cannabisnews.com: Drug Enforcers Get Firepower To Battle Bad Guys


cannabisnews.com: Drug Enforcers Get Firepower To Battle Bad Guys





Drug Enforcers Get Firepower To Battle Bad Guys
Posted by FoM on December 02, 2000 at 07:42:31 PT
By Allison Schaefers, Staff Writer 
Source: Florida Times-Union
Nassau County law enforcement officials are getting more ammunition for their drug enforcement task force to even up the gun-power odds against drug dealers.The state will be putting $94,730 into Nassau County's multi-jurisdictional Drug Eradication and Enforcement Task Force . In return, the task force, which includes representatives from the Nassau County Sheriff's Office, the Fernandina Beach Police Department and the State Attorney's Office, is pledging to come down harder on drug dealers, manufacturers and users.
Program goals include arresting 20 drug offenders, seizing 100 grams of cocaine, seizing one pound of marijuana, conducting 30 marijuana-manufacturing investigations, making five marijuana-manufacturing arrests and destroying 250 marijuana plants.Although the goals are high, law enforcement officials say they can deliver, and the best part is it won't cost taxpayers any money. The Nassau County Sheriff's Office is using confiscated drug funds to put up the grant's required $31,576 match.Since its start three years ago, officials say, the multi-jurisdictional task force has made an impact."We've put a major dent in most of the street crimes," said Lt. Jim Coe, the drug task force supervisor for the Fernandina Beach Police. "We are definitely putting pressure on the first tier of drug dealers. What we need to do is work together to get to middle and main people."Coe said the task force allows city and county police to share resources and intelligence."This grant is tantamount to continuing our fight against narcotics," he said. "We need to work together. Our department doesn't have the resources that the Nassau County Sheriff's Office has and they don't have the manpower to cover such a large territory."Because most of Nassau County is rural with the exception of the Amelia Island and Fernandina Beach area, it's an ideal location for marijuana manufacture and distribution. The county's status as a major seaport and its close proximity to several major roadways makes it vulnerable to drug trafficking.Maj. Mike Hurst, a task force representative from the sheriff's department, said crack cocaine continues to be the county's biggest problem. "Crack use and dealing is the basis for a lot of the crimes in this county," he said. "We have problems in Hilliard, Callahan, O'Neal, Yulee and downtown Fernandina Beach."By working together, Hurst said narcotics enforcement officers and state court officials can maximize enforcement, detection and investigative techniques. Grant money will also fund upgrades such as the purchase of two lap top computers and six .40-caliber submachine guns. Hurst said the department needed to upgrade its submachine guns so that the ammunition would be interchangeable with their automatic handguns.Although Nassau County officers have never fired a gun during a drug bust, Hurst said drug-interdiction officers need to be properly armed."The drug dealer is always a little better armed and equipped. This is a way of life for him. It's how he survives and he won't let you stand in the way," Hurst said.The grant also will supply clothing for undercover officers, office supplies, batteries and ammunition and pay for maintenance on several four-wheel drive vehicles and for surveillance operations that use aircraft.Source: Florida Times-Union (FL)Author: Allison Schaefers, Staff WriterPublished: December 2, 2000Copyright: The Florida Times-Union 2000Contact: tuletter tu.infi.netWebsite: http://www.times-union.com/Forum: http://cafe.jacksonville.com/cafesociety.htmlCannabisNews Police Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/police.shtml
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Comment #11 posted by Bagpipe Dude on December 14, 2000 at 22:21:50 PT
Cowards at Large
Its the same old story everywhere, Law Enforcement is too Cowardly and Stoopid to go after Big Time distributors. Hello... try Zero Tolerance at City Hall. Its the only way you are ever going to hope to 'win' the 'war on drugs'. Most often than not some public official or another at City Hall is knee deep in the business. If such a person were not, it would be difficult to run a prosperous business. If Nassua is anything like my corrupt hometown...half the siezed product never makes it to the evidence room.. I would like the DOJ to get out of 'loopback' and spend that 94 grand investigating City Hall. Easy as Pie. Go after the Big Timers by taking out their buddies at City Hall. Its the only strategy that is logical.
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Comment #10 posted by 234234eased on December 03, 2000 at 09:41:45 PT
Investigations and crime
"...conducting 30 marijuana-manufacturing investigations, making five marijuana-manufacturing arrests and destroying 250 marijuana plants."First of all, marijuana isn't 'manufactured'. It is an agricultural product. It is cultivated.30 investigations and 5 arrests? Some of those arrests may also have been from the same investigation. The courts grant police broad powers of investigation and they end up with pitiful results like this. How many peoples' civil rights were violated for *5* arrests?"Although the goals are high, law enforcement officials say they can deliver, and the best part is it won't cost taxpayers anymoney. The Nassau County Sheriff's Office is using confiscated drug funds to put up the grant's required $31,576 match."Are they honestly saying that none of this "confiscated" (stolen) money was from people who pay taxes?""The drug dealer is always a little better armed and equipped. This is a way of life for him. It's how he survives and he won't letyou stand in the way," Hurst said."The above should say something about our gun-prohibition laws...
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Comment #9 posted by freedom fighter on December 02, 2000 at 16:52:24 PT
Defenderoffreeworld
God bless you too!I feel your rage and know what is it like! It is people like you that make the difference here! The truth will prevail! Peace be with you!Register your nickname so noone can take your unique nickname! http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/register.shtml
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Comment #8 posted by Frank on December 02, 2000 at 15:54:55 PT
More Firepower and Prisons and Less Therapy
This reminds me of Vietnam. We will kill them to save them. Many times in America the bad guys are the police. Read the LA times sometimes. The police run around gunning people down and the courts do nothing about it. The police have become an extension of the Army and have the same mentality. They have become a threat to the freedoms of America and the Bill of Rights. One of the signs of the start of a police state is the police becoming a military unit. It is happing now and has happened. A few days ago the police came down the main street of our town in an armored personal carrier. My wife was shocked. Believe me its already here. America has become a shadow of what it once was. 
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Comment #7 posted by defenderofreeworld on December 02, 2000 at 15:46:19 PT:
its good to know that one is not alone
sometimes, i really feel impontent, enraged, extremely bothered by what is going on with what used to be one of the greatest countries in the world. God bless you people for thinking the way you do, and sharing your comments and ideas with the world. at an early age i have lost my innocence and will attempt, in the many years i have to live, to make a difference, with the help of people such as yourselves. and whoever is responsible for the page, great work, this is exactly what we needed, a place where we can all openly discuss the bullshit that's going on in this damn country. God bless you all, and sorry for using profanity, but i am deeply enraged right now. 
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Comment #6 posted by freedom fighter on December 02, 2000 at 11:03:27 PT
How can one manufacture the Herb?
manufacture (mąn“ye-fąk“cher) verbmanufactured, manufacturing, manufactures verb, transitive1.	a. To make or process (a raw material) into a finished product, especially by means of a large-scale industrial operation. b. To make or process (a product), especially with the use of industrial machines.2.	To create, produce, or turn out in a mechanical manner: "His books seem to have been manufactured rather than composed" (Dwight Macdonald).3.	To concoct or invent; fabricate: manufacture an excuse.verb, intransitiveTo make or process goods, especially in large quantities and by means of industrial machines.nounAbbr. manuf., manufac., mfg., mfr.1.	a. The act, craft, or process of manufacturing products, especially on a large scale. b. An industry in which mechanical power and machinery are employed.2.	A product that is manufactured.3.	The making or producing of something. [From French, manufacture, from Old French, from Medieval Latin *manśfactśra : Latin manś, ablative of manus, hand + Latin factśra, working of a metal, from factus, past participle of facere, to make.]- man“ufac“turable adjective- man“ufac“tural adjective- man“ufac“turing nounThe American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition copyright © 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from INSO Corporation; further reproduction and distribution restricted in accordance with the Copyright Law of the United States. All rights reserved.Does one manfacture the corn or wheat?Get a jury of 12 wheat farmers and ask them if they can manfacture the wheat? I wondered if they would put a (wo)man for manfacturing the wheat into a prison?
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Comment #5 posted by observer on December 02, 2000 at 09:00:11 PT
More Police Power Always Justified in Police State
... to go after pot smokers with submachine guns.Exactly. That's what they'll bring for their next raid on a crack-house (for TV cameras). That crack-house image is then used as justification for raids on thousands of private homes to arrest adults who are using marijuana peacefully (if police get the right house, that is).This has a familar ring, too. Seems to be a theme that is continually used to justify ever more police power. There's a strong undercurrent of racism. ``once the Negro has reached the stage of being a 'dope taker' (dope here referring to cocaine) . . . he is a constant menace to his community until he is eliminated . . . Sexual desires are increased and perverted, peaceful Negroes become quarrelsome, and timid Negroes develop a degree of 'Dutch courage' that is sometimes almost incredible. . In the language of the police officer, 'The cocaine nigger is sure hard to kill' - a fact that has been demonstrated so often that many of these officers in the South have increased the caliber of their guns for the express purpose of 'stopping' the cocaine fiend when he runs amuck.''Themes in Chemical Prohibition, William L. White, NIDA, 1979http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/ticp.html``The United States set a record in 1905 with 105 recorded lynchings of black men. At the same time, police nationwide switched from .32 caliber pistols to .38 caliber pistols because it was believed that the superhuman "Negro Cocaine Fiend" could not be killed with the smaller gun. ''Basic Facts About the War on Drugs, Clifford A. Schafferhttp://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/basicfax.htm``A New York Times article, entitled "Negro Cocaine Fiends Are a New Southern Menace," noted that southern sheriffs had switched from .32-caliber guns to .38 caliber pistols to protect themselves from drug-empowered blacks.''GENOCIDE AND THE U.S. DRUG POLICYhttp://www.mumia.org/wwwboard/messages/1573.html
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Comment #4 posted by dddd on December 02, 2000 at 08:51:58 PT
pitiful
 How sadly hilarious.Is this a misprint,or a weird joke,or maybe they decided to set a low goal for marijuana,because they feel guilty??? "Program goals include arresting 20 drug offenders, seizing 100 grams of cocaine, seizing one poundof marijuana, conducting 30 marijuana-manufacturing investigations, making five marijuana-manufacturing arrests anddestroying 250 marijuana plants." This is directly from the Twilight Zone!...Their "goals",seem quite safe. "Sure is good we got that pound of weed off the street". I am confused by the term "marijuana manufacturing".Is this some new lab synthesis pot making technique? They've decided that they are gonna try to arrest 20 "drug offenders".....Oh,I see,now there are quotas to be met,regardless of who they are looking for,they are going to aspire to bust "20 drug offenders". This is way out there.......The Outer Limits......dddd
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Comment #3 posted by Dan Hillman on December 02, 2000 at 08:46:55 PT
More and bigger guns? Yep, that'll work.
All the other upticks in firepower have worked...at least by a *Florida* tallying, they have.
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Comment #2 posted by Mota on December 02, 2000 at 08:32:22 PT
How can I get in on this?
>Program goals include arresting 20 drug offenders, seizing 100 grams of cocaine....and they have $94,000 for these goals? That's $1000 per gram of cocaine, twenty times street price. Certainly there is money enough here for everyone to be rich.
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Comment #1 posted by Dave in Florida on December 02, 2000 at 08:15:34 PT
"submachine guns"
>Grant money will also fund upgrades such as the purchase of two lap top computers and six .40-caliber submachineguns. Hurst said the department needed to upgrade its submachine guns so that the ammunition would beinterchangeable with their automatic handguns.that sounds pretty scary to me, to go after pot smokers with submachine guns.>"We are definitely putting pressure on the first tier of drug dealers. What we need to do is work together toget to middle and main people."In other words they are catching users.
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