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Battles in the war on drugs
Portsmouth Herald | By Elizabeth Dinan | edinan@seacoastonline.com | Sunday, August 22, 2004

"A history of "polarization of high-profile cases," which have resulted in "fighting over the forfeiture money."

Five months after a pair of altercations between off-duty New Hampshire Drug Task Force officers, a Portsmouth police officer and civilians, no charges have been filed and the county courthouse is void of any pertinent public record.

The county attorney, state police, head of the drug task force and Portsmouth police chief all remain tight-lipped, saying little more than their respective investigations are ongoing. Meanwhile, rumors of a motive linger.

State law defining the distribution of seized drug assets may validate one alleged motive for the March 17 and 18 public police disputes. Money.

According to New Hampshire law, funds seized during drug busts, in addition to money realized through the auction of autos and other property related to drug arrests, is split according to a specific formula. And part of that formula dictates that cooperating police agencies involved in the same drug bust must decide among themselves who gets how much of 45 percent of the total dollars confiscated.

Dover Police Chief William Fenniman is chairman of the Drug Task Force’s executive board and isn’t commenting publically about the dispute that involved DTF officers. He will, however, acknowledge a history of "polarization of high-profile cases," which have resulted in "fighting over the forfeiture money."

Since the cut of seized assets to the DTF and local agencies was reduced from 90 to 45 percent about a decade ago, he said that polarization has dwindled.

Fenniman also points to the good work the DTF has done for New Hampshire, providing impressive statistics of about 745 criminal investigations, resulting in 158 drug arrests, and the seizure of lots of drugs, guns and money during 2002 alone.

"I think the numbers speak for themselves," he said of the DTF, headed by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office. "The task force is an outlet for the local police chief to access these resources. (Its officers) go into small communities that don’t have the resources. I can pick up the phone and have eight or 10 officers in two hours."

Fenniman is also proud of the DTF’s ability to tap top prosecutors for an impressive conviction record. And he talks tough about his zero tolerance for street drugs. Meanwhile, federal statistics show millions of dollars funneling into New Hampshire for drug prevention, policing and treatment programs.

But other federal numbers indicate all that expense, including funding the efforts of the sometimes infighting law enforcers, could be called into question, because an average of 19.2 percent of inmates incarcerated in New Hampshire’s prisons during 2002 tested positive for drug use.

Again, they tested positive for drug use while they were in jail, though an unknown amount were just admitted. That number is more than double the percentage of inmates in New Hampshire prisons during 2002 who were sentenced on drug charges.


Bad boys, bad boys....

It was about 2 a.m. at Paddy’s Restaurant in Portsmouth, a couple of hours past St. Patrick’s Day, when the reported altercation between off-duty DTF officers and a Portsmouth police officer occurred.

Paddy’s management has characterized the event as a heated argument and reported its employees asked those involved to quiet down, then later to leave. Portsmouth Police Chief Michael Magnant has said his officer was assaulted.

Several hours later, some of the same DTF officers are alleged to have assaulted a civilian near Gilley’s PM Lunch on Fleet Street. But since then, details have remain shrouded under the heading of an ongoing investigation.

The Drug Task Force was formed in 1986 under the jurisdiction of the Attorney General’s Office to conduct intelligence and make arrests related to the illegal use and sale of drugs. Comprised of officers from various New Hampshire police departments, the DTF now averages 29 members with identities protected by the agency.

Even the location of the Seacoast office is kept secret.

And because the DTF is managed by the AG’s office, investigations into the March 17 and 18 events are being conducted by New Hampshire State Police and the office of Rockingham County Attorney Jim Reams.

State Police Sgt. Scott Carr said because his department has not concluded its investigation, details are not publicly available. The Herald has filed a request, under the state’s Right-To-Know Law, for all public investigative records and reports pertinent to the incident and subsequent investigations.

Exeter Police Chief Richard Kane was asked for comment since one of his officers was an alleged participant, but he, too, declined comment.

"It’s a personnel issue, so I’m not going to give you any answers," he said. "I know that’s hard for you people."

Meanwhile, County Attorney Reams is equally mum and there are no files in the county courthouse under the names of the alleged officers involved.

"Thank you for your interest," Reams said. "But there is no comment at this time."

Portsmouth’s Chief Magnant was conducting his own internal investigation to determine the role of his officer, but recently said he’s waiting to hear what the attorney general concludes, because that office has "more information."

"I have concerns about what took place that night," he said. "The AG has told me she has instituted an internal investigation and I have not heard one way or the other."

Attorney General Kelly Ayotte said her internal investigation is a personnel matter and would not be made public even if someone were fired as a result.

Asked if he thinks the incident is related to Drug Task Force activity, Chief Magnant again cited a lack of details.

"I can’t answer that," he said. "I don’t have all the information."

But some insiders are hinting at a turf war, and the state asset forfeiture disbursion formula may be the catalyst.

Dover’s Chief Fenniman explained that if a drug bust results from a federal case, participating agencies receive 90 percent of seized assets, compared to the 45 percent for state seizures. Those agencies could be the DTF, local police, the State Police Narcotics Investigation Unit, the Drug Enforcement Agency, or a combination thereof.

Drugs are destroyed and weapons "generally destroyed," he said, with the cash fed back into the agencies’ budgets. On other occasions, vehicles are put to police use, as was the case in early July when the Department of Corrections announced a seized Lincoln Navigator was being added to the DOC fleet.

Susan Morrill from the Attorney General’s Office said biannual auctions are conducted at White Farm in Concord, where seized vehicles and other drug-related assets (and surplus) are auctioned and the money is split according to a 45/10/45 percent formula.

After costs associated with handling the cases is deducted, 45 percent goes into the AG’s drug-forfeiture fund, a pool from which local agencies can apply for and receive grant-like funds for further drug investigations. Ten percent goes to drug and alcohol education and rehabilitation and the remaining 45 percent goes back to the seizing agency or agencies.

Asked how the 45 percent is divided when there is more than one agency involved, Morrill said it’s up to them to figure it out.

"I don’t know how they do it," she said. "I think it involves how much time they put into the case."

Morrill also said specifics regarding which communities have received exactly how much are not readily available, due to the recent retirement of the department’s longtime manager. Calls to the AG’s business office at Morrill’s suggestion were not returned.

Fenniman said there is less motive for infighting today than a decade ago, when the percentage of drug money to local agencies was 90 percent. In addition, he said, "it was easier to seize and forfeiture" then, because law enforcement could confiscate cash and assets without going to court.

Today, drug cases must be fully resolved in the court system before assets are disbursed, which in some cases can take years.

"The forfeiture laws have been aggressively repealed by the Legislature," Fenniman said.

As for divvying up the 45 percent, Fenniman said, "it’s fairly cut-and-dry," based on who was the informant, who worked undercover and other factors.

Besides, he said, the pot isn’t that big. According to DTF statistics, a total of $377,316 in currency was seized during 2003 statewide. Three vehicles were also seized last year.

"The funds are limited," Fenniman said. "Law enforcement agencies should not be making decisions (based on money)."

[zombienote" Gasp! I agree!]



Crime and punishment

When the AG’s DTF concluded a two-month investigation into drug use and sales by culinary students at McIntosh College, nine students were arrested and Chief Fenniman was threatening seizure of the dorm where most of them lived.

While he asked the U.S. Attorney’s Office to seize the dorm under federal crack house law, Fenniman later rescinded when college officials made numerous efforts to curb further drug activity.

"I saw a willingness on their part to improve the relationship between the school and the community, so I dropped my pursuit," Fenniman said.

That’s one example of the DTF chief’s tough anti-drug stance. Another is the obvious pride he displays when sharing statistics for the year 2002, showing the force made 181 undercover drug buys, 158 arrests, 65 indictments, 11 investigations and 49 assists.

The DTF also seized nearly 2,000 grams of cocaine, 257 grams of crack, 63 OxyContin pills, 277 grams of heroin and 390 pounds of marijuana.

About a third of the arrests were in Rockingham or Strafford counties.

Fenniman is especially proud of participating in a federal investigation that led to cocaine and firearms charges against members of the KKK motorcycle gang in Laconia last year, in addition to a methamphetamine bust with connections from New Hampshire to Florida.

Kicking in for those and other anti-drug efforts, the federal government sends millions of dollars New Hampshire’s way. For the 2003-03 year, a total of $7.7 million in substance-abuse funds came to the state from the federal government, in addition to $2.9 million in Byrne Formula Grant funds, and $326,564 in funding for substance-abuse treatment for inmates.

Meanwhile, statistics from the N.H. Department of Corrections shows a significant number of positive drug tests among incarcerated inmates.

[zombienote: Are there any other kinds of inmates than incarcerated ones? Just asking.]


According to a DOC annual report, during 2002, 10,783 inmates were tested and 19.2 percent tested positive for drug use. Thirty-five percent were positive for marijuana, 10 percent for opiates and 8 percent for cocaine.

At the men’s prison in Concord, 7.5 percent tested positive for drug use, while drug tests at the women’s prison in Goffstown shows 25.4 percent positive results. New Hampshire county jails averaged 22.1 percent, or 85 positive drug tests out of 384 tests administered.

"The numbers don’t surprise me," said Fenniman, referring questions about drug use in New Hampshire jails to the Department of Corrections.

New Hampshire Department of Corrections Warden John Sanfilippo said statistics for the more than 25 percent positive drug tests at the women’s prison are skewed because it includes parolees and new admissions.

Concord, on the other hand, has no new admissions, he said, with inmates almost always transferring from other jails. County jail numbers (22.1 percent positive inmate drug tests) also includes new admissions, Sanfilippo said.

The state warden said he can not break out numbers eliminating new inmates at the county and women’s prisons, adding drugs get into New Hampshire jails "a number of ways," including from visitors and inmates who leave through work-release programs.

Given some of those inmate drug-use numbers, Fenniman is asked if he’s fighting a losing battle.

"No," he said. "You never give up."


New Hampshire Drug Task Force
2003 Activity Report

Yearly Total Criminal arrests 745


Seizures:

Marijuana 177,420 grams
Cocaine 1,912 grams
Crack cocaine 258 grams
Heroin 122 grams
Crystal meth. 43 grams
Ectasy 277 pills
Depressants 139 pills
OxyContin 20 pills
Mushrooms 9 grams
LSD 0 hits


Property seizures:

Currency $377,316
Foreign currency $2,100
Vehicles 3
Weapons 14

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Alien Space Signal

There's no money for your issue so long as we're squandering $50 billion a year on the DrugWar. Ben Masel

Fear became the ultimate tool of this government - V.

 

Suetaz

This article makes it sound like marijuana is easier for inmates to get than it is for some people on the street. Or should I say, 'incarcerated' inmates.

What good did it do to take these drug users off the streets if they are still using drugs in jail? I guess they don't really care, as long as they get their confiscated assets.

It's not like they really got the drug dealers off the streets, because they could still have people working for them while they are inside and could be still controlling their operation from inside.

As long as law enforcement agencies get money from seized assets, they will never see how futile the war on drugs is, nor will they care.

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