate case screening and compliance monitoring; and, whatever collateral benefits occur in the justice system agencies whose workload is favorably affected by the initiative. ~
Additional resources, as they are added to the Jackson County Drug Prosecution Unit, should be devoted to eliminating case backlog and reducing the delay in case filing before they are used to increase the overall number of cases taken on.
Prosecution Agencies: Jackson County Prosecutor's Office Forfeiture Unit The Jackson County's Forfeiture Unit consists of one lawyer and one investigator. Between August of 1989 and August of 1990, they filed 299 cases. In 1989, the Unit filed 170 cases, of which 94 were disposed by the end of December, to net $211,054 in cash, 31 vehicles, and one house. Virtually every law enforcement agency in the County was responsible for some proportion of these cases: the Police Departments of Kansas City, Independence, Lee's Summit, Grandview, Raytown, and Sugar Creek, as well as the Jackson County Drug Enforcement Task Force, the Missouri Highway Patrol, and the Department of Safety. Initiating a forfeiture action is a complicated and almost always lengthy procedure. Because Missouri state forfeiture authority is set out in three separate, partially overlapping statutes, the Unit usually files these cases in two different way-s, so as to maximize their possibilities of success. Under RSMo 613.607, the ciVIl forfeiture statute, anyone known to have a claim on the property in question must be physically served with a copy of the petition requesting forfeiture. Drug-involved offenders lead notoriously transient lives. Only in about 45 % of state forfeiture cases are court investigators able to contact the interested parties within the allowed thirty-day limit. When they fail, the prosecution is left with two choices. It can either itself for a 59
second thirty-day period, or it can publish a notice of the petition in the newspaper for forty-five da~s. Public notices cost an aver~ge ~f $2~ per .case to run, so the Forfeiture Umt usually opts for the former, sendmg Its own mvestIgator out a couple of days per week and at ni~httime to serve petitions. ~f he cannot find the claimants in thirty days, then the Umt buys the ad. All told, thIS process takes from one to four months to complete. If the interested parties do not respond to the petition, the case is in default, and the judge will hear grounds for forfeiture in their absence. Otherwise, in contested cases, the Unit has to counter the claimants' objections until the case is brought into a condition of default, or placed on the trial docket. With a load of about twenty additional cases per month, one attorney, one investigator to handle both administrative assistance and investigations, no secretary, and no computer at all, the Forfeiture Unit can hardly spare the time to pursue contested cases.
Forfeiture actions are an absolutely necessary component of any broad-based antidrug strategy. They serve three functions: 1. They stiffen the sanction on possession or small-scale sales cases, where a guilty plea in conditions of overloaded jail capacity tends to lead to an abbreviated sentence. For example, if buyers know that they run a real risk of losing their cars every time they drive to a dope house, they will buy dope less frequently. 2. They offer the possibility of closing houses that SNU or DEU searches. 3. They generate money that can be reinvested in the anti-drug effort. In general, the value of forfeiture as a tool in the struggle against narcotics trafficking seems to be under-recognized in Jackson County, and its potential role in coordinated strategy neglected. Law enforcement, the Courts, prosecution, and the legislature need to focus their energies more directly on forfeiture, and indicate their respect with material and moral support.
RECOMMENDATIONS: ~
Add staff. The Forfeiture Unit at the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office desperately needs an infusion of resources. Two more attorneys and another administrative staff person would seem to be the minimum personnel required to handle the increased case load likely to be generated by new police resources.
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Supply it with equipment. Currently, all records are kept in a combination of me folders, legal pads, and ledger books. Obviously, the Forfeiture Unit will benefit with the rest of the office from the new information system that is now under consideration. However, an interim, desk top computer with "off-the-shelf' software would enable the Unit to more effectively manage its work until a permanent system is implemented. (please see the Technology Chapter Recommendations section of this report.)
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Develop more forfeiture cases. Police departments, which benefit most from forfeitures, should encourage their officers to focus on efforts that are likely to 60
produce them. Forfeiture statistics should be incorporated into the annual reports of all Jackson County law enforcement agencies. ~
Keep the Forfeiture Unit abreast of criminal drug cases' status. If possible, related cases should be tried in tandem, so that forfeiture proceedings can most effectively contribute to an overall strategy to combat the drug problem. Forfeiture can be thought of as a concurrent sanction for possession cases.
Comment: External incentives for engaging in involved forfeiture proceedings at the state level are somewhat tenuous. Current understandings allow for an 80%-20% division of the proceeds between the police and the prosecution, making concrete the general language of the Criminal Activity Forfeiture Act. However, the Circuit Court en blanc has recently questioned the procedure, stopped further judgements from being entered, and ordered a committee, chaired by Judge Borron, to make a recommendation. ~
When a drug case with related assets seems cut-and-dried, or the defendant is likely to plead guilty, the forfeiture attorney should be advised, so that she or he can file exclusively under RSMo. 195.140, in which the burden of proof to rebut the presumption of forfeitability is on the claimants.
~
When drug charges are dismissed or acquitted where there is an associated forfeiture case, the Forfeiture Unit should be notified so that it can drop its 195 case.
~
The laws of the County should be amended to allow the Prosecutor's Office to receive funds generated by successful forfeiture actions directly.
Comment: The prosecution's portion of asset forfeitures currently goes into the County's general revenue fund. It is rarely allocated back to the Prosecuting Attorney's Office. ~
The 80%-20% agreement should be respected by Circuit Court Judges in their Otherwise, police will simply take their allocation of forfeited resources. forfeiture cases to federal court, where the arrangement is more favorable to them anyway. The result will be fewer additional resources for the County's anti-drug efforts, and less opportunity to include forfeiture as a component of state-level drug enforcement strategy.
~
Under federal forfeiture rules, federal authorities give credit to local government for their cooperation in successful cases by sharing forfeiture assets. In many cases these assets are shared exclusively, or nearly exclusively with police departments. However, many other local government institutions, ( such as the state courts which issue warrants and the prosecutor's offices which prepare and try cases), contribute to these successful cases. In implementing the federal forfeiture rules, federal authorities should share the assets of forfeiture with a1l1ocal justice institutions which contributed to successful cases.
Courts: The Municipal Court In June of this year, the Midwestern Regional Office of the National Center for State Courts published a 95-page report on the Municipal Court of Kansas City. We do 61
not wish to, nor could we, duplicate their work here. However, their findings as to the filing of felony cases at the municipal level have a direct bearing on the material of this report, and should at least be touched upon. About one third of the drug cases filed in City Court are cocaine cases. The majority of these cocaine cases stem from charges of possessing paraphernalia with cocaine residue, or of possessing a gram or so of the drug. With twenty-one part-time prosecutors (12-15 hours per week) and only four full-time attorneys to handle dockets that regularly top 750 cases per day, the CIty Prosecutor's Ofrce can provide neither the time nor the quality of work required to try difficult cases. I More serious than the lack of prosecutorial resources is the lack of sanctioning capability. The most severe penalty that a Municipal Court Judge can impose is 180 days in city jail, and a $500 fine. City jail is currently crowded to the point that little, if any, of a sentence for cocaine possession will be served. Furthermore, while city judgments apply to offenses that are the equivalent of state-level misdemeanors, convictions carry no criminal record. This fact is particularly damaging as it relates to drunk driving. RSMo. 577.010 and 012 categorize a third DWI or BAC (excessive blood alcohol content) offense as a Class D felony. City prosecutors say they regularly see Municipal Court cases against violators who persistently re-offend. But until these offenders are convicted on the state level, the statute cannot be invoked against them. It is clear that Municipal Court is the least suited of the three courts in Jackson County to hear felony drug cases. No evidence suggests, however, that those cases are filed there as a matter of policy. An agreement reached in April of 1989 among members of the Kansas City Police Department, the City Prosecutor, and County Prosecutors' Offices established the case-filing guidelines that have been followed ever since. It was this agreement that allowed for police field-testing of marijuana, and all cocaine samples, and referral of those under a gram, and established that these cases would be filed in Municipal Court. If the number of drug cases on the Municipal Court docket has risen in the last two years, that is nothing more than a reflection of increased law enforcement efforts. The effects of these efforts are being felt across the board. Circuit Court has experienced a similar rise in the number of drug cases. Admissions to publicly funded drug treatment programs doubled. I3 Indeed, in July of 1990, the number of cocaine cases on City Court's dockels was down to between one-third and one-half of what it had been the previous year. 1 If those small-scale drug cases that do reach Municipal Court were no longer to be heard there, the effect would be for them to stop being heard at all. Prescription drugs offer a neat analogy. A police officer searches a detainee and finds four codeine tablets, for example, for which no city ordinance exists. The pills are in a tiny waxpaper bag, and the detainee has no record of a prescription. This case will be 12 These 750 cases per day represent all cases, not merely drug related cases. 13 Ibid., MDMH ADA Division. 14 Interview with Roger Potter, First Assistant, and Dan Sharp, Chief Warrant Officer, City Prosecutor's Office, July 17, 1990.
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deactivated, because it is simply too small for the state level. If the Kansas City cocaine ordinance was repealed, the same thing would happen to all paraphernalia cases and all cocaine possessions of less than a gram. There are three ways in which the Municipal Court and the Circuit Court could cooperate profitably, which would also tend to reduce the Municipal Court's load of inappropriate cases. One is to track persistent offenders at the municipal level and pass them up to the state level once an agreed limit of convictions has been reached. This is particularly important with respect to DWI, where the fact that the City convictions do not generate a criminal record has the effect of vitiating the State statute. Another has to do with deferred prosecution. Approximately $1.5 million of the Jackson County Anti-Drug Sales Tax money will go to fund a deferred prosecution program. For many city-level defendants, deferred prosecution may involve more rigorous sanctions than they currently face, and is more likely to have a positive impact on their lives. The third is to cross-designate prosecutors in order to more effectively coordinate state and federal litigation. This would be particularly effective in cases that share common factual backgrounds, involve the same suspects, or depend upon the same witnesses or evidence.
RECOMMENDA TIONS: ~
The ordinances in Section 18 of the Kansas City Code banning the possession, delivery, and administration of cocaine should be retained.
~
In August of 1989 a meeting was held among police, City Prosecutors and the County Prosecutor where they agreed to triage possession cases on the basis of weight. Less than state-level weights of some of those drugs for which there is no city ordinance were to be deactivated; less than a gram of cocaine and less than 30 grams of marijuana would place a cases in city court. This agreement was known as P.I. 89-8. It is recommended that this agreement be retained, but that both state and city authorities meet to review its contents and assure that all necessary parties are aware of its terms.
~
When City Prosecutors receive a case me for review that contains charges above the agreed level, they should decline prosecution and refer the matter for handling in the state court system. When they have clear evidence of a faulty stop, the matter should be rejected.
~
The Municipal Court should keep records of DWI and BAC convictions. The state and the city should agree upon a threshold for automatically "bumping" city-level cases up for state prosecution. This agreement should be tnggered when a suspect has accrued the agreed upon number of prior convictions (either by self admission and plea or by findings of the court).
~
City prosecutors should cull from their dockets first-time cocaine offenders and other defendants that fit a deferred prosecution profile, and refer them to the state's Deferred Prosecution Unit once it is formed.
~
Resources from the deferred prosecution portion of the Jackson County Anti-Drug Sales Tax should be assigned to Municipal Court to assist in this process.
63
Courts: The Circuit Court Approximately 160 of Circuit Court in August of not take into account the homicide cases currently on
the some 750 cases pending before the Jackson County 1990 were narcotics sales or possession cases. This does drug related tampering, burglary, robbery, assault, and the docket.
The Circuit Court, already in receipt of its portion of Anti-Drug Sales Tax moneys, has implemented a number of changes in procedure regarding the disposition of drug cases. It used to be that drug offenses were mixed in with other criminal cases, and heard in rotating batches, or "dockets," of 20-30 cases each. As of September 4, 1990, however, a separate drug docket has been established, and is assigned to the presiding judge of the Criminal Division. Stated policy is that cases low on the docket will be continued week-to-week until they are disposed, rather than being rotated out on four-week cycles as is the policy for other criminal cases. A portion of the funds will go to pay defense counsel, who will be detailed specifically to this docket. This decision is designed to reduce the burden that additional drug arrests will cause the Public Defender's Office. As it is, according to Judge Martin, the Public Defender's Office is often slow to collect witnesses and evidence in preparation for a case. Once a case is docketed, it is usually the prosecution that has to wait. 15 If these changes have the effect of shortening the time lapse between arraignment and trial, and of increasing the consistency of docketing and sentencing practices, they will have made an impact. Ideally, the six-week period that all criminal cases spend "maturing" before they are assigned to an active docket obviates the need for later delays. Lawyers, obtaining their time up front, should be able to arrive in court adequately prepared, and not resort to continuances. Apparently, however, this is not the result. State cases reach court an average 61 days after arraignmen~ according to the Detention Capacity Assessment Study, released in July of 1990. 1 That study underscored the ill-effects of repeated continuances. Not only do they increase the overall time to trial, but they aggravate the difficulties of gathering and readying witnesses, and they practically double lawyers' preparation time.
It is these delays, among other reasons, that induce the DEU to file cases in federal, rather than state court wherever possible. Another important factor is the perception on the part of the police that federal courts hand down stiffer sentences than state courts. As noted earlier in this report, that perception is believed to be incorrect in that the stiffer sentences handed down by federal courts are to defendants who carried more weight 17 ( that is are major dealers ), while the "lighter" state court sentences are handed down to defendants who carried less weight. None the less, the perception of stiffer sentences by federal courts, coupled with the well established relationship between the KCPD and federal authorities, tends to reinforce the KCPD's favoring filing with federal rather than state level courts. 15 Interview with Judge Martin, Presiding Judge, Jackson County Circuit Court, July 24, 1990. 16 Corrections Services Group, Inc., "Detention Capacity Assessment for Jackson County, Missouri" July 2, 1990 p. III-6. 17 "More weight" implies major drug dealers, dealers who have been arrested on a number of occasions, and those arrested with significant quantities of drugs.
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RECOMMENDATIONS: ~
Judges should become more involved in bringing about treatment of drug-involved offenders. When appropriate, sentencing should mandate treatment for drug offenders and others who show indications of a substance abuse problem.
~
A study be undertaken to ascertain the weight and sentencing differences between state and federal courts.
~
Formal time limits should be set for the delay between arraignment and trial. If the new drug docket becomes overloaded, an adjunct judge (necessary in any case to provide for change-of-judge motions) should be called in to help clear the backlog.
~
More effective and efficient docket management would help in alleviating some of the pressures which the judicial system faces. Docket management is a highly specialized area in the legal field. Help in examining and improving docket management should be sought from one of the following institutions: a) the Institute for Court Management, Denver, Colorado; b) the National Judicial College, Williamsburg, Va.; c) the University of Southern California's Judicial Administration Program, Los Angeles, Ca.
Corrections: Prison Unfortunately, convicted drug offenders do not "just disappear." They go to jail, most of them, and then after a while they get out. Even in jail they continue to exist: they think; they feel; they can learn. What inmates learn in prison may have a significant bearing on what they will do when they get out, and on their likelihood of ending up back in again. People often seem to think that prison, just by existing, plays its part in the fight against drugs. But the effect of incarceration as a sanction depends on its characteristics. The corrections process represents a unique window of access to a drug-involved population, and should be used to achieve the maximum positive impact on their subsequent behavior. In the beginning of July, a report on Jackson County's detention capacity was presented to the Anti-Drug Sales Tax Fiscal Commission. The report was comprehensive and well done, and again, we do not wish to duplicate the work of others work here. Yet we do see some virtue in emphasizing a number of its findings, and in presenting alternative ways of looking at a few of the topics it addressed.
The Correctional Services Group's most far-reaching recommendation was for the construction of a new Jackson County Detention Center to accommodate the proportion of the current population that exceeds the jail's stated capacity, and to allow for the increased number of detainees that will result from rising crime rates and increased law enforcement resources devoted to controlling them. While we agree with this recommendation in principle, we were surprised by its scope. This recommendation addresses not just the drug problem, but the problem of crime in general, and is far beyond the capacity of the Anti-Drug Sales Tax to implement. 65
Indeed, even the inmate population forecast upon which the recommendation is based may be open to some slight modification. A widely held assumption is that the net effect of the new programs funded by the Anti-Drug Sales Tax will be to increase the number of arrested and sentenced offenders to be incarcerated or otherwise punished. In the short run, an increase will certainly result. Over time, however, if the funded programs are successful, this trend should reverse. After all, their ultimate object is the reduction of crime. During the first 28 months after the inception of a similar integrated drug enforcement program in Lynn, Massachusetts, iurglaries declined 35 %, robberies 25 %, and crimes against persons as much as 75%.1 In other words, while Jackson County's need for corrections capacity exists now and is likely to become more acute in the immediate future, the precise dimensions of the longer-term requirements are as yet unclear. The corrections system, even as currently configured, can contribute to reducing the future need for jail capacity. Jackson County Jail's one and only function at present seems to be to hold inmates--make them disappear for a time. It provides no substance abuse treatment, except for a few Alcoholics and Narcotic Anonymous meetings, virtually no educational programs, and no work release. By these omissions, a valuable opportunity to make a positive intervention in offenders' lives has been let slip away. The addition of substance abuse counseling and educational programs would increase the effectiveness of incarceration in modifying offenders' behavior. If it is the cost of these programs that keeps them from being implemented, the objection is shortsighted. Even without such services, incarcerating a felon is expensive. An estimate for the annual cost of 0P5rating one prison cell for a year in 1989 falls in the range of $19,000 to $21,000. The additional cost imposed by hiring a la-member drug treatment program staff--whose services, according to Drug Use Forecasting numbers, might be appropriate to 65% of prison inmates--would not add significantly to the burden. If only twenty inmates overcame their chemical dependency and avoided rearrest and reincarceration, the result would be a savings of $100,000 per year in incarceration expenses alone, never mind police, legal, and judicial resources, or the value of these people's contributions as productive members of the community
There are other ways in which imprisonment can have a positive impact on an offender's future, and which can serve to reduce the cost of incarceration to the community, both in the long and the short run. One is to use a prison term to provide inmates with an educational opportunity that they may have missed. In 1988, according to Drug Use Forecasting (DUF), 58% of black arrestee~ and in Kansas City, and 70% of whites had completed less than 12 grades of school. 0 These figures can be taken as indications of the educational level of the vast majority of Jackson County prison inmates.
18 Mark Kleiman, "Heroin Crackdowns in Two Massachusetts Cities: Executive Summary, " Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government, Working Paper #89-01-15, March, 1989. p. 5. See Appendix B for a brief description of the Lynn, Ma. program. 19 For purposes of approximation, a three-month prison term was assumed per inmate. 20 DUF, National Institute of Justice, March 1990, p. 19.
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In a period when technology seems to be developing at warp speed, social attitudes are changing in step, and industrial production is falling, education has never been more necessary. Nor will "just the basics" suffice. To compete in a changed marketplace, prospective employees need to develop special skills, and prison could begin to supply them. Inmates who benefit from educational programs can help defray their costs.
RECOMMENDATIONS: ~
A comprehensive drug-treatment program should be made available to inmates at the Jackson County Detention Center. Please see Correctional Services Group, Inc. "Detention Capacity Assessment Study, " Chapter VI, for detailed recommendations.
~
A program of general education should be established, offering high school equivalency classes, and training in special topics, such as information technology or mechanics. Note: these programs could be staffed in part by volunteers, and successful graduates could be asked to pay a fee. Otherwise, although not specifically drug-related, educational programs can be thought of as drug abuse prevention, insofar as they provide beneficiaries with alternatives to street life, and would thus be eligible for Sales Tax money.
~
The work-release program that was discontinued in 1987 should be reinstated. If possible, it should include more than just manual jobs; it should serve as a practical training ground for some of the skills taught in the educational programs. Prisoners' wages could be applied to some of the fees they owe.
Corrections: Probation and Parole Another way to reduce the pressure on the jail is to expand reliance on probation and parole. The department of Probation and Parole is apparently scheduled to suffer a cutback in personnel and funding for FY 1990. To us, this seems to be a move in the wrong direction at a critical juncture. If they follow certain conditions, probation and parole can be extremely valuable alternative sanctions to incarceration, and are particularly suited to certain types of drug offenses. Probation is usually reserved for minor offenses and offenders whose continued presence in their communities, it is judged, would not put their neighbors at risk. As such, it is particularly applicable to narcotics offenders with no aggravating circumstances surrounding their offense: users, and those arrested in possession of small quantities. The conditions of probation time make it a potentially powerful force in bringing a person to fight substance abuse. Therefore, if law enforcement tactics call for an increasing focus on users, then an expanded role for probation is almost a necessary consequence. For maximum effectiveness, certain of probation and parole's supervisory functions can be tailored specifically to drug abusers. A central function should be the monitoring of probationers' efforts to overcome their dependance on drugs. To do so, officers need to make much more use of urinalysis than is currently possible. Part of the reason why urinalysis is not now relied upon regularly is its cost. Two types of urinalysis tests may be run. The first is a "banded screen" test, which checks for the
67
presence of a limited number of drug types. Banded screen tests cost between $7 and $16 depending upon the number/type of drugs being verified. The second type of test is a full toxicity screen, which checks for all drugs and costs $20. Certain drugs have very short detectable lifespans in the body's waste stream. Crack, for example, becomes non-detectable within a period of less than a week. Thus, the use of urinalysis to monitor crack abusers on parole might necessitate a combination of ~anded screen and full toxicity tests each month in order to verify the drug free status. 2 Probationers often cannot afford to pay for repeated tests, and their missing them may reflect a restricted cash flow as much as it does continued drug abuse. In order for Probation and Parole to effectively monitor drug abusing offenders, it should be able to administer urine tests on a schedule which will provide reasonable probability of detec~rg violators. The program must include graduated sanctions for repeated dirty tests. For such a program to work, however, it needs the frrm backing of the judges who hand out probation sentences. Violation hearings, in cases of missed or dirty urinalysis tests must be taken seriously, and threatened sanctions actually applied. Indeed, probation and parole in general are only creditable so long as the sanction they replace-incarceration--remains a real alternative. Judges must be prepared to incarcerate offenders who violate the conditions of their probation or parole. Probation and parole are often valued for their rehabilitative effects, while their punitive aspect is downplayed. Too often, people who hear that an offender has been sentenced to probation take it that he has "gotten off." To ignore probation's potential as a sanction in its own right would be to waste a resource that is particularly valuable at a time when prison space is tight. There are a number of ways to maximize probation's effectiveness as a sanction. The most obvious is to increase the level of supervision, by reducing the number of probationers per officer, freeing officers to spend more time interacting with them, and by increasing the number of institutionalized contacts between officers and probationers. Another way to emphasize probation's punitive aspect is to attach conditions that might seem odious. Forced labor, and the associated images of shackled convicts working beside rural highways, has gone out of fashion. Yet handled differently, the idea could prove effective. A number of community service possibilities exist that would involve useful but perhaps somewhat unsavory or embarrassing tasks: neighborhood beautification, building demolition, service in homeless shelters. Putting probationers to work on such projects would obviously require additional manpower for supervision, but it would not require cell space. And, based on conversations with leaders of some community and church groups, it appears that resources exist outside the Department of Probation and Parole that could be tapped for this purpose. One advantage of these kinds of add-on components to probation sentences is their pUblicity. Almost to a one, amateur and professional students of the deterrent effects of sanctions agree that sanctions deter insofar as they are known to be applied. For this 21 Telephone interview with the Department of Probation and Parole, October 26, 1990. 22 Cf. Mark Kleiman, Mary Ellen Lawrence, Aaron Saiger, • A Drug Enforcement Program for Santa Cruz County," August, 1987, p. 8.
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reason, the more publicized--and public--a sanction is, the more likely potential offenders are to reflect before committing the crime that evoked it.
RECO:MMENDATIONS: ~
Abstinence from illicit drugs and waiver of probationer's 4th Amendment Rights of search and seizure should be a condition of probation or parole.
~
Drug treatment should be available for all and mandatory for many drug-involved offenders.
~
The Department of Probation and Parole should obtain the funding required to institute routine random urine testing to monitor probationers' abstinence.
~
The Department should establish and publicize a regular set of graduated sanctions for missed or dirty tests.
~
Funding should be provided to allow for a reduction in average case load per officer, and the expansion of intensively supervised probation.
~
The Department, perhaps in cooperation with a Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, should investigate the possibility of adding some kind of public, supervised labor to the sentences of certain drug-involved probationers.
~
Circuit Court judges must be prepared to back up the policies set by the Department of Probation and Parole, realizing that lenience or inattention is likely to contribute to recidivism.
Treatment Drug treatment and substance abuse counselling have been the subject of intense debate in Jackson County ever since the Anti-Drug Sales Tax was first considered. We are not equipped to enter into the details of this debate. Suffice it to say that we deem drug treatment to be an absolutely crucial component of any integrated anti-drug effort. Without adequate treatment resources, no law enforcement program can have any lasting effect. The counseling aspects of treatment should be available in both English and Spanish, in light of the Hispanic sub-population. Jackson County boasts a vast array of treatment providers offering a range of services. What seems to be missing IS a body that can adequately coordinate the various resources with the requirements of those in need. Beds seem to be closing at some of the best clinics, while abusers, frustrated, tum away at the sight of daunting waiting lists. These seem to be the signs of poorly distributed resources and perhaps of overly fastidious providers. A more efficient and disinterested mechanism for assigning clients to treatment slots is clearly needed. The other important omission that came to our attention during the course of our study is the lack of services for adolescents. From what we understand, there is no state-funded drug treatment for juveniles in Jackson County. Given that juveniles represent one of the groups at greatest risk, that their behavior is perhaps most
69
susceptible to positive influence, and that they are least likely of any group to be able to fund their own course of treatment, the lack of resources devoted specifically to them seems to be among the most pressing issues to resolve.
Community Organizations A number of neighborhood and community organizations are active in Jackson County, of which the Ad Hoc Group Against Crime is only the most famous. It is these groups that remind us that the "drug problem" is not just a drug problem, it is the symptom of a social problem. The services they provide address a variety of issues that are inextricably bound up together: education, the young, the family structure, neighborhood reclamation, and crime. Coalitions often serve as funnels through which community concerns and complaints can be gathered and communicated to the police. At an Ad Hoc meeting in July, for example, a young man stood up and announced that 'it was really getting tough out by where he lived; he and his neighbors could really use some help.' The result was a cooperative targeting of the area by the relevant patrol district, the Narcotics Division and the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office. Ad Hoc meetings are held the first Tuesday of every month. They are attended by representatives from every police division, and by representatives from relevant state and federal law enforcement agencies. These officials announce arrest and seizure statistics, ask for leads and answer questions. Ad Hoc also maintains a 24-hour tips line, from which it funnels information to the police department. The activities of community groups can extend police resources in other ways. Just the existence of block watches, for example, can have a deterrent effect on crime. If properly organized and integrated, citizens' efforts can be of even more specific assistance to law enforcement: they can extend police resources, supplement their investigations, follow up their actions, and supply manpower for witness protection and supervision of community service. Please see Chapter ill, p. 71, Programs, for some specific suggestions. Kansas City is unique in the number and vitality of its community organizations. In their strength is an omen predicting the city's improved living conditions. In the end, it is the neighborhoods themselves that will be responsible for maintaining the advances achieved by law enforcement. Coalitions of their residents will have to work for the continuing improvement of conditions in the areas they serve.
RECOMMENDATIONS: ~
Groups should be funded on the basis of the actual services they provide, and money should be distributed throughout the city. Care should be taken that one or two umbrella organizations are not allowed to exercise a prejudicial control over the distribution of funds.
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Programs: Community Organizations While the Ad Hoc Group Against Crime and its work receive national recognition, the activities of smaller organizations sometimes go unnoticed. Representative of some of these neighborhood self-help groups is the East Area Community Coalition (EACC). It operates out of two small rooms at 38th and Agnes. Apart from its food pantry ($.07 per pound) and its thrift shop ($.50 per item), it runs a youth enrichment program that includes academic classes, sessions with adult rolemodels, and incentives for good behavior. EACC runs a food garden project and provides a forum for other neighborhood group activities. Its members cooperate actively with the East Patrol Division, providing information to the officer who attends the monthly meetings, frequently riding along with patrol officers, and otherwise keeping in close communication. Although some of these programs seem to have nothing to do with narcotics trafficking they are part of an integrated effort to counter its effects on the community. Ad Hoc, on the other hand, has implemented a number of projects that are more specifically directed at drug-related crime. It runs its own tips hotline, a victim/witness assistance program, facilities for the mediation of family disputes, a youth information and drug abuse hotline, and a drug house identification project. This last project operates with the cooperation of the forfeiture unit of the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office. If Ad Hoc verifies the presence of drug trafficking at a given address, it traces the owner of the building, alerts him or her of the activity, and asks for assistance in evicting the offending tenants. In cases of uncooperative landlords, the police department and Prosecutor's office are brought in more directly. Kansas City's community organizations already provide citizens with an array of vital services. They represent a valuable resource whose role in combatting crime could be expanded, especially if members' efforts are applied in specific and controlled ways.
RECOMMENDATIONS: ~
Members of Ad Hoc's leadership should meet with members of the police department and prosecutors to discuss ways in which citizens can be helpful to specific law enforcement activities. Possibilities might include: •
allowing officers to use houses or apartments for surveillance purposes;
•
continuing careful observation of drug houses even after they have been officially identified. Information is necessary not only to identify and establish probable cause for a search of these houses, but also to compile a case that will convict those that operate them;
•
screening all hotline tips before they are passed along to the police, both for accuracy and for completeness of information. Tips that do not contain all the information required by the Dragnet database should be pursued and completed by Ad Hoc members before they are communicated to the Narcotics Division. Training should be provided to all coalition members on the kinds of information that 71
the police need. Blank forms could be provided at Ad Hoc meetings and boxes for their collection placed permanently in a convenient location. That way information could be gathered at a public gathering, where informants' anonymity is greater. ~
Establish a Jackson County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. Define its membership to include agency heads and policy makers from the county government and each of the community's incorporated cities. Charge the Council with responsibility for developing and evaluating criminal justi~ programs that cross agency and Jurisdictional lines.
Comment: The operation of Jackson County's criminal justice system is based on a network of formal, legally sanctified linkages that provide for the passage of cases between the community's law enforcement, litigation, adjudication, and correctional agencies. In contrast, each jurisdiction's efforts to plan programs, develop policies, and allocate resources occurs substantially within the vacuum of its own political process. As a result, problems are assessed in a limited context, initiatives are planned and programs are put in place with minimal concern for the neighboring agencies that The consequences--inadequate communication and poor .will be affected. communication--ultimately reduce the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire system. A county-wide Criminal Justice Coordinating Council would provide a forum to address the system-wide aspects of emerging problems, would facilitate improved communications between principals at the highest levels of each jurisdiction, and would help bring the political process into line with the operational linkages that are defined by law. Sample bylaws ( from the Criminal Justice Council in Santa Cruz County, California) are attached in Appendix C.
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IV. TECHNOWGY
Overview Modern information system technology could substantially improve the effectiveness of the Jackson County criminal justice system. Virtually every agency contacted suffers from under-automation. Wasted time, greater staff cost per case, and reduced overall capacity are often the results. Under-automation is not confined to drug abuse, and it is sometimes quite difficult to accurately discriminate between drug and non-drug cases. Therefore, developing drug-specific information systems may not necessarily provide the accuracy needed to support agency operations and management decision making. In addition, the burdens of operating parallel reporting and tracking systems for drug and non-drug cases could overwhelm whatever benefits might otherwise accrue. For these reasons, the scope of this chapter's recommendations will not be strictly limited to the drug problem.
Products and Uses The value and application of information system products will, of course, vary with each agency. However, certain categories are common to nearly every organization. These include: •
Management Reporting. This refers to the information required to support decision making by managers and policy makers. Productivity summaries, case age reports, and statistical summaries on individual, unit and agency workloads are examples.
•
Support to Internal Operations. Line managers use this type of information to monitor and control the personnel and cases they must supervise. Examples include calendar management systems, cross referenced name/location/case number indexes, and brief banks.
•
Inter-Agency Coordination. This is particularly important in justice system environments, where cases are passed between and among agencies, and where individual defendants often reappear 73
with new charges or as subjects in more than one law enforcement jurisdiction. •
Electronic "Mail". This feature shows considerable promise in facilitating the rapid transfer of information and documents between agencies. Unlike FAX and hard coPY transfers, "E-Mail" data can actually be integrated into the recipIent agencies' data bases and included subsequent automated searches, sorts, and information merge operations.
Any effort to provide a large-scale automated system in Jackson County should consider these basic uses and product categories as the minimal starting point. The detailed work of converting these (as well as other requirements) into a definable system is discussed below.
Assessment and Requirements Analysis This task involves the detailed process of matching computer hardware and software configurations with each agencies' current and future information system needs. The methodology requires in-depth study of existing organizational procedures, both met and unmet information and reporting needs, the size and skill level of the prospective system's "user population", and the quantity and types of data that will be involved. The results of that study will help form the criteria used to evaluate the various technical alternatives provided by industry. The evaluation of technical alternatives should be similarly exhaustive. Special care should be given to assure an "open architecture" that provides for future growth without the need for major disruptions or large scale component replacements. In addition, if multiple hardware, software, and data communications contractors are used in a multi-agency network, the services of a "systems integrator" should also be carefully examined. As a matter of policy, the systems analysts responsible for this task should consider the value of the current inventory of hardware and software in order to achieve financial savings. However, trade-offs involved in using those assets must be made Often, these trade-offs include greater cost and technological risk when clear. dissimilar components are linked, reduced reliability, less accountability on the part of each component provider, and possibly greater complexity and cost when service is required. In pursuing these objectives, the systems analysts should identify technical alternatives that allow for the addition of new capabilities, growth in the population of agency personnel, increased data base sizes, and faster access time requirements. The computer industry uses the term "open architecture" to describe this capability to install incremental upgrades to the hardware and software components that comprise the system.
74
RECOMMENDATIONS ~
Conduct an in-depth multi-agency systems assessment and requirements analysis to determine the detailed information system needs of the police, prosecution, court, and other organizations that handle drug abuse cases. An action plan which; (1) identifies specific computerization objectives, and (2) provides for integrating these new systems into existing operations with minimal disruption, should be a result of this analysis.
Law Enforcement Agencies
Field Operations and Investigative Support The community's law enforcement agencies share a common need for a basic automated Records Management System (RMS). There are many different types on the market, ranging from desk-top single user PC applications to "main frame"-based multi-site networks. The following basic features are examples of what we would consider appropriate for a Jackson County-wide law enforcement RMS.
•
A "Master Name Index", which provides the names and monikers of all subjects entered into the system. This index should be referable to all of the system's other indices and categories of data.
•
A "Master Location Index", which provides the same capability as the Master Name Index, only with regard to locations of interest to the police.
•
A "Master Vehicle Index", same as above, but for vehicles.
•
A "Gang Afriliation Index", membership of offenders.
•
Case/Offender Tracking. The system should be able to track all entered activities relating to specified individuals, and should be able to monitor all events of the cases in which they are involved.
•
M.O. Pattern Analysis. The system should be able to focus on emerging patterns of suspect behavior, and should be able to link those patterns with the descriptive data listed under individual suspect names.
•
Time and Location Pattern Analysis. The system should be capable of providing police with trend summaries and projections relating to the "when and where" of reported incidences.
•
Juvenile Data. The system should accommodate any applicable legal requirements regarding the maintenance, dissemination, segregation, and purge of juvenile offender data.
listing the affiliations of gangs of
75
•
Hotline Information should also be captured, cataloged, and linked to specific crimes, locations, offender groups, etc.
•
Management Reports. The system should automatically compile statistical reporting data regarding workload, case processing times, and resource commitments. These reports should be available in both "standardized" versions and as custom summaries needed in response to specific management problems.
Most RMS systems allow for two types of inquiries; "index" and "relational" searches. Index searches are by far the more basic. The computer simply retrieves records "tagged" with the specific name, case number, or other identifier that forms the search criteria. Relational searches are more general, and involve inquiries within a specified range. Examples include all cases dated between 1/1/90 and 2/10/90, all left handed males between 5"6" and 5"9" in height, and all white four door sedans with front end body damage. We believe that both types of inquiries are required in Jackson County. The systems analysis efforts discussed above will be necessary to answer many of the questions not addressed in this report. Examples of major issues that must be addressed include networking between the various agencies of the region, data input alternatives, system size and data access speed, and security against unauthorized access to, destruction of, or modification of the data.
Crime Lab The information system requirements of the Crime Lab must also be considered. The system should provide no less than the following capabilities:
•
An "Evidence/Suspect/Victim Index", which would allow for inquiries by case type or suspect name.
•
An Evidence Tracking capability, which would provide a comprehensive record of the lab's custody and processing records for each exhibit it receives.
•
A Staff Assignment Log, which would enable the lab's management to track workload and monitor productivity.
•
An equipment Utilization Log, which would support maintenance schedules and help policy makers assess the adequacy of the lab's physical assets.
•
Management Reports. As with police field operations, the lab's information system should automatically compile statistical reporting data regarding workload, compute and average case processing times, and track resource commitments. These reports should be available in both "standardized" versions and as custom summaries needed in response to specific management problems.
76
RECOMMENDATION ~
In preparation for the detailed system assessment and requirements analysis
recommended above, conduct a detailed multi-agency survey to document: (1) the number and skill level of potential law enforcement data system users; (2) the number and location of sites from which access to the system will be required; (3) the number of police reports and other source documents that will be entered into the system each day/week/month; (4) the quantity, type and application of all information system components currently being used; and (5) a subjective assessment by the system's prospective users describing whatever specific features and capabilities they feel should be designed into the overall plan.
Prosecution Agencies The Prosecutor's Office is, of course, part of law enforcement and many of the features discussed above apply to prosecutor's needs as well. To support these requirements, police data bases should be available through remote terminal access to all prosecutors having need for such information. In addition, the Prosecutor's Office has needs specific to litigation. Examples:
•
Docket and calendar management, including "next event" and "conflicting schedule" alerts to help attorneys effectively plan their time in court.
•
Automated assignment logs for courtrooms, attorney staff, and judges. This would enable management to track workload and identify the individuals who may be consulted on specific matters in litigation.
•
Automated schedules for defendants, victims, and witnesses. This feature would help assure that the necessary parties are available and alerted to the appropriate court proceedings.
•
Restitution. To the extent that the Prosecutor's Office monitors victim restitution, this feature would facilitate the enforcement of restitution orders where compliance might otherwise be neglected.
•
Deferred Prosecution. At minimum, system applications will be needed to track (1) subjects referred to the program, (2) the terms and conditions attached to the agreements that are developed, and (3) the methods used to monitor and assure compliance with those terms and conditions.
•
Attorney Work Product. Briefs, motions, research products, and other legal documents should be kept in a "searchable" data base and should be retrievable for reuse by prosecutors in the office.
•
Asset Forfeiture. System applications are needed to track costs, monitor inventory status and dispositions, coordinate parallel proceedings (where there are concurrent criminal cases), enable the efficient distribution of proceeds, and facilitate evaluation efforts.
77
•
Workload Measurement. This includes attorney time keeping by case and activity type, as well as the more general function of monitoring the office-wide case referrals and elapsed times between case processing events.
RECOMMENDATIONS ~
The Prosecutor's Officer should convene a working group to develop and prioritize a menu of information system features to support its litigation and related activities. Special consideration should be given to sharing data bases with police, correctional, and probation/parole authorities.
Courts The Courts share many of the requirements discussed above. Examples include automated calendar management and case docketing, computerized staff assignment indexes, system generated "aged case" reports, and "next event" alerts. Also like other agencies, the courts have a pressing need for adequate statistical reporting data on bench officer and support staff workloads, internal case processing times, and disposition summaries.
Probation and Parole Probation and Parole terms are powerful enforcement tools and are most effective when they are easily accessible to police and prosecutors. Minimal applications in this area include automated access to client search terms, "stay-away" clauses, and monitoring requirements. Violation reports, as well as police requests for violation recommendations, could be also facilitated by a shared data network. Finally, the system should support internal management controls, such as the compilation of reoffense statistics, client contact logs, site visit summaries, and urine test results.
Other Data The Assessment and Requirements Analysis discussed above should also consider the need for data from outside the criminal justice system. For example, drug-related emergency room data is needed from area hospitals, coroner reports on drug toxicity should be collected, and the drug suppression activities of the various community groups should be tracked and analyzed. While such information may be "off line" with respect to the justice system data network, it is nonetheless needed to monitor the community'S overall progress in addressing the drug problem.
78
Conclusions An information system of the scope discussed here represents a major investment. While the costs of a successful effort would be more than offset by improvements in economy and efficiency, the penalties associated with an irreparable design failure may include costs--such as loss of confidence and operational disruptions--that eclipse the purchase price. We therefore discourage the false economies inherent to "shortcuts" and what ever "half measures" may present themselves during the design and planning stages. This does not, however, mean that implementation should be an all or nothing choice. There is considerable merit to implementing a system in stages. This approach allows each "module" to be tested and debugged with reduced complexity. Incremental development should, however, follow an agreed upon set of priorities with input from all of the user agencies. A "User Committee" can be invaluable to this process. Similarly, every effort should be made to build consensus on the development of whatever timetable is used to govern the system's overall development effort.
RECOMMENDATION ~
Convene a standing "Information System User Committee" composed of agency representatives to establish implementation priorities and timetables. This group should also serve to monitor the overall implementation effort, as well as the degree to which installed components are meeting each agency's needs.
79
V. MONITORING AND EVALUATION Jackson County's drug abuse problems are both daunting and manageable. Careful planning, combined with on-going efforts to monitor and evaluate results, offer the best possible support for the operational initiative discussed in this report. On-going monitoring has three functions: to ensure that plans are being implemented; to identify unexpected results and new trends requiring mid-course corrections; and, to measure the impact of the program on the problems it addresses. Such monitoring requires a steady stream of data from police, prosecutors, the courts and others in the criminal justice system. Capturing and analyzing this information will require at least some of the data processing capability discussed in the previous chapter. Geographic data from the DMAP project may also be helpful both in evaluating programs and making mid-course corrections. The following illustrates the types of criminal justice system data needed to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of drug suppression efforts.
Law Enforcement Agencies Arrest data will be needed from each agency that enforces drug laws. Data should be captured and reported in monthly increments. At minimum, this should include (for each agency): 1. Arrests by type of drug. 2. Arrests by nature of charge (Le., possession or sales). 3. Referrals for prosecution. 4. Re-arrests of previous offenders. 5. Arrests for offenses that are drug-related, such as Crack House shootings and income-producing crimes - committed by drug addicts so that they can buy drugs. 6. Drug seizures, by type and by volume. 7. Quantity of assets forfeiture cases filed. 80
8. Inventory of assets seized by volume and type. 9. Asset forfeiture proceeds realized. 10. Laboratory results weights and measures. It will also be necessary to capture certain specific data in order to track the "system's" performance. This data should include:
1. Elapsed time from arrest to referral to the Prosecutor' Office. 2. Elapsed time from submission of evidence to the Regional Criminalistics Lab to production of the Lab Report. 3. The number of pre-trial suspects released from custody solely because of statutory incarceration time limitations.
Prosecutor's Office Workload and disposition data will be needed in order to continue tracking the system's handling of cases referred by police. Minimum data should include: 1. Cases referred, by type and by referring agency, including the number of suspects involved in each case. 2. Cases accepted, by reason for rejection, type of case and referring agency. 3. Elapsed times: referral to filing to disposition. 4. Number of warrant requests handled, by agency and type. S. Case dispositions and sentences by type. 6. Court proceedings by type (e.g., preliminary hearing, trial, sentencing).
Data From Outside the Criminal Justice System In addition to criminal justice system data, information will be required from other sources of the community, including:
1. Hospital emergency room admissions that involve either adverse drug reactions or injuries that are attributable to drug-related violence. 2. The incidence of live births that show evidence of drug exposure. 3. Changes in the community's DUF statistics. 4. Drug toxicology reports provided by the area's medical examiners.
81
5. Neighborhood "hygiene factors", as determined by a combination of objective police reporting data and subjective curb-side evaluations. For each defined and participating neighborhood, these factors could include the presence and amount of graffiti, citizen complaints of drug dealing activities the number of reported incidents of violence, the volume of calls for police service, the number of abandoned vehicles, traffic flows, the number of houses suspected by residents to be "shooting galleries" or crack houses, the general (visible condition of the homes and yards, etc.).
Analysis and Decision Making Careful analysis of this data, while crucial, will paint only part of the picture needed for informed policy development. Decision makers will also need accurate, timely, and detailed information to identify case processing "bottlenecks", develop activity objectives, and track the progress of changes within their organizations. Accordingly, Jackson County's continuing efforts to control drug abuse should provide for the cooperation and resources necessary to achieve these essential management goals.
82
APPENDIX A
EXEMPLARY STATUES
83
ALEXANDRIA VIRGINIA LOITERING ORDINANCE An ORDINANCE to add a new Section 13-1-24.1 (LOITERING FOR PURPOSES OF ENGAGING IN AN UNLAWFUL DRUG TRANSACTION) to Chapter 1 (GENERAL OFFENSES), Title 13 (MISCELLANEOUS OFFENSES) of the Code of the City of Alexandria, Virginia, 1981, as amended.
THE CITY OF ALEXANDRIA HEREBY ORDAINS: Section 1. That Chapter 1, Title 13 of the Code of the City of Alexandria, Virginia, 1981, as amended, be an the same hereby is amended by adding a new Section 13-1-24.1 to read as follows: Sec. 13-1-24.1 transaction.
Loitering for purposes of engaging in an unlawful drug
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to loiter in a public place under circumstances manifesting the purpose of engaging in the sale, gift, distribution, possession or purchase of a controlled substance prohibited by section 18.2-248, 18.2248.1 or 18.2-250 of the Code of Virginia (1950), as amended. Circumstances manifesting such a purpose on the part of a person shall be: (1) the person is in the same general location for at least 15 minutes; (2) while in the same general location and in a public place, the person has two or more face-to-face contacts with other individuals; and (3) each of such contacts (a) is with one or more different individuals, (b) lasts no more than two minutes, (c) involves actions or movements by the person consistent with an exchange of money or other small objects, (d) involves actions or movements by the person consistent with an effort to conceal an object appearing to be or to have been exchanged, and (e) terminates shortly after the completion of the apparent exchange. For purposes of this subsection, "same general location" shall mean an area defined as a circle with a radius of 750 feet and a center being the place where a person is first observed by a law enforcement officer. (b) No person shall be arrested or convicted for a violation of this section unless each of the circumstances identified in subsection (a) is present.
(c) No person shall be arrested for a violation of this section unless the arresting officer first provides the person an opportunity to explain the conduct in question. No person shall be convicted under this section if it appears at trial that the person was present in a public place for a lawful purpose. 85
(d) For purposes of this section, the term "public place" means any street, sidewalk, alley, park, bridge, driveway, parking lot or other public property open to the general pUblic. (e) Any person convicted of violating this section shall be guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor. Section 2. That this ordinance shall become effective upon the date and at the time of its final passage. James P. Moran, JR. Mayor
Final Passage: April 24, 1990
86
CALIFORNIA HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE 11550
THIS SECTION IS CURRENT THROUGH THE 1990 SUPPLEMENT (1989 SFSSIONS)
DIVISION 10. UNIFORM CONTROLLED SUBSTANCFS ACT
CHAPTER 10. Control of Users of Controlled Substances
ARTICLE 1. Addicts (a) No person shall use, or be under the influence of any controlled substance which is (1) specified in subdivision (b), (c), or (e), or paragraph (1) of subsection (f) of Section 11054, specified in paragraph (14), (15), (21), (22), or (23) of subdivision (d) or (c) of Section 11055, or specified in paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (d) or in paragraph (3) of subdivision (e) of Section 11055, or (2) a narcotic drug classified in Schedule Ill, IV, or V, except when administered by or under the direction of a person licensed by the State to dispense, prescribe, or administer controlled substances. It shall be the burden of the defense to show that it comes within the exception. Any person convicted of violating any provision of this subdivision is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be sentenced to a term of not less that 90 days or more than one year in the country jail. The court may place a person convicted under this subdivision on probation for a period not to exceed five years and shall in all cases in which probation is granted require, as a condition thereof, that the person be confined in the county jail for at least 90 days. In no event does the court have the power to absolve a person who violates this subdivision from the obligation of spending at least 90 days in confinement in the county jail. (b) In addition to any fine assessed under this section, the judge may assess a fme not to exceed seventy dollars ($ 70 ) against any person who violates this section, with the proceeds of this fine to be used in accordance with Section 1463.23 of the Penal Code. The court shall, however, take into consideration the defendant's ability to pay,
87
and no defendant shall be denied probation because of his or her inability to pay the fine permitted under this subdivision. (c) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) or any other provision of law, any person who is unlawfully under the influence of cocaine, cocaine base, heroin, methamphetamine, or phencyclidine while in the immediate personal possession of a loaded, operable firearm is guilty of a public offense punishable by imprisonment in county jail for not exceeding one year or in state prison. As used in this subdivision "immediate personal possession" includes, but is not limited to, the interior passenger compartment of a motor vehicle. (d) Every person who violates subdivision (c) is punishable upon the second and each subsequent conviction by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years. (e) Nothing in this section prevents diversion of a person under Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 10(0) of Title 6 of Part 2 of the Penal Code unless the person is charged with violating subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 243 of the Penal Code. A person charged with violating this section by being under the influence of any controlled substance which is specified in paragraph (21), (22), or (23) of subdivision (d) of Section 11055 or in paragraph (3) of subdivision (e) of Section 11055 and with violating either subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 243 of the Penal Code or with a violation of subdivision (c) shall be ineligible for diversion.
88
" (I) BuPrt'norphine.
II
fAcicW 1..19115, c. 664, t I; amended 1..1_, e. 826, I So in ori«inal. Nt) fii) hall be.n enacted. 2 So in ori«inal.
f I; 1..1987, e. 44, f I,
••7 A-.4_IIL ~heduJe I, aubel. EIIKtI.e Date. Section e((ediY. (bIl2' w (461. L.19117, e. 44, t I, e((. Apr. 21 , 19tr7, n>pr.aled (omwr par. (2) relat- Noy. I, IM6, punuantlo 1..1985, e. 664, f 3. inK 10 Alrentanil, and l"ftIetIill'nated (ormer pan. (3) 10 (46) .. (2) 10 (45). om....... Public: Health Law 01 Sc:hfodule II, ,ubel. «(")(1) 10 (24). 1953, f 3306, added 1..1972, e. 878, f 2: 1•. 1987, (". 44, t 2, e((. Apr. 21, 19H'1, J"f'dnignat.ed romwr para. II) to (23) .. amended 1..1973, e. 97, f I; 1..1973, e. 163, f 5; 1..1974, e. 916, If 1- 7; 1..1176, (21 10 (24) and added par. fII. I . A_,",_nL Sdwdule II, IUbel. e. 252, If 1-3; 1..1975, e. 263, If I, 2; 1..1977, c. 179, It 1- 9; 1..1978, e. 100, (0. L. 19116, c. 826, f I, e(f. Sept. I, 19116, added lIubd. (0 and rednianated f I; L.1978, e. 399, t 1; L.1978, e. 402, (omwr ~ubd. to all fg). f I; L.1t'l8, c. 772, If I, 2; L.1981, e. Scht-dule II, lubel. fit). 1•. 1986, c. 8216, 454, f I; L.198I, e. 455, It 1,2; L.198I, t I, dr. Sept. I. 1986, redesi«nated (or- c. 474, If I, 2; L.1984, c. 718, t I, and mer lubd. to all Iltl. repealed by L.1985, e. 664, f I.
I
t
i
~
TITLE IV-DISPENSING TO ULTIMATE USERS § 3331.
~
.'
SchHu'" IU"tan«e ••",Ina.cerill, anti tlilpeniin. " Pl'llCti. tioften (See main volume/or tet
0/ J to 5)
6. A practitioner dispensing a substance which may be prescribed only upon an official New York state prescription must at the time- of such dispensing prepare an official New York state prescription in the manner set forth in subdivieion two of section thirty·three hundred thirty-two of this article. The practitioner shall retain one copy for five years and shall file the ori~nal and one copy with the department by not later than the fifteenth day of the next month following the month in which the SUbstance was deliyered. This requirement ahall not apply to the dispensing by a practitioner pursuant to aubdivision five of .section thirty-three hundred rifty~ne of this article. IAa amended L.1986. c. 433,
t
I .)
IfN A.........t. Subel. 6. L.1986, c. 433, f I , eff. July 21, 1986, in II!ntence hl!cinninc' ' " . requirement shall" IUb-
stituted reference to IUbel. 5 of II!Ction 1361 for relerence to II!Ction 3362.
E.14enft J Y.
Allelrocl, 1986, 111 A.D.2d 818, 491
N.y.s.Zcl7.
I. . . . . . . l.
/.
~
t
t %.)
Pr'ed",-"n.... __ . lion I Commiuioaer
~Ina 0 ~ Irir. ~, rioIated Mdelane,'l Publie Health .... t 3331, IUbel. 2 by obtain-
I
Health that petitioner, a cIoetor 01 podia.
...
in, controlled aubetucft with no Intettt 10 all! then. in hie pnetice . . . not IUp' ported by IUbetantiel niclence. Miller
EvWe.ee,
.
inel~in, adm"~ . by
phylician, -tabl.hed that . he utilil.ed IIIIaII paper enye" to diapenee ClODfIoIled ..lIatanca in riolatioa 01 .lalute (MeKiDney'l Public Health Law f WI, IUbd. 4) cIinetinr that all tontrolled lubllanea be cliapenaed in IUitable and durable eontainen. Hynea y. Allelrocl, 1986, 116 A.D.2d 830, 417 H.Y.S.2d 494.
- - UU
........
US2. Maid... or ofIklaJ New York etate ...-m"lonl ror eehetluled
ts-
main 1101."ru lor tat 01 J and 11 B. No auch preKription ahall be made for a quantity of controlled .ubet.aneea which would exceed a thirty clay aupply if the controlled .ubetance were uaed in aceorcIance with the directiona for uae specified on the prescription. A practitioner may, however, iuue. preaenption Cor up &0 a three month aupply of a controlled aubetance provided that the eontl'Olled aubetanc:e hal been preacribed to treat one of the conditions that have been enumerated by the commiuioner purauant to regulations .. warranting the prescribing of greater than a thirty clay lupply of a controlled aubetanc:e and that the praetitioner apeeif_ the condition on the face of the prescription. No additional preaeriptiona for a controlled aubetance may be isaued by a practitioner to an ultimate ulN!r within thirty days of the date oC any prescription previoualy iuued unleea and until the ultimate ulN!r has exhausted all but a IN!ven clay aupply of the controlled subetance provided by any previoualy iuued prescription. {&t main vol"",e lor te:d 0/41 (AI amended L.1986, c. 118,
I
3.)
I t . A_II4_t. Subel. 3. 1..1986, e. 118, t 3, elf. Ho• . I, 1986, in lentence be,mnin, "No .uc:h preacripUoo" delet.ed "or, punuant to relUlationa of the commie._r enumeratin, eonditionl warnnLin, specified peater luppliee, for a quanLity 01 lubltaneel whida
would exc:eed a three month supply," follow in, "thirty day .upply" and ineerl· ed "eoatrolled" .herenr appearing and "Ipeaf.... OD the preaeription" and added lenleneel beainninr "A prac:Litioner may" and "No additional prelcription".
f 3333. Dllpenalri, upon ollie... New York atate pracrtptJon 1. A licensed phannaeiat may, in good Caith and in the course of his professional practice, IN!II and dispenae to an ultimate ueer controlled subetancea for which an offJcial New York atate prescription is required only upon the delivery to auch pharmacist, within thirty clay. of the date auch prescription w.. aigned by an authorized practitioner, of the original and one copy oC auch official New York atate prescription. No phannac:y or pharmacist may aell or diapenae Jlftter than • thirty clay supply oC a controlled aubstance to an ultimate uaer unJeu and until the ultimate ueer has exhausted .11 but a IN!ven clay aupply of the controlled aubatance provided punuant to any previoualy ieaued oCflCial New York state preIICription, except that a pharmacy or phannaciat may sell or dispense up to a three month aupply oC a controlled IUbetaDee if there appean, on the face of the offICial New York atate preeenptioD, a ltatement that the controlled aubetance hu been pretlCribed to treat one of the conditiona that have been enumerated by the regulations of the commieaioner .. warranting the preacribing of Jlftter than • tbirtJ clay aupply of a controlled aubelance.
ts- main 1101.",.. for UzC 011 to 41 (Aa amended L.19II, Co 1I8,
I 4.)
Itli AIMIMI-.t. Subd. I. L.1911, e. 1I8, t 4, err. Nov. I, 1986, added
Hntenc:e berinnin. "No pharmacy or phannaeilt".
f 3336, Maldn. or ....tten p...mpUona 'or contl'oUed IUbetanca {See main 1I01""'t lor te:d 01 J and IJ - -I
.&..a.«-..
....--:
....
I'UUL.(; "~ALT" LAW
~ o)O)do)
S. No luch prescription Ihall be made for a quantity of controlled lubetaneea which would exceed a thirty day lIupply if the controlled lubetanee were Uled in accordance with the directions for uee llpecifled on the preeeription. A practitioner may, however, iaaue a prescription for up to a three month lupply of a controlled lubstance provided that the controlled lubetance haa been prescribed to treat one of the conditiona that have been enumerated by the commis.ioner pursuant to regulationa aa warranting the prellcribing of greater than a thirty day lupply of a controlled lubstance and that the practitioner .peciraee the condition on the face of the prescription. No additional preaeriptiona for a controlled subetance may be isllued by a practitioner to an ultimate ueer within thirty of the date of any prellcription previously Rued by that practitioner for that controlled lIublltance unlet. and until the ultimate u.er hu uhau.ted all but a lIeven day lupply of the controlled lubstanee provided by any previou.ly islUed prescription. (,u amended L.1986, c. 118, t 6.)
da,.
It"
"_n4_nt. Subel. S. 1.1986, c. lJ8, t 5, err. Nov. I. 1986, in eentence berinninlt "No luch prHt:riplion" delet· ed "or, pUrlulnt to re,ulationa of the romm.llOner enumerating conditiona warranting Ip«ifjed greater lupplies, (or a quantity of lubat.aneea which
would exceed I three month lupply," followin, "thirty day lupply" and ineert· ed "controlled" wherever appearinlt and "specified on the preac:ription" and add· ed eentencea be,inninr "" practitioner may" and "No additional prescription".
t 3336, Dllpenlln, upon written prncrlptlon 1. A licensed phannac:i8t may, in good faith and in the course of his profellllional practice, lIell and di8penlle to an ultimate user controlled lubstances in schedulee III, IV, or V for which an official New York state pre8cription is not required, upon delivery to such phannacist of a written prescription within thirty day8 of the date such prescription was signed by an authorized practitioner. No pharmacy or phannaci8t may sell or dispenee greater than a thirty day 8upply of a controlled sub8tance to an ultimate user unlesll and until the ultimate user haa exhausted all but a seven day 8urply of the controlled substance provided pursuant to any previously ill.ued written presmption, except that a phannacy or phanna· ci.t may lIell or diapenae up to a three month supply of a controlled substance if there appears, on the face of the written prellcription, a ltatement that the controlled .ubatance hu been prescribed to treat one of the conditions which have been enumerated by the commiuioner u warranting the prescribin, of greater than a thirty day lupply of a controlled lubltance.
[s.. "lOin 1I01uJrUJ lor tet Co 118, t I.)
01' ofld IJ
(Aa amended 1.1_,
Itll " .......L Subel. 1. 1.1_, e. 118, t 6, elf. Noy. I, 1M, In aent.enee be,mnu.. "A lieeaaed phannadlt" ...
Hrt.ed ....II Iftd" aDd added aentence bqlnnlnc "No pharmacy or pharma. det",
I..... OftIclai New york .... ,necrl,uoa fOnM N.... oIDac...... repletion of the State Commluloner of Preliminary Injunedoa wu warranted Health requirin, that certain frequently apinlt puttin, into_immediate effect1QI ~bed ~uillWL mediW.lona __ _ I. II\J_ndIoII
_
..-.
§
3330
PUlU.. IC IIJ.;ALTII I.. AW Art. 33 lIIatorical Note liollal use of narcotic: drug., was repealed by 1...1972, c. 1!711, t I. For hilllory of said section, see Uerivalion notes let out under aec:t.ion 3305 and 3331.
Etredln I).te. Set-tion e((Kliv~ Apr. I, 1973 punuant to L.I972. c. 1!711, § 7. For_r !WetloR 333t. SKtion, L.1953, c. 1!79, !t I, authorizing profea-
New Yoril CoMe, bin . . . Heplation. Schedul~
I subslances, preacribinc and dilpeQling, aee 10 NYCRR 80.66. N. . . oIDec.......
ConalituUollality Under this article prohibiting physician (rom prescribing controlled lub.lance not in good faith and not in the coune of his profnaional practice, the words "good faith" and "in the coune of hia pro(~aaional practice" have definite and well·understood meaning and are I.
clear and unambiguous, 60 that indict· ment charging offense in statutory Ian· (Uage is sufficient to a!'Prise defendant of charre. he must defend apinst and proLec!t him from subuquent prosec:u· tion for ome conduct, and thUII statutes 'are not unconstitutionally vague. Pt"Opie v. Flic:kinger, 1976, HI! MiIc.2d 64, 31!7 N.Y.S.2d 957.
§ 3331. Scheduled 8ubatancH adminlaterinl and dispensinl by practitioneR 1. Except as provided in titles III or V of this article. no substance in schedules II. Ill. IV. or V may be prescribed for or dispensed or administered to an addict or habitual user. 2. A practitioner, in good faith. and in the course of his profes· sional practice only, may prescribe. administer and dispense substances listed in schedules II. III, IV, and V. or he may cause the same to be administered by a designated agent under his direction and supervision.
3. A veterinarian. in good faith. and in the course of tile I'l'adin' of veterinary medicine only, may prescribe, administer and disilense substances listed in schedules II. III, IV. and V or he may cause them to be administered by a designated agent under his direction and supervision. 4. No 8uch substance may be dispensed unless it is enclosed within a suitable and durable container. and: (a) Affixed to such container is a label upon which is indelibly typed. printed or otherwise legibly written the following:
(i) the name and address of the ultimate user for whom the substance is intended, or, if intended for use upon an animal, the species of such animal and the name and address of the owner or person in custody of such animal;
§3331
CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES TiUe 4
(iii) specific directions (or use. including but not limited to the dosage and frequency of dosage. and the maximum daily dosage; (iv) the legend, prominently marked or printed in either boldface or upper case lettering: "CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE. DANGER.OUS UNLESS USED AS DIRECTED"; (v) the date of dispensing;
(vi) either the name of the substance or such code number assigned by the department for the particular substance pursuant to section thirty-three hundred eighteen of this article; (b) Such container shall be identified as a controlled substance by either: (i) an orange label; (ii) a label of another color over which is superimposed an orange transparent adhesive tape; or (iii) an auxiliary orange label affixed to the front of such container and bearing the legend. prominently marked or printed "Controlled Substance. Dangerous Unleaa Used As Directed"; (c) Any label, transparency. or auxiliary label shall be applied in a manner which would inhibit its removal. 5. No more than a thirty day supply or, pursuant to regulations of the commissioner enumerating conditions warranting specified greater supplies. no more than a three month suPVly of a schedule II. III or IV substance. as determined by the directed dosage and frequency of dosage, may be dispensed by an authorized practitioner at one time.
6. A practitioner dispensing a substance which may be prescribed only upon an official New York state prescription must at the time of such dispensing prepare an official New York slate prescription in the manner set forth in subdivision two of section thirty-three hundred thirty-two of this article. The practitioner shall relain one copy for five years and shall file the original and one copy with the department by not later than the fifteenth day of the next month following the month in which the ~ubstance was delivered. This requirement shall not apply to the dispensing by a practitioner pursuant to section thirty-three hundred fifty -two of this article. (Added L.1972. c. 8'78. § 2; amended L.1973. c. 728. § 1; L.1974, c. 965, t 10; L.1981. c. 415. § 1.)
(ii) the name, address. and telephone number of the dispensing practitioner; l.
506
-..
507 -----,
1
-:
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IIIJl
...
PUBLIC HEALTH LAW
§333J
Art. 33 HWoricaI Nole
1181 A_IMI_.L Subd. 4. LI981, C. 41~, § I, elf. Sept. I, 1981, added aubd. 4 and repealed former aubd. 4, which related to dispenaing ac:heduled lubat.ancel in a suitable and durable contaillt'r and the proviaiona to appear upon an orange label a(filled to auc:h container. 1t14 A..eMl __L Subd. 5. LI974, C. 965. § 10, eff. on 30th day following June 13, 1974, inaerted "or, purauant to regulations of the eommiaaioner enumerating conditiona warranting apeeifled grealer supplies, no more than a three month supply" preceding "of a ac:hedule II, III or IV lubatance". 1t13 A_Ml __ L Subd. 6. L.I973, C. 7211, § I, err. June II, 1973, inserted "~tale" following "prepare an offICial New York," and IUbatitut.ed "Ollt' eopy for five years and Ihall file the original and one copy" for "the original for a period of five years and shall file the two copies." Errectin Date. Section effective Apr. I, 1973 pursuant to L.1972, C. 878, § 7. llerl.ation. Subda. 2 and 3. Former lections 333U and 3385. Said fonner section 3330, L.1953, C. 879. § I: amended L.I97I, C. 997, § 6; repealed by LI972, C. 8711, § I; was
from Public Health Law of 1909, H 425 and 427, in ~ Said IKlion 425 w.. added LI933, C. 684, I I; amended LI940, C. 108, § I; and repealed by IKtion 5002 of thia chapter. Said IKtion 427 w.. added L.1933, C. 684, § I; and repealed by eeclion 5002 of thia chapter. Said former section 3385 WII added LI966, C. 323, § 1; and repealed by LI972, c. 878, § 1. Subd. 4. Former aeetions 3325, lubd. 3, and 3383, lubd. 3. Said former section 3325, subd. 3, LI953, C. 879, § I; amended L.I97I , C. 997, § 5; and repealed by L.I972, C. 8711. § I; w.. from Public Health Law of 1909, § 431 , added L.1933, C. 1iIW, § I; amended 1..1950, C. 794, §§ 18. 19; and repealed by IKtion 5002 of this chapter. Said former seetion 33113, subd. 3, was added L. I96~, C. 323, § I; and repeal~ by L.I972, c. 878, § 1. Fonner Section 3331 . Seetion, L.1953, C. 879, § I; amended L. I96I, c. 884, § t, rela tinK to possession of nar· cotic drugs by individuals, was repealed by L.l972, C. 8711, § I.
New \' _11 (Aldn, Ruin an. HqulaUone PrescribinK and dispensing controlled substances, see IU NYCRR SO.6O et seq.
Not" of Dftlaionl Conatllutlonallt, Pl1IditioMn Z
I . c...&It.uo.a1U,
New York enactment of thia section requiring that, with reepeel to preac:riptions for the moet dangeroua legitimate drugs, the preecriptiona be prepared on offICial forma with one copy bein, lent to the ltale which place. the information on tape. for computer proceaainr and which retains the forma for a five-yeai' period under a IYltem to ..feguard their security is a reaaonable exerciae of New York's police powen. Whalen V. Roe, N.Y1977, 97 S.Cl 869, 429 U.S. 589, 51
L.&I.2d 64.
This section requiring that the stale be provided with a copy of every pre· ac:ription for certain dangeroul drugs did not unconltitutionally deprive any penon of the right to decide independently, with the advice of his phYlician, to acquire and to Ule needed medication.
Id. Finding that ltate had not proved neceaaity for requirement that a copy of every preac:ription for the most danger· oua legitimate drugs be lent to the ltate, which placed the information on tape. for eomputer proceaaing and retained forma for a five·year period under a IYltem designed to safeguard their lKurity was not a lufficient reason for holding the ltatutory requirements un· eonstilutional. Id.
508
113332
CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES Title. 'I11ere WII III) IUpport in the record, or in the experience of California and 111 .. no. under limilar ltatUtel, for an II' aumption that security proviaiona of this article concerning lleC!urity of c:opietl of prescriptions for dangeroua drugs filed with the alate would be adminiatered improperly and thUII no baaia for holding !.he ltatule unconstitutional on thoIIe grounds. Id.
Z. Pradilionen Chiropodilll.ll licensed by the Stale of New Yurk are not authorized to deal in, dialribute or dispense narcotic drup, or eligible to register under the former Harrison Narcotic I.aw, 26 U.S.C.A. former !it 25~ et seq., :1220 el seq., 1930, Op.AUy .Cen. 213.
§ 3332. Makin, or official New York atate preller.pt.ons for acheduled substances 1. No substance for which an official New York slate prescription is required may be prescribed by a practitioner except on an official New York state prescription, and in good faith and in the course of his professional practice only.
2. Such prescription shall be prepared in triplicate, written with ink, indelible pencil or, apart from the prdctitioner's signature, typewriter. The original and both copies must contain the following: (a) the name, address, and age of the ultimate user for whom the substance is intended, or, if the ultimate user is an animal, the species of such animal and the name and address of the owner or person in custody of such animal; (b) the name, address, registration number, telephone number, and handwritten signature of ttre prescribing practitioner;
(c) specific directions for use, including but not limited to the dosage and frequency .of dosage and the maximum daily dosage; (d) the date upon which such prescription was actually signed by the prescribing practitioner. 3. No such prescription shall be made for a quanlity of substances which would exceed a thirty day supply or, pursuanl to regulations of the commissioner enumerating conditions warranting specified greater supplies, for a quantily of substances which would exceed a three month supply, if the substance were used in accordance with the directions for use. 4. The practitioner shall retain one copy of such prescriplion for five years and shall deliver the original and one copy to the ultimate , user. (Added L.1972, c. 878, § 2; amended L.1974,
C.
9ti5, § 11 .)
509 --"'1
PUBLIC HEALTH
§3332
I~AW
Art. 33 H....rkaI NoW "14 A.wnd.wnl. Subel. 3. L.I974, c:. !HiS, til, eff. on 30th day following June 13, 1974, inaerted "or, punuant to regulations of the commillaioner enumerating conditions wamntin, apecified greatA!r aupplies, for a quantity of aubatanc:ea which would exc:eed a thl"ft month aupply," preceding "if the aubatance were uaed in acc:ordanc:e with the directions for UN."
New York
Effec:tin Dale. Seetion effec:tivt! Apr. 1. 1973 pursuant 10 LI9'l2, c:_ 8711, § 7.
For_r
Sec:tlen
WI.
~tion,
L1953, c:. 879,!i I, which exempted per10M and corporations from restric:tions on poaaeuion of narcotic: drup, was repealed by LI972, c:. 878, § I . For history of .. id aec:tion Nt! Derivation note set out under IIKtion 3305.
c.... RIlla alMl Rei-IaUou
Official New York Stale preac:ription formaControl and reporting of, see 10 NYCRR 80.77. lJispenainl on, see 10 NYCRR BO.71.
§ 3333. Dilpenain, upon official New York .tate preKripliun 1. A licensed phannacist may. in good faith. and in the course of his professional practice. sell and dispense to an ultimate user controlled substances for which an official New York state prescription is required only upon the delivery to such pharmacist. within thirty days of the date such prescription was signed by an authorized practitioner, of the original and one copy of such official New York state prescription. 2. No such substance may be so dispensed or sold unless it is enclosed within a suitable container. and: (a) Affixed to such container is a label upon which is indelibly typed. printed. or otherwise legibly written the following: (i) the name and address of the ultimate user for whwlI lhe substance is intended. or if intended for use upon an animal, the species of such animal and the name and address of the owner or person in custody of such animal; (ii) the name, address. and telephone number of the pharmacy from which such substance is dispensed; (iii) specific directions for use as stated on the prescription;
(iv) the name of the prescribing practitioner; (v) the legend, prominently marked or printed in either boldface or upper case lettering: "CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE, DANGEROUS UNLESS USED AS DIRECTED"; (vi) the number of the prescription under which it is recorded in the phannacist's prescription file;
.. ...
(vii) such code number assigned by the department for the particular substance pursuant to section thirty-three hundred eighteen of · 510
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§3333
CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES Title 4
this article, or when requested by the practitioner. the name of such substance; (b) Such container shall be identified as a controlled substance by either: (i) an orange label; (ii) a labeJ of another color over which is superimposed an orange transparent adhesive tape; or (iii) an auxiliary orange label affixed to the front of such container and bearing the legend, prominently marked or printed "Controlled Substance, Dangerous Unle88 Used As Directed"; (c) Any label, transparency. or auxiliary labelshaU be applied in a manner which would inhibit its removal. 3. The pharmacist filling the prescription shall endorse upon the original and copy thereof the date of delivery, his signature, and the registration number of the pharmacy. 4. The endorsed original prescription shall be retained by the proprietor of the pharmacy for a period of five years. The endorsed copy of such prescription shall be filed with the department by not later than the fifteenth day of the next month following the month in which the substance was delivered. (Added L.l972, c. 818. § 2; amended L.l981. c. 415. § 2.) Hiltorie" Note 1'111 Amendmellt. Subd. 2. L.191H, c:. 415, § 2, eff. Sept. I. 19HI. added aubel. 2 and repealed former liUbei . 2, whic:h relatA!d to dispensing controlled substanc:ea in a auitable and durable eontainer and the provisions 10 appear upon an oranKe label aWxt!d to auc:h c:ontainer. Effec:tin Date. St.-c:tion effec:tive Apr. I, 1973 pursuant w L.1972, c:. 878, § 7. DeriyaU_. Subd. 2. Former IIKtiona 3325, aubd. 2, and 3383, aubel. 2. Said former aec:tion 3325, IUbei. 2. L.1953, c:. 879, !i I; amended LI961, c:. l1li4, !i 5; 1,.1971, c:. 997, t 5; repealed by 1•. 1972, c:. 87H, § I; was from IIKtion 431 of the Public Health Law of 1009, addt!d L.l933, c. 6H4, !i I; amended LI950. c:. 794, !it 18, 19; and repealed by aection 500'l of thi.'! c:haptA!r. • Said former seetion 3383, IIUbei. 2, was a dded 1..1965, c:. 323, § I; amended
-
1..1966, c:. HGII, !i 6; and repealt!d by LI972, c:. 8711, !i I. Subd. 4. I"ormer sections 3333, aubel. 3, and 3388, aubel. 3. Said former Bection 3333, Bubd. 3, L.1953, c:. 879, § I; amended 1..1961, c:. 8114, § 7; repealed by L.l972, was from Iec:tion 429 of the Public Health Law of 1909. For history of .. id aec:tion 429, see Derivation nole set out under section 3322. Said former section 33811, aubd. 3, was added L.l965, c:. 323, § I; and repealed by LI972. c:. !I'lll. !i I. FOrMer Seetion 3333. Sec:tion, L.l953, c:. 879. !i I; amended 1..1960. c:. 665, t I; L. I96I , c:. l1li4, !i!i 7, H, requiring the keeping of recorda, Wall repea led by LI972, c:. 8711, § I . For hillwry of lIid aection, see Dt!rivation nolea Bet out under seetiona :!3:l2. 3329, 3342, 3343, 3370 a nd this section .
511
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~
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...
D3333
PUBLIC HEALTH LAW Art. U
CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES
New York CoMe, Lia ....... IaUOU
HIa&erIcaI Nole
Diapensing upon offICial New York State pre.criptiona by phannaciata, NYCRR 80.73.
lei
10
....H . . ptlon
Z
I. "own of SUIte
Stale has riKht to 9upervi~e receipt and ..Ie or drugs. People v. Terraciano, I!1U :I!I ~ 1I.2d 1005,333 N.Y.S.2d 903.
EtledJYe Date. Section effective Apr.
I, 1973 punuanl to L.1972, c. 878, I 7. Dert..UoII. Former aectiona 3371,
Noaa 01 Dedaiona
Pown of State
U333a
Title 4
tiat or veterinarian for the aale of u.o.e domestic and propriew, remediea, the aale of which waa pennitted without a prescription under lormer a«tion 245 of the Public Health Law of 1909, which prohibited certain sales of drull. 1914, Op.Atty.Gen. 366.
IUbei. 19, and 3381. Said former aec:tion 3371. IUbel. 19. wu added L.1965, c. 323, I 1; amended L.I966, c. 868, t 2; and repealed by 1...1972, c. 878, I I.
New
Said former a«tion 3381 wu added 1..1965. c. 323, I I; and repealed by L.1172, c. 878. t I. For.er Redlo.. 3334. Section, L.1963, c. 879. I I, which related to con· rldential nalure of recorda, Wall repealed by 1..1972, c. 878, I I. For hiatory of &aid aeclion, 1ft Derivation notes set out under aectiona 3370, 3371 and 3373.
Yon CoMe. a.1ea ... Rqulatio..a
Emergency oral prescripliona for achedule II lUbe lances,
I', n IIIpt inn A City ordinance could not n.'quire the written prescription of a physician, den·
1ft
10 NYCRR 80.68.
Z.
§ 3334.
§ 3335.
Emer,ency oral prucriptions for schedule II drup
l. In an emergency situation, as deCined by rule or regulation oC the department, a practitioner may orally prescribe and a pharmacist may dispense to an ultimate user controlled substances in schedule II; provided however the pharmacist shall:
(a) contemporaneously reduce such prescription to writing; (b) dispense the substance in conCormity with the labeling requirements applicable to the type of prescription which would be required but for the emergency; and (c) make a good faith effort to verify the practitioner's identity, if the practitioner is unknown to the pharmacist. 2. No oral prescription shall be filled for a quantity of controllcJ substances which would exceed a five day supply if the substance were used in accordance with the directions for use. 3. Within seventy-two hours after authorizing an emergency oral prescription, the prescribing practitioner shall cause to be delivered to the pharmacist the original and one copy of an official New York state prescription. Such prescription shall, in addition to the information otherwise required, also have written or typed upon its face the words: "Authorization for emergency dispensing." If the pharmacist fails to receive such prescription he shall notify the department in writing within seven days from the date of dispensing the substance. 4. Such official New York state prescription shall be endorsed, retained and filed in the same manner as is otherwise required for such prescriptions.
... ---
(Added L.1972, c. 878, § 2.)
512
....
...
Makin, of wrilten preacription8 for controlled substances
1. Except as provided in section thirty-three hundred thirty-seven, substances in schedules III, IV and V Cor which an official New York state prescription is not required, may be prescribed by a practitioner only on a written prescription made in good faith and in the course of his professional practice.
2. Such written prescription shall be prepared in the same manner and contain the same information as is required by subsection two of section thirty-three hundred thirty-two of this article, except that an official New York state prescription need not be used and the practitioner need not prepare, deliver or retain copies of the prescription. 3. No such prescription shall be made for a quantity of substances which would exceed a thirty day supply or. pursuant to regulations of the commissioner enumerating conditions warranting specified greater supplies, for a quantity of substances which would exceed a three month supply, if the substance were used in accordance with the directions for use. (Added L.1972, c. 878. § 2; amended L.1974, c. 965, § 12.) Hlatorical Note 1914 Amendment_ Subel. 3. 1..1974, c. 005, § 12. err. on 30th day following June 1:1, 1914, inserted "or, pun;uant to reguhations of the commissioner enumer· , atinK conditions warranting lpecified greater supplies, for a quantity of subllances which would exceed a three month supply," precedin, "if the aub- ·
stance were used in accordance witll di· rections ror use." Errectin f)ate. Section ,·ff.'ctivt> Apr. I, 1973 pursuant tAl I ~ 1!I72, c lS711, ~ 7. J)erh'atlon. "ormer sec lion:! :1;1:10 and 3385. For history of silid former sections, see I>erivation note set out un· der section 3331.
613
...
IIlIJ""
-.
8JJJa Ne.y....
PUBLIC HEALTH LAW Art. u
c.... .................
~ controlled IUbetancea, He 10 NYCRR 80.68.
Written pracriptiona, acheduJe III, IV and V IUbe&aaeee, ... 10 HYCRR BO.69 and
80.74.
u_aw 8&a&ea Colle AnllOta&H Preacriptjona, He IeCtion 829 01 Title 21, Food ADd Drup. W.'I IIdU_lle,'1 F-..
The folloWing fonna La. I 8336; Health
~ in Selected ConaoIidated
LaWI Fonna under Publie
Order 10 lho. caUIe in article 78 proceeding 10 review determination of CGmmiuion. er of Health rllldinC "hYlieian evilt, of YioIationa ·relatin, 10 preecriptiona for controlled lubatancea, He Fonn 1. Petition in Article 78 PI'OCeedin, to review determination 01 CGmmiuioner 01 Health findin, phYlieian ,uilty 01 yioiatioaa relating to preacriptiona for contn,IIt',1 lubetanrea, Me Form 2.
Noaea 01 DeclUe... CollltltuUOIIallty 1 Cou ... 01 IIf"IICtIee J Goo4 '''tII 2 Quuttly JlftKrilletl •
""".1ORaI
tiona, evidella! that phYlieian iuued preacriptiona for ellc:euive amount of con. trolled Iubetancea II diacloaed by preacription recorda and that phYlician lug. geated to inveatigator that he not fill two preacriptionl at lame Pharmacy to I . ConlttluUoa..lty avoid problems with narc:olica officia .., Under thie article prohibiting phYlj. IUPPO~ finding thal ph~lician isaued cian from preacribing controlled lub- preacnptions fo.r nonrrw:cJlcal rell !", o llance nol in ,ood faith and not in the and thill, ac~ In bad fa.'th and OUla.ide coune of hit profeaaional practice, the coune ?f hll profeaalOnal practice. worda "good faith" and "in the COlIne of Koudouna v. Axelrod, 1984, 102 A.D.2d hie profeaaional practice" have deflniLe 9/)C, 477 N. Y.S.~ 815. Ind welJ.undenlood meaning and &re . To establish lhat physician llded in clear and unambiguolII, 10 that indict· bad faith and outside coune of his proment charging offenae in ltatulory Ian· leaeional practice in writing preacriptiona in violation of this IeCtion, it musl ' ....e is lufrlCient to appriae defendant 01 charcea he mllll defend apinal and be demonatrated that prelcriptiona were prol.ect him from subeequent JIroHcu- iuued for nonmedical rellona. Koution for lame conduct, and thUI ltatutea douria v. Alleirod, 198C, 102 A.D.2d 9SC, are not unconatitutionally vague. Peo- 477 N. V.S.2d 815. pie v. Fliekinger, 1976, 88 Miac.2d &C, R«ord WII insufficient 10 support S87 N.Y.s.2d 957. phYlieian'1 conviction· for iaauance of This IeCtion which permits a phYlician poatdated 3O-day prescriptions, where to preacribe and dispenae controlled lub- the evidence demonstrated that the preltancet under certain conditiona if done acriptionl were made in good faith. Ripin "good faith" and "in the COlIne of hil ton v. New York Stale Dept. 01 Health, 1981, 85 A.D.2d 899, 446 N.Y.S.2d 732. profeaaional practice only" iI not void for People Y. GoIdberr, In the abaence of evidella! thal phYlj. 1975,82 MIIC.2d 474, 369 N.Y.s.2d 981. cian preacribed drug lor undercover
vague~.
%. Goo4 f"tII . In hearing on charges that phyaician vlOlaLed this IeCUon in wuing preacrip-
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1
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.,ent, who WII poaing II a patient, for any purpoee other than to aid the undercover agent, who had COme 10 him complaining of f1uhbacka and inaumnia, in
514
-
CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES
13336
Title • the abaence of evidence 10 lhow that the phyaieian should have llIIpected the undercover agent of being an addict, and in the abaence of evidence that phYlician preacribed IeCOnal for hil illicit ,ain or 10 facilitatt- illegal drug ltaIflC, lad that he preacribed the drug without c0nducting a phYlical examination WII not lufficient 10 lhow abaence of ,ood laith on the part of the physieia.; in the conLellt of the phyaieian'patient relaliottship, "good faith" meana lor a bona fMle medical purpoae. People Y. Pal, 1m, 61 A.D.2d &CO, 391 N.Y.S.2d 702. "Good faith," within meaning 01 thia IeCtion which permita a phYlieian to prescribe and diapenae controlled lub.tancH if done in lood faith and in the coune of his profeuional practice only, means lhat the physician mUlt have acted for a bona fide medical purpoae in supplying or presc:ribinr the drula. People v. Goldberg, 1976, Il2 MiIIC.2d 474,369 N.Y.S.2d 989.
0_
3. Coune uf profeMkNlai practice In proceeding in which the Stale C.ommissioner of Health impoaed a $5,000 penalty on physician and revoked hil right 10 use orflc:ial New York Stale prescription fonna, record contained substantial evidence 10 IUpport conclusion that phYllician unlawfully issued prescriptionl not in good faith Ind not in the coune of his profeaaional practice only. Rololi v. New York Stale Dept. ot Health, 1980, 78 A.D.2d 720, 432 N.Y. S.2d 530. A doclor who issuea a prescription or dispensell controlled IUbeta_ for nonmedical pUrpoacl is not acting "in the course 01 his profeaaionll practice only" and fact that the trannc:tion may take place in the doctor'l offICe, that
§ 3336.
preacription forma are UHd and &hat the t.ranaaction otherwiae baa the outward appearance of medical prac:tiee doea not make it one occurring "in the coune 01 his profeaaional practice" within me. . inc of thil aection whieh permita a phy. ciln 10 preacribe and dilpellM controlled aubatanc:ea under certain conditioaa. People Y. Goldberg, 19'15, 82 MiIc:.Zd '1',369 N.Y.S.2d 989.
•. QuuUl,,...mi1e4 In hearinc on c:har,ea that phYlieian violated thil aec:tion in illuing prescriptiona, evidence that phYlician iuued preICI'ipC.ioM to inYeatigalor and hil flCtitioua cirI friend before ellpiration of refill period of prior preacripUona, Lherebj providia, more than :JO.day aupply at one time, IUpported finding that phYli· cian violated regulalory prohibition apinat preacribing quantitiea of lubata_ in nceaa of lIIHtay lupply, which impoaea lime ltandarda .. are eatablilhed by this chapter. Koudouria v. Alleirod, 1984, 102 A.D.2d BM, 477 N.Y.S.2d 815. In hearing on chargel that phYlieian violated thil IeCtion in illuing preacriplionl, evidence did not ealablish any violation of provision which prohibita "dia· penlin," more than 3(Hfay lupply of controlled lub.tancel. Koudouria v. AlIelrod, 1984, 102 A.D.2d 964, 477 N.Y. S.2d 815. Physician's conviction or issuing a prescription which exceeded the 30 daYI allowed by la. WII arbitrary and caprj. cious, where the record Ihowed that the physician's issuance of the preacription WII a limple mistake. Ripton v. New York Stale Dept. of Health, 1981, 85 A.D.2d 899, 446 N.Y.S.2d 732.
Dispenainr upon written preKription
1. A licensed pharmacist may, in good faith and in the course of his professional practice, dispense to an ultimate user controlled substances in schedules III, IV, or V for which an official New York slate prescription is not required, upon delivery to such pharmacist of a written prescription within thirty days of the date , such prescription was signed by an authorized practitioner.
2. Such substance may be dispensed only if packaged and labeled in conformity with the provisions of subsecLion two of section thirty-three hundred thirty-three of this article. 515
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IIIIIt
PUBLIC HEALTH LAW
§3336
Art. 33
3. The pharmacist filling the written prescription shall endorse his signature and the date of delivery to the ultimate user. Such endorsed prescription shall be retained by the proprietor of the pharmacy for a period of five years.
§ 3338
CONTROl-LEI) SURSTANC.;S Title 4
4. Such written prescription shall be endorsed, retained and filed in the same manner as is otherwise required for such prescriptions. (Added L.1972, r . 8711, § 2; amended L.I974, c. 960, § I; L.1974. c. 961. § I; L.1974, c. 965, § 13.)
(Added L.1972, r . 878, § 2.)
IIlatcwicai Note
Historical Note ElfKli,,~ nate. Section errective Apr. I, 197:1 pursuant to L.1972, c. 11711. § 7. Uui"ation. Former sections :1:122 and 3:11:11 . For history of said former
sections, see I>erivation note set out un· der section 3:121.
New York Codes. Kules and Keplations Written prescriptions. 1Ic/lt.'dult' III. I V .and V substances. see 10 N YCRR HO.G9 a,"1 110.74.
1974 AmendmenlII. Subel. 2. 1..1974, c. 961 . !I I. eff. June 13. 1974. inserWtl "or one hundred dosalte unil.8, whichever is less." l. 1974. c. !160. If I. err. JUIH.' 13. 1!174. im;~r~d I'rClviI;ions permillinlC a Ilrescrl~tMI/l for a scheclule IV 5ub:;,:-OC'e to be f,lIl.,,1 for nol more than a I hlrty-duy sUl1llly. Sulld. :1. 1..1!174, c. 96!i, !I 1:1, err. on :ltIth .Iay r.. llowin!: .Iull(· 1:1. 1974. suh~ti· tuted "hl' shall make a rt'Cord IIr such
ract in such manner and detail lUI the commisliioner, by regulation • • hall recluire" for " he shall notify the department in writing within seyen day. from the date of dispensing the substance". t:«edlwe Date. Section effective Apr. 1 1973 unuant to L.l972. c. 878, § 7. • p Oeri"ation. Fur mer sections 3:171, subd. 19, and 33111. For history of .aid former sections, see lIerivaliun note set out under section 33:14 .
Notes of Oecisluns Put, of pharmaci.lII Pharmacists have serious responsibili· ty not to abulle trust which licensure I.
places in them reKardin~ .."iltrllll,'.1 suit· slances. Ua v is v . Amltal·h. 1911:1. !ll A.U.2d 1113. 4f,ij N. Y.S.2d :141.
§ 3338.
§ 3337. Oral prescriptions schedule III, IV and V liubsLances A practitioner may urally prescribe and a pharmacist may dispense to an ultimate user controlled subslances in schedules III, I V or V for which an official New York slate prescription is not required; provided however the pharmacist shall: 1.
(a) contemporaneously reduce such prescription to writillg; (b) dispense the subslance in conformity with the labeling requirements applicable to a written prescription; and (c) make a good faith effort to verify the practitioner's identity, if the practitioner is unknown to the pharmacist. 2. No oroll prescription shall be filled for a quantity of controlled substances which would exceed a five day supply if the substance were used in accordance with the directions for use, except that with respect to a schedule IV substance such prescription shall not exceed a thirty-day supply or one hundred dosage units, whichever is less. 3. Within seventy-two hours after authorizing such an oral prescription, the prescribing practitioner shall cause to be delivered to the phannacist a written prescription. If the pharmacist fails to receive such prescription he shall make a record of such fact in such manner and detail as the commissioner, by regulation, shall require.
..,..
_....5.l.6.
_
New York (:ocle •• Hule. and Ke,ulaUons Oral prescriptions rur schedule III, IV and V substances, see 10 NYCRR 110.70.
_
Official New York state prescription forms
1. Official New York slate prescription forms shall be prepared and issued by the department in groups of twenty-five or one hundred forms, each form in triplicate and serially numbered. Such forms shall be furnished at a cost (If six dollars and twenty-five cents per group of twenty· five forms or twenty-five dollars per group of one hundred forms to practitioners authorized to write such prescriptions and to institutional dispensers. Such prescription blanks shall not be transferable. 2. Except as expressly authorized by seelion thirty-three hundred thirty-four, substances listed in schedule II may be prescribed or dispensed only upon an official New York state prescription. 3. The commissioner may, by rule or regulation, require that a particular substance in schedule III or schedule IV, or particular preparations containing such substance, be prescri~ed or dispensed upon an official New York state prescription. 4. The commissioner is hereby authorized and empowered to make rules and regulations, not inconsistent with this article, with respect to the retention or filing of such forms, the maximum , number of forms which may be issued at anyone time, the period of time after issuance by the department that such form shall remain valid for use, and the manner in which practitioners associated with institutional dispensers may use such fonns, or any other matter of procedure or detail necessary to effectuate or clarify the
7
PUBLIC HEALTH LAW An. IS
13338
provisions of this section and to aeeure proper and effective enforeement of the provisions of this article. 6. Upon a finding by the commiuioner that a penon ... wilfully failed to comply with the provisions of this article, the commissioner may revoke, caneel or withhold offICial New YOft atate prescription forma which have been iuued or for which application has been made. (Added 1..1972, c. 8'18. t 2; amended 1..1981. c. 103. t 1.)
§
160; 1..1982,
Co
129.
HIMrial Note IIIZ A_ _ MeIIa. Subd. 1. 1..1982, e. 129. t 1. eff. Jan. '. 1988. ill Inlence
beginninc "Ofrlcial New York" iMert.ecl
"twenty·fi,e or" and in lenience ~ nine "Such fonM .!,haII" dollan and twenty·rlfe eenta pel' croup of twenty·fiye fOl'11ll or",
iMet1ed...
New Y....
1111 A~a. Subd. 1. 1..1981. e. lOS. t 150. elf. June 1. 1981. ill .Ittence bepDillC "OfrlCial New York" lubetitut.ed "twenty·rlfe doIlan" for "ten doIlan". Medin o.&e. Seetion effeetiYe Apr. 1. 1973 purauant to 1..19'12, e. 878. t 7.
c.... ..lee u4 ItepIaUone
OffICial New York State preaeription formaControl and reportin, of. _ 10 NYCRR 80.77. Diapenainc on. Me 10 NYCRR 80.71.
Ii 3339. Refillinl or praeriptio... rol' controlled 8ubetancH 1. An official New York state prescription may not be refilled. 2. A written prescription may be refilled not more than the number of times specifically authorized by the prescriber upon the prescription. provided however no. such authorization shall be effec· tive for a period greater than six months from the date the prescription is signed. In the event that the prescription authorizes the dispensing of more than a thirty day supply of schedule III, schedule IV or schedule V substances pursuant to regulations of the commiuioner enumerating conditions warranting specified greater 8upplies, the prescription may be refilled only once. 3. Unless an earlier refilling is authorized by the prescriber. no written prescription may be refilled earlier than seven days prior to the date the previously dispensed supply would be exhausted if used in conformity with the directions for use. (Added L.1972, c. 8'18. t 2; amended 1..1974. c. 965. § 14.) HWericaI Nok It'l. A_. . . .a. Subd. 2. 1..197.. 011 30th day foHowinc
e. 965, t ' •• eff.
June 13, 197 •• added proyiaion relating to refillin, of preaeriptiona whieh auUM.-
618 ~
1
.
CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES "... riM'" ~ of.ore than a LWrt . , IUppiJ 01 adMMIuAe Ill. achedule 1~
or aeWale V ~ pun. . . ..
.......... 01 . . . . . . .• . . . ....... .... •••it... wurutiaI ....,.. ,......aupplia Former aeetioD
Peri,.....
IUbel.
aaz.
1(.).
Said former aeetiDa IS22, . . .. 1(4)>1..1163. e. 87'. I 1; re,..w Ity L.lt'r!. e. 878, t 1; WII f .... Public Heallia ....
13341 of 1109.1421, ...... I..UIII, c. aM,l 1; .-ecIed 1..1160. Co 1M. I 1.; aad ... ...... b, aedioa 6002 of lhiI chapW.
r _ ............
.. ..... _tiel
Secdoa.
1...1161. c. 87', I I, which ...laI.ed .. pow· of CCIIII.iMionet' II .. urcoUc .... acIdidioa. ... ~ by 1...1t'r2, Co 8'lI. I 1. ........... Seetioa effec:tive Apr. 1. It'rl punuut to 1..19'12, c. 878, I 'f.
rw. .. Dec..... 1.
A.u.ort...... f.............
Under former aeetion 421 of the Public Health Law of 1909 [now thia Met.ion~ which related to ..-ftntionA for
narcotic: .".ea .... ~-i'; ... penainc ........
nuiIt IDich'
reMweei a pnecription callinl for a .... It.fonni", tlrul, if the patient hIId an orcIer 'or the rene." from the phJaiciaa who eaye the oricinal preecriptioD. 1914. Op.Atty.GeIl. 343.
ha.e
I 3341. luUtutlonai dia,eaaen eerUfka&ee or appro.a. 1. No institutional dispenser .. herein before defined. shall receive, poaseas or cause controlled BUbstances to be administered or dispensed without first having been issued a certifac:ate of approval authorizing such activity by the commissioner. 2. Upon application of an institutional dispenBer for a certifac:ate of approval, the commissioner Bhall issue such certificate if he is satisfted that: (a) the applicant and its mallaging officers are of good moral character; (b) the applicant po,ssesses the necessary land. building. paraphernalia and staff to properly carry on the activities described in the application; (c) the applicant will be able to maintain effective control against diversion of controlled substances; and (d) the applicant will be able to comply with all applicable Btate and federal laws, S. Institutional dispensers to whom such certificateB have been issued shall thereafter register biennially with the department. The fee (or such certifICate and for each biennial registration shall be fifty dollan. 4. Certificates and registrations issued under this section shall be effective only for and shall specify: (a) the name and address of the institutional dispenser;
619
...--'
....
LAW Art. u
I"'UULIt; H~ALTH
(b) the nature o( the controlled substance, or IUbatancee, either by name or schedule, or both, for which the certiraeate or re'-tnlion is issued. (Added L.1972, c. 878, § 2; amended L.1981, c. 103, § 161.) Hlalerical Ne&e 1t81 A_IMI_aL Subd.3. LI98I, lee Derinlion note let out under Ndioa c. 103. t 151, ell. June I, 1981, in len- 8313. tence beginning "The fee for" IUb.titut. For hietory of aid former Nd.ioa doIlan" for "twellty·f..e doled '''fifty Ia n ••. 8314, lee DeriYalion DOte let out UDder Elredlye o.&e. Seetion ellectiye Apr. IeCtion 8313. I, 1973 punuant to LI972, Co 878, I 7. For hietory of aid former IeCtion Derly.uo.. Former MCtiona 3311, 3376, lee Derivation DOte let out UDder 8314, and 3376. IeCtion 3305. Said fonner IeCtion 8311, L1963, c. , , - - SectJo. SUI. Seetion, 879, t 1; amended L191iS, c. 926, t I; LI953, c. 879, t I, which related to com. LI96I , c. 884, t 1; 1..11162, c!. 597, t 2; mitment 01 addict.; procedure; die. and repealed by 1..1972, c. 878, t 1; wu charce, wu repealed by LI962, Co 204, from Public Health Law of 1909, t 423, t 6. See now Mental Hygiene Law in part. For hietory of ..id leetion 423, t 19.01 et aeq. New Yon Codn, Rulea an4 Rqulatlonl Institutional dispenaersAdditional requirements for, see 10 NYCRR 80.46. Limited diapenaen, lee 10 NYCRR 80.47. Minimum leeurity ltan
Decl.ion. tions or fulfillment of its pUrpolles; but a certificate of approval IIhould not be issued to the United Nations Health Service unleu the Secretary-Gen.·rill agn'I's that its premises and records shall be subject to visitation and inspection in 80 far as may be required in the enforcement of said section. 1951, Op.AUy. Gen. 165.
CON1'KOLLED SUBS'. ·AIU,1Wt Title ..
2. An inatitutional dispenaer may dispenae controlled IUbatancea for use off ita premilea only punuant to a prescription, prepared and filed in conformity with thiII title, provided, however, that, in an emergency situation u derlned by rule or regulation of the department, a practitioner in a hospital without a full-time phannacy may dispense controlled subetancea to a patient in a h08pital emergency room for use off the premilel of the institutional dispenser for a period not to exceed twenty-four houn. . 3. An institutional dispenser .hall maintain records of all controlled subetancea dispensed and administered in such manner .. the commissioner shall, by regulation, require. (Added L.1972, c. 878, t 2; amended L.1973, Co 163, § 13; L.I974, c. 966, §
..,.
16; L.1976, c. 692, § 1.) HiIIIorie.. Nete
1171 A_IttII_aL Subd. 2. Ll976, c. 692, , I, eff. July 24. 1976, added proviso authoNin, diapeMin, drup in an emergency. 11'74 A_n4_aL SuM 1. Ll~4, c. 965. t 15. df. on. 30th day fol.lo:-mg June 13, 1974, provided for admm.tra· tion or diape~tion ~f controlled lubstances for the Immedllte care or treat· ment o~ a patient lawful~y be.ing traMferred 10 an emergency situalton, III defined by rule or regulatioll of the commiaaioner, to an alternative medical facility. 1913 Amelllll_nt. Subd. 3. 1..1973,. c. 16:i. t 13. eff. Apr. I. 1973, added subd. 3. Effective Date. Section effective Apr. I, 1973 pursuant to 1..1972, c. 878, t 7.
Deri.......
Subd. l. Fonner lee' tiona 8333, lubda. 4, 6, 7, and S888, IUbda. 4. 6. Said fonner aection 3333, IUbda. 4. 6, and 7, L1963, c. 879, t I ; amended LI961, c. 884, t 8; repealed by 1..1972, c. 878, t 1; were from Public Health Law of 1909 t 429. For hiatory of aatd leetion 429 see Derivation note let out under 3322.
lee&..
Said fonner aection 3388, subda. 4 and 6 were added 1..1966. c. 323, t I ; amended L.I966, c. 868, t 9; .nd repealed by L.1972, c. 878, § \. Former SKtion 334%. Section, 1..1933, c. 879, § I , which related to publie nuisanees, Will repealed by L.I972. c. 117t1, § 1.
New Yon CoMa. Ruin a.1II Replatlon. Dispensing of controlled IUb.tances by institutional dislJensen, see 10 NYCRR 110.'15. Hospital pharmacy or drug room, lee 10 NYCRR 405.102'1. Records and reporlsGeneral requirements, lee 10 NYCRR 80.100. Institutional dialJensen, lee 10 NYCRa 110.48 and 80.49. Inventory, procedure for filin" lee 10 NYCRR 80.112.
§ 3342. Diapensinc and adminilterinc by institutional dilpensen
1. An institutional dispenser may cause controlled substances to be administered or dispensed (or use on its premises or (or the immediate care or treatment o( a patient law(ully being transferred in an emergency lituation, as defined by rule or regulation of the commissioner, to an alternative medical facility only pursuant to a written order by a practitioner (or medication. Such orders shall be made and preserved in the manner and form as the commissioner shall, by regulation, prescribe. 520
....... .,
I
§ 3343. Reports and record. 1. Prescriptions and copies of prescriptions shall be preserved in the following manner:
621
...
PUBLIC HEALTH LAW
13343
An. "
(a) prescribing practitioners and dispensing practitionen .hall preeerve the retained copy of an official New York ltate p!Nki iption in a aepante file maintained exclUliYely for luch recorcle; (b) phannacista dispensing controlled IUbetancee upon prescription shall preserve luch preaeriptiona i'n .uch manner .. the commiuioner shall, by regulation, require. 2, Practitioners and pharmacies shall maintain records of all controlled substances received and dispensed in such manner .. the commissioner .hall, by regulation, require. (Added 1..1972, c. 878, § 2.) H...... NeW Erredl.. Date. Section elfective Apr. I. 1973 punu.nt to 1..1972, e. 878. t 7. Derlwatiofl. Fonner aeetiona 3333, aubel. I and 3388, aubcl. I. Said former IIfttion 3333, aubel. I, 1..1953, c. 879, t I; .mended 1..1960, c. 665, t I; 1..1971, e. 997, t 8; ~pealed by 1..1972, c. 878, t I; wu from Public Health LAw of 1909 t 429. For history of said IIfttion 429 1ft Derivation note set out under IIftUon 3322. Said former aeetion 3388, aubel. I, wu added I.. I 96!;, c. 323, § I ; .mended
1..1966, c. 868, t 8; .nd repealed by 1..1972, e. 878, t I. F _ SeeliGna 3343 anti 3344. For· mer aeetion 3343, 1..1953, c. 879, t I, which prohibited poeeeuion of .pparalUI for UH of opium, wu ~pealed by 1..1972, c. 878, t 1. Former section 3344, L.I953, c. 879, t I; .mended L.I969, c. 295. t I, which required ~rta by phYlliciana, wu repealed by 1..1972, c. 878, § I. For his\.c). ry of said former aeclion 3344, He Derivation note set out under section 3372.
New Yorll CotIetI, Ru," ..... Replatlon.
Reporte .nd recorda,
He
10 NYCRR 110.100 et seq. Notel of Dee....n • .
Content. 01 l'ftorU 2 Duty to .... taln neon. IlUIped'" 01 ~ J I.
1h1t,,, ........ reeenIa
In aecepliac ... license, phannaciat Kc:eptl iac:idntt obligation of keeping ~qui~ reeorda .nd pennitting their inspection. IIcKalla Y. Board of Regent. 01 Uniwenity of State of N.Y., 1968,30 A.D.2d 495, 294 N .y.s.2d 382. Whe~ • phYlician merely wrilel • p~ription for • habit· forming druC but don not deliver the dnal illelf to the .-tient he it not required to keep on record the name .nd add~ or the per· IOn to whom the PftICription it Kiven. People v. Cohen, 1916, !N Iliac. 355, 157
N.Y.S.591.
.
., .
Z. Content. of I'ftonl. Under former aection 246 oC the Public Health LAw of 1909 (now this sec· tionl which ~lated to p~riptionll for n.rcotic: drup and c:ertilic.tea for dis· penainc eame, ~tailen of habit·Conning dru,1 on the sale thereof had to pl.ce on the PftICription to be kept on file the name 01 the phYlicel purchaser that is the penon to whom the druK wu deliv· ered, not the name of the penon for whose UH the drug wu intended, .nd the 181M name .... had to be written on the label or eertiflc.te of ..Ie delivered with the dnag. 1914, Op.Alty.Gen. 287.
s.
IMpedJotI oIl'ftOn1.
As • licensed phannac:ist defendant wu requi~ to keep recorda of .U nar· cotic: drup .nd depressant or ltimulant drugs l'ftC;yed .nd disposed of by him,
522
---,
----:
- ....-
-:
...
PUBLIC HEALTH LAW
113310
Art. 33
mer article 33-A. wu repealed L. I972. c. 818. t I. AnotMr lormer II«tion 3.170. added L.I965. c. 10.11. t 174. which related to
.. Ie or ~ion 01 barbiturate drup or preparationa. " .. repealed by LI961. c. 680. t Ill. See 110" eec:tioM 1380 .nd 3381. I
New Yorll Co4ft......... llepWloau General requirement. for n!C!OI'da and reporta. ' " 10 NYCRR 8CHOO.
N. . .
.,DKWe..
I . c....tlt.Uo....lt,
TIwre wu no .upport in the: record. or in the: nperic:1I<'C! of California and III .. noia under similar atalutea. for an u· lumplion thal lI«urity provisioN (011. (emlng lI«urily of copies 01 prnc:riptiona for dangeroul druga filed "ith the atate "ould be: adminiaterc:d improperl, and thul no buia for holding the: statute unc:onatilutional on u-c: grounda. Whalen v. Roe. N.Y.l977, 97 S .Ct. _ .
Rc:motc: poaaibility that judic:iaJ IUperviaion 01 evidentiary uac: of parCjcular itema 01 inlormation ltored punuant to proviaiona 01 thia arUc:1c: requirin, that the ltate receive eopiea of all prnc:ri~ tiona lor (ertain dan,eroua drup "ould provide inadequate protection a,ainlt u."arranted diec:loaure wu not luff.. cic:nt n!IUIOfI for invalidalin, the: entire patient identification program. Id.
429 U.S. 589. 51 LEd.2d 64.
II 3371. ConfidenUailty of certain records, reports, and InformaUon 1. No person, who has knowledge by virtue of his office of the identity of a particular patient or research subject. a manufacturing process. a trade secret or a formula shall disclose such knowledge. or any report or record thereof. except: (a) to another person employed by the department. for purposes of executing provisions of this article; or (b) pursuant to judicial subpoena or court order in a criminal investigation or proceeding; or
(c) to an agency. department of government. or official board authorized to regulate. license or otherwise supervise a person who is authorized by this article to deal in controlled substances. or in the coune of any investigation or proceeding by or before such agenq, department or board. (d) to a central registry established pursuant to this ' article. 2. In the course of any proceeding where such information is disclosed. except when necessary to effectuate the rights of a party to the proceeding, the court or presiding officer shall take such action as is necessary to insure that such information, or record or report of such information is not made public. (Added 1..19'72. c. 878. § 2; amended 1..19'73, c. 163. § 17.)
632
§
19; L.19'74. c. 965,
'.
APPENDIXB
INTENSIVE ENFORCEMENT ON RETAll., HEROIN DEALING IN LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS
101
The Massachusetts state police narcotics unit was decentralized in early 1983. State police agents were dispersed into drug task forces at the county level. Each of these country task forces was under the direction of an elected District Attorney. Six of these officers were placed at the disposal of Kevin Burke, the D. A. for Essex County, in which is located the city of Lynn. Essex County (at that time) had a popUlation of 750,000. Spreading the six officers out to attempt to cover this population base, in Burke's mind, would not create a significant impact on illicit drug activities in the County. In examining the needs of the County, Burke identified Lynn as an area with chronic citizen and merchant complaints respecting open heroin dealing. The city had the second highest crime rate of all state cities. Its police department strength had drooped from 180 to 120 as a result of fiscal restraints. Burke's task force started in September with six state troopers and one City of Lynn detective. On average, during its first ten months, the task force had six full time equivalent police and a part time civilian clerk, approximately 5% of Lynn's total sworn police force. It cost approximately $20,000 per month, or $ .25 per resident. Over time the state troopers were shifted to another city, and replaced with Lynn P.D. officers. The task force's goal was to make purchase of heroin difficult. It did so by concentrating on watching dealing locations, questioning suspected sellers and buyers, making arrests after observing purchases, using informants to make small purchases itself, and executing search warrants for suspected dealing premises. Many of the premises and people who were watched became known to the task force through citizen hotline tips. There was only one undercover operation, involving two officers, with a duration of several weeks. The task force's concentration of effort resulted in 140 arrests in the first 10 months. These arrests constituted 5 - 10% of the City'S arrest activities for the ten months in question. Eleven of these were for heroin possession with intent to distribute. Sixty were for other charges related to heroin: possession or possession of injection equipment; possession of cocaine with intention to distribute (20 arrests); simple possession of cocaine (12). There were a number of other drug related arrests, non-drug related arrests as well as arrests related to fugitive warrants. Ninety-six defendants pled guilty or were convicted, with nominal minimal sentences equalling 110 years. The concentrated task force effort in Lynn resulted in citizenry and merchants feeling that a significant improvement had been made. This feeling of improvement was reflected in a survey in the summer of 1984. City wide, respondents ( 37%) stated that they felt police and prosecutors were doing a better job; only 12 % felt that things had gotten worse. While it is hard to measure decreases in drug consumption directly, there are indirect indicators which may be used to obtain a fairly accurate sense of operations impacts on drug consumption. Drug treatment workers in Lynn reported that the task force's activities resulted in heroin users having increased difficulties in finding supplies. Some of these users went into treatment. Similarly, the demand for drug treatment increased in Lynn by 85 %, while being on the decline in the rest of the state. 103
Unexpectedly, there was an improvement in levels of street crimes, particularly robbery and aggravated assault. Comparing the 12 months starting with September 1983 to the previous twelve months, robberies dropped 18.5 %, reported burglaries dropped 37.5% and crimes against persons dropped 66%. In the case of robberies, these declined yet further after the first twelve months. Burglaries remained at the new low figure reached during the task force's first 12 months.
•
Drug dealers depend on a number of factors if their operations are going to be successful. They depend on a venue, or a place from which to operate - be it a street comer or house. They depend on concentration of dealing activities in small geographic areas, this provides safety in numbers. Relatively, they depend on, or understand, that police officers tend to be assigned in a manner which spreads their numbers across a broad geography, thus reducing the probabilities that anyone buyer or seller will be caught. The Lynn experiment was successful because it intervened in the venue, it concentrated its efforts on known dealers and locations; it received support from citizens who provided it with leads to probable drug dealing people and locations.
104
APPENDIX C BYLAWS OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE COUNCIL OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
105
(Amended January 29, 1988)
PREAMBLE
These are the bylaws of the Criminal Justice Council of Santa Cruz County.
Section 1 Name The organization shall be known as the Criminal Justice Council of Santa Cruz County. The Criminal Justice Council of Santa Cruz County shall encompass all of the territory lying within the boundaries of said county. The Criminal Justice Council of Santa Cruz County shall:
Section 2. Purpose and Powers 1. Provide long-range planning for the criminal justice system in Santa Cruz County; 2. Provide a more effective and efficient criminal justice system for the citizens of the Cities and County of Santa Cruz; 3. Promote cooperation and coordination within the criminal justice system; 4. Provide timely information on criminal justice matters, act as an advisory body to governmental entities in Santa Cruz County, and monitor and evaluate projects.
107
Section 3. Authority The Criminal Justice Council of Santa Cruz County shall exist as a Joint Exercise of Powers Agency, established in accordance with Section 6500 et seq. of the Government Code of the State of California.
Section 4 •.. Name The governing body of the Council shall consist of 23 members that must include the following: 1. Two (2) members of the Board of Supervisors designated by said Board; 2. The CAO of said County or his designated representative upon approval of the Council; 3. The Sheriff of said County; 5. The Chief Probation Officer of said County; 6. One (1) Superior Court Judge designated by the Judges of the Superior Court of said County; 7. One (1) Municipal Court Judge designated by the Judges of the Municipal Court of said County; 8. One (1) member of the primary contact of the Public Defender's Office; 9. The County Superintendent of Schools; 10. The Mental Health Director; 11. Two (2) representatives selected by the City Council of each City. One representative must be a member of the City Council, and the other may be a City Manager; 12. Two (2) Chiefs of Police selected by the Santa Cruz Police Chiefs Association; 13. The Santa Cruz Commander of the California Highway Patrol; 14. One (1) representative of a Contract Service Provider selected by the Council.
Section 5. Terms of Office All members holding office solely by the office or position held by them, shall be members of the Council for so long as they hold such office or position and for so long as such office of position constitutes the basis for such Council membership. Other members shall serve for a period of one year.
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Members that resign from the Council, before their term of office has expired shall provide the Council, and the body responsible for appointing the member to the Council, with written notice of their intent to resign a minimum of thirty days in advance of the effective date of their resignation. The body responsible for appointing the member to the Council shall notify the Council of its replacement member no less than fourteen days in advance of the next regularly scheduled Council meeting. This notification shall include the new member's name, mailing address, daytime phone number, and the date upon which the designated individual's Council membership shall commence. The designated individual's membership shall not commence until such notice has been received by the Council, and failure to provide notice within the above stated period of time will disqualify the new member's vote for a period of one month. This notification requirement shall also apply to the replacement of members that can no longer participate in the Council's business due to death, disability, or incapacitation, as well as to the replacement of members whose membership has expired. If a Council member has three absences from regularly scheduled meetings within any six month period, the question of removal of that member shall be listed on the agenda of the next regularly scheduled meeting. The member and the body responsible for appointing the member to the Council will be notified that a question of removal is to be put on the agenda. Removal of a Council member shall be by majority vote of eligible voting Council members.
In the event of removal, the Council shall notify the body responsible for appointing the member to the Council of the removal action within two working days. The body responsible for appointing the member to the Council shall in tum notify the Council of its replacement member no less than fourteen days in advance of the next regularly scheduled Council meeting. This notification shall include the new member's name, mailing address, daytime phone number, and the date upon which the designated individual's Council membership shall commence. The designated individual's membership shall not commence until such notice has been received by the Council, and failure to provide notification within this period of time will disqualify the new member's vote for a period of one month.
Section 6. Regular Meetings
Regular meetings of the Criminal Justice Council of Santa Cruz County shall be held quarterly during the months of February, May, August and November. The specific dates and times of regularly scheduled meetings shall be determined by a majority vote by a quorum of the membership. The Chairperson may cancel a regular meeting by giving written notice to all members of the Criminal Justice Council at least 24 hours before the regularly scheduled meeting time.
Section 7. Special Meetings
A special meeting may be called by the Chairperson, or by a majority of the Executive Committee, or by a majority of the full membership of the Criminal Justice Council, by giving written notice thereof by telegram or mail to all members of the Council at least 48 hours before the time of such meeting. Such written notice shall
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specify time and place and the agenda for the meeting, and only agenda items may be considered at a special meeting.
Section 8. Agenda of Meetings The agenda of each meeting for the Council ordinarily shall be delivered personally or by mail to the members of the Council at least 48 hours prior to the time of the meeting.
Section 9. Rules of Order On any question or point of order not contained in these Bylaws, the Council shall be governed in its parliamentary actions by Roberts Rules of Order (revised). Failure to follow the procedural rules and regulations in the conduct of meetings shall not affect the validity of any action taken by the Council Except for this rule, any rule of parliamentary procedure may be suspended by the affirmative vote of a majority of present members of the Council.
Section 10. Quorum A quorum for the transaction of official business shall consist of a majority of the current membership of the Council. No actions shall be taken by the Council except by affirmative vote of not less than a majority of a quorum of the Council.
Section 11. Manner of Voting Voting on all matters except those specifically exempted in this Section shall be by voice vote. A voice vote may be called at the direction of the Chairperson or upon request by any member of the Council. A voice roll call vote shall be recorded in the minutes. No member shall be permitted to vote upon a question unless that member is present when their name is called or before the vote is announced. Any member who fails or refuses to vote on any questions before the Council shall be deemed to have abstained, which shall be noted in the minutes. Exceptions to the voice vote rule include the election of officers, which shall be by secret ballot, and telephonic votes that may be conducted at the direction of the Chairperson in response to exigent circumstances. The Executive Director shall document all telephonic votes, and the results of all such votes must be placed on the agenda of the following regularly scheduled meeting of the Council. Proxy votes are permissible only under the following conditions: a. One proxy vote per fiscal year is authorized each Council member.
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b. All proxies must be written and entered into the record of the Council's business. c. Proxies can be given only to and used only by an individual in an : equivalent position (e.g., Police Chief to Acting Police Chief). In all measure, the Criminal Justice Council's voting procedures shall comply with the requirements of the Brown Act. Further, appropriate written materials relating to the subject of any telephonic vote shall be provided to each member no less than three days prior to a telephonic vote.
Section 12. Order of Business The order of business for regular or special meetings shall be as follows:
1. Roll Call
2. Approval of Agenda 3. Approval of Minutes 4. Written Communications 5. Report of Committees 6. Unfinished Business 7. New Business 8. Report of the Executive Director 9. Adjournment This agenda may be amended at a regular meeting of the Council at the request of a member with 2/3 approval of members present.
Section 13. Limitation of Discussion and Privilege of the Floor Discussion on any particular matter by either Council member or by any member of the general public may be limited, in the discretion of the Chairperson to such length of time as the Chairperson may deem reasonable under the circumstances, subject to being overruled by vote of the Council. The Privilege of the floor shall be granted to elected officials and appointed officers of the County, the Cities of Santa Cruz County, and other law enforcement agencies. Members of the public may be granted permission to speak at the discretion of the Chairperson, subject to being overruled by vote of the Council.
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Section 14. Officers The officers of the Criminal Justice Council of Santa Cruz County shall be a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, and Secretary, all of whom shall be members of the Council. The Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, and Secretary shall be elected by the Council for a term of one year, such terms to run from July through June. Prior to the July of each year, the Chairperson shall name a nominating committee which will make nominations at the July meeting. Other nominations may be made from the floor. An election shall be held in accordance with Section 10 and Section 11 of these Bylaws. All officers shall hold over in their respective offices after their term of office has expired until successors have been elected and have assumed office.
Section 15. Duties of Officers The duties of the Chairperson shall be to preside at all meetings of the Council, to call special meetings, to appoint the membership and chairperson of all committees, and to perform all other duties necessary or incidental to their office. The Chairperson shall participate in all voting. In the absence of the Chairperson, or in the event of the Chairperson's inability to act, the Vice-Chairperson shall take the place of the Chairperson and perform his duties. In the absence of the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson, the remaining membership shall elect one of their members to act temporarily as Chairperson. The Secretary shall perform such duties as required by law and such other duties as may be prescribed by the Council.
Section 16. Vacancies of Offices Should the office of the Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, or Secretary become vacant during the term of such office, the Council shall elect a successor from its membership at the earliest meeting at which such election would be practicable, and such election shall be for the unexpired term of the person whom they succeeded.
Chapter 17. Executive Committee There shall be an Executive Committee composed of twelve (12) members of the Criminal Justice Council. 1. One (1) Judge 2. Two (2) members of law enforcement: The Sheriff and One (1) City Police Chief 3. Four (4) City Representatives 112
4. One (1) member of the Board of Supervisors 5. The County Administrative Officer 6. The District Attorney 7. The Public Defender 8. The Chief Probation Officer Vacancies occurring during the terms of the elected members shall be filled by appointment by the Chairperson, subject to consent of the Council, and shall serve the duration of the term. The Executive Committee shall have duties, powers and responsibilities as may from time to time be prescribed by the Council. However any action taken shall be reported to the full Council at the next regularly scheduled meeting.
Chapter 18. Other Committees The Criminal Justice Council may create committees for any purpose to be composed of members of the Council appointed by the Chairperson. All such committees are temporary in nature, unless made pennanent through amendments to these Bylaws.
Section 19. Task Forces From time to time, special purpose task forces may be created to perform functions or to review projects or proposals which require special in-depth analysis. No task force shall be created without approval of the Criminal Justice Council. The membership of task forces shall include at least three members of the Criminal Justice Council, with the Chairperson and members of the task force appointed by the Chairperson of the Council. Non-voting participants may be obtained by the task force chairperson from other organizations, sources, and the general citizenry
Section 20. Executive Director The Criminal Justice Council any employ a staff member who shall be the chief administrative officer of the Council. The staff member shall: 1. Serve as administrative head of the affairs under the control and responsibility of the Council. 2. Be responsible for executing all directions given and activities authorized by the Council. 3. Have the authority to employ and dismiss personnel authorized by the Council.
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4. Cause to be kept minutes of all meetings. 5. Prepare an annual budget for Council approval. 6. Be ex-officio member without vote on all committees and shall participate in all meetings of the Council. 7. Perform such other duties as may be assigned from time to time by the Council. If the staff member positions becomes vacant, the Chairperson will inform all Council members and call a special meeting of the Executive Committee to design a process for filling the vacancy.
Section 21. Appeals Any individual, organization, project sponsor, or other group that wishes to have the Council reconsider a decision of the Council shall file a written statement within ten days of the original decision, and present new facts or issues that were not developed or adequately discussed prior to the original decision. The statement shall be distributed to the Council and the matter shall be placed on the agenda of the next regular meeting. The Council is not obligated to reconsider any decision if the statement is filed more than ten days after the original decision.
Section 22. Adoption of Bylaws The adoption of these Bylaws shall be by motion and shall require an affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the Council. hen adopted, these Bylaws shall remain in effect unless amended as provided herein.
Section 23. Amendments to Bylaws Amendments to the Bylaws may be adopted by the affirmative vote of a majority of all members of the Council at a meeting, provided at least 48 hours notice has been give. Prior notice of a proposed amendment must clearly identify the section to be amended and the amended version being proposed.
Section 24. Meeting Notice - Compliance with Brown Act Meetings shall be noticed and the Council shall comply with applicable provisions of the Ralph M. Brown Act (Government Code Section 54950 et seq. 'M'e~r1~e·L~.·F~r-an'k'-------------
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1/28/88
APPENDIXD
THE "DRAGNET" PROGRAM
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Dragnet is a three-year study that will be conducted by the Kansas City Police Department, with funding and cooperation from the National Institute of Justice in Washington, D.C. (Kansas City is one of several cities which selected for this program). Dragnet's purpose is to help police departments try out different law enforcement tactics in a controlled environment, and to measure their effects on the drug market, so that those having the most impact and the ones best tailored to the characteristics of different dealing locations can be emphasized. "Law enforcement agencies are traditionally good at identifying groups involved in criminal activities," explained the Narcotics Division's Major Shreve. "No one really knows what happens to drug markets when a given house is taken out. "I The process of altering this traditional approach will involve several components. More data will have to be collected than is currently the case, and it will have to be organized along different lines. In order for Dragnet to work, its activities will have to be based on a more precise and detailed picture of dealing locations that is currently available. A new automated form has already been developed to record descriptions of drug dealing activity at a given site. It will collate a standard set of information, whether derived from callers in to one of the city's hotlines, or the observations of police officers, or a combination. During the course of the study, the Department will develop computer mapping software to depict the densities of different types of drug dealing in different neighborhoods.
The next requirement will be for a complete and accurate record of all law enforcement actions taken against a single location. The Dragnet Committee has developed a second form that will collect and centralize this information. For the first time, intelligence reports and detailed accounts of enforcement activity will be shared, as a standard procedure, among different units. Not only will this procedure build an overall picture of all the events that have occurred at a single location, it will allow for the coordination of different kinds of attacks, mounted by different units, against a single location. It will break through the compartmentalization that typifies police departments across the country. Dragnet's operation will be guided by two committees. The steering committee, made up of the commanders of the six patrol divisions and the majors in charge of the narcotics and computer assistance divisions, will define overall policy. The operations committee, made up of the Street Narcotics Unit's captain, along with other field captains and sergeants, will generate a running list of tactics to be experimented. Among those under consideration are: 1. "Surgery followed by chemotherapy", or following up one or a number of busts with an increased visible police presence in the neighborhood; 2. "Knock and Talk" and other forms of police intervention that do not require a search warrant; 3. Varied concentrations of enforcement measures: busting different percentages of the total number of crack houses on a given block 1 Interview, July 6, 1990.
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