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| Law Enforcement Resources |
Where does one begin when discussing
drugs and drug enforcement? Let's start
with the terminology you'll be using as a
controlled narcotic and non-narcotic drugs
as CDS (Controlled Dangerous Substances).
One of your duties as a new police officer
will be the identification and apprehension
of persons involved in the manufacture,
production, and distribution or possession
of drugs classified as CDS. If you begin
your career in a heavy drug trafficking
environment, it won't take you long to
develop your skills of observation
particularly in the area of CDS distribution.
As a new police officer, you'll need to
develop a level of expertise to support your
probable cause for making a CDS arrest.
Let's say you're about to write a statement
of probable cause for your very first CDS
arrest. When you list your expertise, it
might read something like this:
Never embellish your expertise. As time
goes by, your expertise will grow. When it
comes to the numbers of arrests you've
made, or the numbers of search and
seizure warrants you've obtained, keep
those numbers accurate. As the numbers
grow, everybody understands that the
numbers are estimates, so it's always
drugs and drug enforcement? Let's start
with the terminology you'll be using as a
controlled narcotic and non-narcotic drugs
as CDS (Controlled Dangerous Substances).
One of your duties as a new police officer
will be the identification and apprehension
of persons involved in the manufacture,
production, and distribution or possession
of drugs classified as CDS. If you begin
your career in a heavy drug trafficking
environment, it won't take you long to
develop your skills of observation
particularly in the area of CDS distribution.
As a new police officer, you'll need to
develop a level of expertise to support your
probable cause for making a CDS arrest.
Let's say you're about to write a statement
of probable cause for your very first CDS
arrest. When you list your expertise, it
might read something like this:
Never embellish your expertise. As time
goes by, your expertise will grow. When it
comes to the numbers of arrests you've
made, or the numbers of search and
seizure warrants you've obtained, keep
those numbers accurate. As the numbers
grow, everybody understands that the
numbers are estimates, so it's always
"I have completed eight (8) hours of
drug recognition training in the police
academy. I have assisted in three (3)
arrests for distribution of cocaine
where I made the initial observation
of the distribution activity. I have
assisted in the execution of two (2)
search and seizure warrants by
members of the Drug Enforcement
Unit wherein CDS was seized."
drug recognition training in the police
academy. I have assisted in three (3)
arrests for distribution of cocaine
where I made the initial observation
of the distribution activity. I have
assisted in the execution of two (2)
search and seizure warrants by
members of the Drug Enforcement
Unit wherein CDS was seized."
better to under estimate. While your expertise will rarely become an
issue at trial, you could find yourself involved with a high profile
defendant with a high priced attorney who is being paid to make an
issue out of anything and everything. If things would get to the point
where you'd be directed to produce documentation in support of your
stated expertise, your overall credibility could be damaged if you've over
estimated numbers supporting your expertise.
The most important part of your probable cause will be the description
of your observations prior to making an arrest, and any information you
received leading you to make your observations.
I am continually amazed how many police officers, even experienced
ones, never grasp the fact that information supplied anonymously, no
matter how accurate the information may be, does not, in and of itself,
establish probable cause for you to make an arrest. Aside from
information supplied by registered informants, nearly all the arrests you
make for CDS violations will be based on your observations. Let's go
back to the example:
The example I used is a bit simplified. The experienced drug dealer
doesn't normally carry a large amount of CDS. When he's approached
by the buyer, he probably won't have any drugs on his person. He'll
have the drugs in a "stash" which he has hidden nearby. Once paid,
he'll retrieve only the amount purchased from his stash and pass it on
to the buyer. In other instances, two dealers will be working together
but physically apart. One will handle all the money, and the other will
handle the drugs. In the latter circumstance, your observations are all
important. The way you articulate those observations will determine
whether or not you get both your dealers on a distribution charge.
You might be wondering about how information supplied by informants
weigh in on the probable cause scale. While information from an
informant can, in and of itself, be probable cause for an arrest or
obtaining a search and seizure warrant, give yourself some time to
develop your expertise, before you start thinking about developing
informants. Handling informants isn't as simple as you might think.
Your department should have a secure process for the registration of
informants to protect the informant's identity as well as the
preservation of your, and your department's, integrity. An informant's
reliability rests on a successful past record of providing reliable
information. Informants normally work for money, so it should be
obvious to you how a new police officer might have difficulties in
developing paid informants.
You ask, "What about information provided by a person who possesses
a reputation for integrity, or a person who has no problem in being
identified?" It's still the same as information provided anonymously,
and the information still requires corroboration...most often by your
subsequent observations. In some instances, you could produce the
person before a judge to swear to the reliability of the information in
support of your application for a search and seizure warrant, but you'd
only pursue that course if time is a critical factor.
You're going to make some mistakes as you develop your CDS
expertise; however, how you handle suspected CDS that comes into your
possession, either through seizure or by other means, is one area where
you don't want to make any mistakes. Your department will have a
process for the submission and subsequent analysis of suspected CDS.
Never, never deviate from your department's established procedure.
You should handle suspected CDS with the same care that you'd handle
money or any other items of value. In fact, CDS requires an even
higher level of care and caution. For instance, let's say you make a
money seizure in the amount of $2,627.27. During the submission
process, you make a counting error in the amount of two dollars. This
error won't be that difficult to correct or explain. When it comes to
drugs, shortages in drug seizures, no matter how small, can become a
very big deal. If we change that two dollar shortage to two capsules of
suspected cocaine, you can imagine the speculation that will follow from
some people.
The timely submission of CDS is all important. When I became a police
officer, nothing short of your physical incapacitation would delay your
response to the Evidence Control Unit. While I exaggerate just a bit, it
was a very rigid requirement to submit any drugs seized as soon as
possible.
From time to time, you'll read about police units where suspected CDS
is found in desk drawers or pockets of clothing hanging in squad rooms
or offices. When such situations are revealed, you can rest assured that
particular police department needs to reevaluate, improve, and enforce
its submission process. While such occurrences can be the results of
simple negligence and poor supervision, critics will argue the drugs are
present for the personal use of the officers, or worse, that the drugs are
used to "plant" on suspects who are subsequently charged for
possession of the drugs. When CDS is handled in such a negligent and
irresponsible manner, it is difficult to discount the latter speculation.
The way you physically handle any type of CDS is a serious safety issue.
There are so many variations of drugs being distributed, and some can
be absorbed through the skin which is why you should always have a
supply of latex gloves handy. I wouldn't even mention the "taste test"
except for the fact that Hollywood still, from to time, shows the
detective tasting the cocaine or heroin to check its purity. I don't mean
to insult anyone's intelligence, but it must be said. Never taste or
inhale any suspected CDS.
The most serious and probable threat to your safety will be the "needle
stick." Baltimore has the dubious distinction of having the highest
proportion of heroin addicts in the nation, so you can imagine how many
hypodermic needles I encountered during my career. We regularly
asked suspects prior to searching them if they had any needles
promising not to charge them for the paraphernalia. It was an easy
promise to make since prosecutors almost never prosecuted
paraphernalia charges.
The hypodermic needle is so dangerous. Of all the needles I seized from
suspects, none of those needles were covered. Once a needle is used,
the protective cover is discarded, and the addict will carry that bare
needle around with him or her as long as its in working order. I always
had to laugh at the needle exchange programs. While proponents of
needle exchange programs have their hearts in the right place, their
naive belief that addicts think about hygiene is misplaced.
The biggest danger presented by those repeatedly used and shared
needles is HIV and hepatitis. While the possibility of you contracting
one or both of these deceases from a needle stick, in most cases, is
thankfully low, the long regimen of treatment and follow up testing that
can follow is psychologically stressful.
If you become a police officer for a large metropolitan police
department, you're going to see a lot of drug/CDS activity. While CDS
use and distribution exists everywhere, the urban environment is where
you'll most frequently experience its effects.
As a new police officer, you'll probably enter your career having all the
solutions to drug use, control, and enforcement issues...and why
shouldn't you, everybody else does. Your success, as a new police
officer, will always rest largely on your ability to keep and open mind.
When it comes to drug enforcement, the open mind philosophy is
essential, because you're going to see some crazy things.
Let's take, for instance, the difference between possession and
distribution. If you think possession refers to a relatively small amount
of CDS in a person's possession, you'd be correct. If you think
distribution refers to the selling of CDS, in any amount, you'd also be
correct. However, depending on where you find yourself policing, it may
not be that simple.
Let's go back to that fellow you arrested for selling the caps of cocaine
from the plastic bag. You seized 37 capsules of cocaine from the
suspect. From your observations of the distribution/selling activity
along with the large amount of CDS, you charge your suspect with
distribution. However, your District or States Attorney has decreed that
a seizure of 38 capsules, or less, will be prosecuted as mere possession.
"Why," you ask? There's just too many CDS arrests for the
prosecutor's office to prosecute. By lessening the charge, the
prosecutor can clear that troublesome drug dealer from the court
docket. Police officers often laughingly refer to "double secret
probation" when the drug dealer receives probation while he's already
on probation from an earlier conviction for possession.
The hand-to-hand buy occurs when a police officer buys CDS directly
from the drug dealer. When the Baltimore States Attorney's office
encouraged the police department to focus our efforts on the
hand-to-hand buys, prosecutors pointed out that a felony distribution
charge could be prosecuted more simply and effectively when a dealer
sold directly to a police officer.
While the prosecutors were correct, they were also looking for ways to
get out from under their minimum amounts of drugs which kept moving
upward. Everything worked fine in the beginning, but when the district
drug unit that I commanded passed 240 hand-to-hand buys, I received a
call from an Assistant States Attorney. "You've got to stop making
hand-to-hand buys," she said. "Okay..." I replied, "and what would you
suggest we do instead?" Pausing for a moment, she answered, "Well,
you could do more search warrants." Well...we did...a lot more search
warrants, but that's another story.
When you begin your police career, you're going to have preconceived
opinions regarding drugs and drug enforcement. Your opinions will
depend largely upon where you grew up and who educated you. If you
think drugs should be legalized and regulated, give yourself some time
to reevaluate that opinion. There are many people -- even intelligent
people -- who believe the legalization of drugs would eliminate the
violence associated with the drug trade.
You're going to see a lot of human tragedy associated with drug use and
drug distribution. As bad as those instances will be, you'll see even
more tragedy, and violence, as a direct result of alcohol abuse.
But...alcohol is legal and regulated...go figure.
When it comes to drugs, everybody has a solution. As a police officer,
you'll have the luxury of resting your brain since you'll have clear
direction, in the form of statutory laws, to tell you what is legal and
illegal. As you have already surmised, I find the whole subject of
legalization and regulation pretty boring, and a huge waste of human
energy and resources, but, that's just my opinion.
"We can't arrest our way out of the problem." You'll hear this
proclamation often from politicians and academics when addressing drug
use and distribution. You'll even see a lot of Top Cops nodding in
agreement. Of course, to become a police chief, one must also be a
politician.
You've also got to remember that in areas where drug use and
distribution is rampant, a huge underground economy exists. Entire
families, and extended families, become the recipients of illicit income
from the distribution of drugs. Politicians, always mindful of their
voting constituencies, don't want to see their voters, or the sons,
daughters, brothers, sisters, or grandchildren of their voters being
arrested in any large numbers.
Your power of arrest is the single indispensable tool which gives
meaning and -- most importantly -- compliance to any law legislatures
see fit to institute for the protection of society. If you find yourself
working in a high drug use and distribution environment, you're going
to experience the endless debate on non-solutions with arrest being the
only constant solution throughout those debates.
issue at trial, you could find yourself involved with a high profile
defendant with a high priced attorney who is being paid to make an
issue out of anything and everything. If things would get to the point
where you'd be directed to produce documentation in support of your
stated expertise, your overall credibility could be damaged if you've over
estimated numbers supporting your expertise.
The most important part of your probable cause will be the description
of your observations prior to making an arrest, and any information you
received leading you to make your observations.
I am continually amazed how many police officers, even experienced
ones, never grasp the fact that information supplied anonymously, no
matter how accurate the information may be, does not, in and of itself,
establish probable cause for you to make an arrest. Aside from
information supplied by registered informants, nearly all the arrests you
make for CDS violations will be based on your observations. Let's go
back to the example:
The example I used is a bit simplified. The experienced drug dealer
doesn't normally carry a large amount of CDS. When he's approached
by the buyer, he probably won't have any drugs on his person. He'll
have the drugs in a "stash" which he has hidden nearby. Once paid,
he'll retrieve only the amount purchased from his stash and pass it on
to the buyer. In other instances, two dealers will be working together
but physically apart. One will handle all the money, and the other will
handle the drugs. In the latter circumstance, your observations are all
important. The way you articulate those observations will determine
whether or not you get both your dealers on a distribution charge.
You might be wondering about how information supplied by informants
weigh in on the probable cause scale. While information from an
informant can, in and of itself, be probable cause for an arrest or
obtaining a search and seizure warrant, give yourself some time to
develop your expertise, before you start thinking about developing
informants. Handling informants isn't as simple as you might think.
Your department should have a secure process for the registration of
informants to protect the informant's identity as well as the
preservation of your, and your department's, integrity. An informant's
reliability rests on a successful past record of providing reliable
information. Informants normally work for money, so it should be
obvious to you how a new police officer might have difficulties in
developing paid informants.
You ask, "What about information provided by a person who possesses
a reputation for integrity, or a person who has no problem in being
identified?" It's still the same as information provided anonymously,
and the information still requires corroboration...most often by your
subsequent observations. In some instances, you could produce the
person before a judge to swear to the reliability of the information in
support of your application for a search and seizure warrant, but you'd
only pursue that course if time is a critical factor.
You're going to make some mistakes as you develop your CDS
expertise; however, how you handle suspected CDS that comes into your
possession, either through seizure or by other means, is one area where
you don't want to make any mistakes. Your department will have a
process for the submission and subsequent analysis of suspected CDS.
Never, never deviate from your department's established procedure.
You should handle suspected CDS with the same care that you'd handle
money or any other items of value. In fact, CDS requires an even
higher level of care and caution. For instance, let's say you make a
money seizure in the amount of $2,627.27. During the submission
process, you make a counting error in the amount of two dollars. This
error won't be that difficult to correct or explain. When it comes to
drugs, shortages in drug seizures, no matter how small, can become a
very big deal. If we change that two dollar shortage to two capsules of
suspected cocaine, you can imagine the speculation that will follow from
some people.
The timely submission of CDS is all important. When I became a police
officer, nothing short of your physical incapacitation would delay your
response to the Evidence Control Unit. While I exaggerate just a bit, it
was a very rigid requirement to submit any drugs seized as soon as
possible.
From time to time, you'll read about police units where suspected CDS
is found in desk drawers or pockets of clothing hanging in squad rooms
or offices. When such situations are revealed, you can rest assured that
particular police department needs to reevaluate, improve, and enforce
its submission process. While such occurrences can be the results of
simple negligence and poor supervision, critics will argue the drugs are
present for the personal use of the officers, or worse, that the drugs are
used to "plant" on suspects who are subsequently charged for
possession of the drugs. When CDS is handled in such a negligent and
irresponsible manner, it is difficult to discount the latter speculation.
The way you physically handle any type of CDS is a serious safety issue.
There are so many variations of drugs being distributed, and some can
be absorbed through the skin which is why you should always have a
supply of latex gloves handy. I wouldn't even mention the "taste test"
except for the fact that Hollywood still, from to time, shows the
detective tasting the cocaine or heroin to check its purity. I don't mean
to insult anyone's intelligence, but it must be said. Never taste or
inhale any suspected CDS.
The most serious and probable threat to your safety will be the "needle
stick." Baltimore has the dubious distinction of having the highest
proportion of heroin addicts in the nation, so you can imagine how many
hypodermic needles I encountered during my career. We regularly
asked suspects prior to searching them if they had any needles
promising not to charge them for the paraphernalia. It was an easy
promise to make since prosecutors almost never prosecuted
paraphernalia charges.
The hypodermic needle is so dangerous. Of all the needles I seized from
suspects, none of those needles were covered. Once a needle is used,
the protective cover is discarded, and the addict will carry that bare
needle around with him or her as long as its in working order. I always
had to laugh at the needle exchange programs. While proponents of
needle exchange programs have their hearts in the right place, their
naive belief that addicts think about hygiene is misplaced.
The biggest danger presented by those repeatedly used and shared
needles is HIV and hepatitis. While the possibility of you contracting
one or both of these deceases from a needle stick, in most cases, is
thankfully low, the long regimen of treatment and follow up testing that
can follow is psychologically stressful.
If you become a police officer for a large metropolitan police
department, you're going to see a lot of drug/CDS activity. While CDS
use and distribution exists everywhere, the urban environment is where
you'll most frequently experience its effects.
As a new police officer, you'll probably enter your career having all the
solutions to drug use, control, and enforcement issues...and why
shouldn't you, everybody else does. Your success, as a new police
officer, will always rest largely on your ability to keep and open mind.
When it comes to drug enforcement, the open mind philosophy is
essential, because you're going to see some crazy things.
Let's take, for instance, the difference between possession and
distribution. If you think possession refers to a relatively small amount
of CDS in a person's possession, you'd be correct. If you think
distribution refers to the selling of CDS, in any amount, you'd also be
correct. However, depending on where you find yourself policing, it may
not be that simple.
Let's go back to that fellow you arrested for selling the caps of cocaine
from the plastic bag. You seized 37 capsules of cocaine from the
suspect. From your observations of the distribution/selling activity
along with the large amount of CDS, you charge your suspect with
distribution. However, your District or States Attorney has decreed that
a seizure of 38 capsules, or less, will be prosecuted as mere possession.
"Why," you ask? There's just too many CDS arrests for the
prosecutor's office to prosecute. By lessening the charge, the
prosecutor can clear that troublesome drug dealer from the court
docket. Police officers often laughingly refer to "double secret
probation" when the drug dealer receives probation while he's already
on probation from an earlier conviction for possession.
The hand-to-hand buy occurs when a police officer buys CDS directly
from the drug dealer. When the Baltimore States Attorney's office
encouraged the police department to focus our efforts on the
hand-to-hand buys, prosecutors pointed out that a felony distribution
charge could be prosecuted more simply and effectively when a dealer
sold directly to a police officer.
While the prosecutors were correct, they were also looking for ways to
get out from under their minimum amounts of drugs which kept moving
upward. Everything worked fine in the beginning, but when the district
drug unit that I commanded passed 240 hand-to-hand buys, I received a
call from an Assistant States Attorney. "You've got to stop making
hand-to-hand buys," she said. "Okay..." I replied, "and what would you
suggest we do instead?" Pausing for a moment, she answered, "Well,
you could do more search warrants." Well...we did...a lot more search
warrants, but that's another story.
When you begin your police career, you're going to have preconceived
opinions regarding drugs and drug enforcement. Your opinions will
depend largely upon where you grew up and who educated you. If you
think drugs should be legalized and regulated, give yourself some time
to reevaluate that opinion. There are many people -- even intelligent
people -- who believe the legalization of drugs would eliminate the
violence associated with the drug trade.
You're going to see a lot of human tragedy associated with drug use and
drug distribution. As bad as those instances will be, you'll see even
more tragedy, and violence, as a direct result of alcohol abuse.
But...alcohol is legal and regulated...go figure.
When it comes to drugs, everybody has a solution. As a police officer,
you'll have the luxury of resting your brain since you'll have clear
direction, in the form of statutory laws, to tell you what is legal and
illegal. As you have already surmised, I find the whole subject of
legalization and regulation pretty boring, and a huge waste of human
energy and resources, but, that's just my opinion.
"We can't arrest our way out of the problem." You'll hear this
proclamation often from politicians and academics when addressing drug
use and distribution. You'll even see a lot of Top Cops nodding in
agreement. Of course, to become a police chief, one must also be a
politician.
You've also got to remember that in areas where drug use and
distribution is rampant, a huge underground economy exists. Entire
families, and extended families, become the recipients of illicit income
from the distribution of drugs. Politicians, always mindful of their
voting constituencies, don't want to see their voters, or the sons,
daughters, brothers, sisters, or grandchildren of their voters being
arrested in any large numbers.
Your power of arrest is the single indispensable tool which gives
meaning and -- most importantly -- compliance to any law legislatures
see fit to institute for the protection of society. If you find yourself
working in a high drug use and distribution environment, you're going
to experience the endless debate on non-solutions with arrest being the
only constant solution throughout those debates.
Example: You're on patrol when you receive a call for CDS
activity. Your dispatcher gives you a complete, and excellent,
physical description, provided by an anonymous caller, of the
suspect who is supposed to be in possession of cocaine. When you
arrive at the location, you immediately observe the suspect
standing alone and appearing exactly as described. You arrest the
suspect, and during your search of the suspect you remove a plastic
bag from his pocket containing thirty-seven (37) gelatin capsules
containing suspected cocaine. You write your probable cause
stating exactly the information you received and the observations
you made, and your suspect is subsequently released without
charges for lack of probable cause.
activity. Your dispatcher gives you a complete, and excellent,
physical description, provided by an anonymous caller, of the
suspect who is supposed to be in possession of cocaine. When you
arrive at the location, you immediately observe the suspect
standing alone and appearing exactly as described. You arrest the
suspect, and during your search of the suspect you remove a plastic
bag from his pocket containing thirty-seven (37) gelatin capsules
containing suspected cocaine. You write your probable cause
stating exactly the information you received and the observations
you made, and your suspect is subsequently released without
charges for lack of probable cause.
This time, instead of rushing in and arresting the suspect, you park
your car around the corner and walk back to a position where you
can observe the suspect's activity. In short order, several people
walk up to the suspect. You observe the people handing the
suspect money in exchange for small items that the suspect is
removing from a plastic bag. While the items are too small to
identify from a distance, you can identify the bag. You know, from
your expertise, that suspected cocaine in your area is transported
and distributed in this manner. You have now established probable
cause for an arrest by supporting the original information you
received with your own expert observations.
your car around the corner and walk back to a position where you
can observe the suspect's activity. In short order, several people
walk up to the suspect. You observe the people handing the
suspect money in exchange for small items that the suspect is
removing from a plastic bag. While the items are too small to
identify from a distance, you can identify the bag. You know, from
your expertise, that suspected cocaine in your area is transported
and distributed in this manner. You have now established probable
cause for an arrest by supporting the original information you
received with your own expert observations.
| Accountability...this is really important. |
| Drugs are dangerous substances |
| Drug enforcement is a crazy business. |
| The Hand-to-Hand Buy |
| There are just too many solutions to count. |
| Arrest is always the most effective solution. |
| Police Officer Website |
This website provides
information on dangerous
drugs such as cocaine,
methamphetamine, heroin
and ecstasy.
The site is geared toward
law enforcement officials or
people who have an
interest in learning more
about drugs that affect their
communities.
Updated news of drug
dealers being sentenced
and drugs being seized
around the world.
Pictures of narcotics from
drug seizures and hidden
vehicle compartments.
Contact information for
drug task forces and state
police agencies.
Also included are user
level, mid-level drug dealer
and wholesale drug prices
around the country.
information on dangerous
drugs such as cocaine,
methamphetamine, heroin
and ecstasy.
The site is geared toward
law enforcement officials or
people who have an
interest in learning more
about drugs that affect their
communities.
Updated news of drug
dealers being sentenced
and drugs being seized
around the world.
Pictures of narcotics from
drug seizures and hidden
vehicle compartments.
Contact information for
drug task forces and state
police agencies.
Also included are user
level, mid-level drug dealer
and wholesale drug prices
around the country.