From: [c--r--n] at [ux4.cso.uiuc.edu] (Christopher J Burian) Newsgroups: alt.politics.libertarian,alt.society.civil-liberty,alt.conspiracy,alt.drugs,talk.politics.misc Subject: Anti-drug thugs terrorizing Alaska Date: 6 Apr 1994 07:56:20 GMT = Area: AEN NEWS ============================================================= Msg#: 23161 Date: 03-28-94 17:40 From: Boo Rody Read: Yes Replied: No To: All Mark: Subj: Drug Raids Alaska ============================================================================== Sunday, March 27, 1994 Anchorage, Daily News, Metro Section DRUG HUNT RAISES HACKLES Peninsula residents call troopers, Guard unit intimidating By Tom Kizza Daily News Reporter A sweep by state troopers, backed by a National Guard drug unit, uncovered several marijuana growers on the upper Kenai Peninsula this month, including what troopers called a major commercial operation in a Sterling airplane hangar. But the anti-drug effort also drew protest from other homeowners who say they were frightened or embarrassed when troopers showed up on their doorsteps without search warrants and asked to look around. Nothing was found in their homes. The protesters say police reliance on hunches, anonymous tips and informal "knock-and-talk" searches invites abuse and invasion of privacy. "I don't think they have a right to violate anybody's privacy,"said Armin Schmidt, 32, a Kasilof fisherman. Schmidt said he thinks someone involved in a dispute with his family reported him anonymously. When the troopers arrived at his door earlier this month, he first told them to get a warrant, he said. Then the troopers told him he'd be investigated. Faced with that choice, Schmidt opened his door. They found nothing. "I don't appreciate them or anyone else harassing me." Schmidt said. "People are calling Crimestoppers to make false reports out of revenge," said kenai lawyer Bob Cowan, who said he'd heard complaints from four innocent property owners approached by troopers without search warrants this month. "People can tell police to take a walk. But it's a form of legal coercion." Troopers and police defend the state wide practice of making informal house calls, which they call knock-and-talks. They say it's an efficient and unthreatening way to deal with a backlog of tips without undertaking a long investigation to get a search warrant. "We tell people if it's all bogus, nothing's here, then we're out of your hair," said Sgt. Wayne Bortz, head of the trooper drug unit on the Kenai Peninsula. If you're not committing a crime, there's probably no problem if I come in." "Would they rather we be hiding behind a bush looking at their house?" said Kenai Police Chief Dan Morris. "Personally, I'd rather they walked up to my house and talked to me about it." The source of the tip is often a Crimestoppers call. Like similar programs elsewhere in Alaska, the Kenai Peninsula Crimestoppers is a business-supported, nonprofit program that takes anonymous calls on possible crimes and passes out rewards for convictions. The 10-year-old program is administered by Kenai police Morris said it has been a success, paying out something more than $10,000 in rewards in return for recovery of more than $1 million in drugs and stolen goods. Law enforcement officials say they are obliged to follow up on tips they receive at least to see if there's anything to them. "If we don't go talk to people, we can't do our jobs," Morris said. Often the easiest way is to drive by the house, knock on the door, and ask to look around. homeowners are free to say no, but sometimes officers will detect something - an aroma of marijuana, blacked-out windows - that could help obtain a subsequent search warrant. Some of those unhappy with this month's effort say they felt intimidated, with as many as six officers approaching houses and a five ton National Guard truck standing by. "They said they'd been watching the house for year-and-a-half and had the phone tapped. I was very upset," said Patty Mann, owner of a Kenai janitorial service. She told them to go away, she said, but the troopers persisted for 10 minutes until she relented. "He kept insisting if I didn't have anything to hide to let him in." If her house was under surveillance as troopers claimed, the observers weren't very effective, Mann said. She said the person troopers told her they were looking hadn't lived there since August. Bortz said troopers were following up a tip that predated Mann's residence there. He said he told her the tip was half-a-year old and denied saying he'd tapped her phone, which would be illegal under Alaska law. He wanted to check the house to confirm her story, he said. But Bortz said he's willing to take no for an answer. In fact, he said, three of the 12 people who were home when troopers visited this month wouldn't let them come in. Investigation into activity at those homes is continuing, he said. Trooper Lt. Ted Bachman, head of the state wide narcotics unit, said officers have to know the line between persistence and coercion - in part because the conversations are usually recorded by troopers and an improper search could backfire in court. But Cowan said the authorities have stepped up the pressure. "What's new is them rolling up with those big military deals and pouring in en masse," he said. "If people don't object to this, would they have any objection to (body) cavity searches under these same procedures?" The Drug Eradication and Interdiction Unit of the Alaska National Guard was along to help with removal of plants and equipment at big busts, troopers said. Use of the National Guard has become common in drug efforts in Alaska since the unit was formed in 1988 as part of the federally funded war on drugs. The drug unit has 30 full-time employees and a $1.1 million annual budget, said Guard Maj. Bob Kean, who commands the unit. "The idea is to allow the equipment the Guard already owns to be used in the drug war," said Kean. He said the Guard unit stays back and does not take part in the knock-and-talk searches. In the troopers' biggest knock-and-talk success of the month, they visited a house in Sterling on March 8 and were allowed in just one room, according to Bortz. The smell of marijuana plants was powerful, Bortz said. Troopers left and returned two hours later with a search warrant based on the smell, he said. Troopers said they turned up 426 marijuana plants of various sizes. Many were hidden in a false floor under an airplane hangar, Bortz said. Two other knock-and-talk visits turned up smaller marijuana-growing operations, according to troopers. In both cases, residents allowed troopers in and showed them the marijuana, Bortz said. One case involved four plants in Sterling. In the other the other, involving 39 plants in Nikiski, troopers were admitted by the grower's wife, Bortz said. Kenai police made two marijuana busts during the same period, using support from the troopers. But these were conventional cases, relying on investigations and search warrants, according to Kenai police investigator Joe Harrison. About 2 pounds of marijuana was collected from each home, he said. Kenai police do fewer than a dozen knock-and-talk visits every year, Harrison said. They were briefed on the procedures by police consultants from California last year who claimed to win admittance to 97 percent of the houses they visit, he said. Police in Alaska say they get turned away more often. "People here are a little more concerned about the privacy thing, and I don't have any problem with that." Harrison said. *********** NOTE: The Alaska Daily News has a local reputation of disinformation reporting and general poor journalism and MOST articles issued by the Daily News are considered by most locals to be inaccurate until they can be verified through other sources. QMPro 1.50 41-1285 ë I ain't no Doctor, but I'm loosking all me patience! -!- WM v2.09/92-0593 ! Origin: AmeriKa BBS - Anchorage,AK. 907-272-1776 (1:3550/516) ===== End Repost =========================================== [c--r--n] at [uiuc.edu]