NCJ Number
165156
Date Published
1995
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This 1994 Annual Report of New York State's Regional Drug Enforcement Task Force Program focuses on program policy, operations, and operational results; statistical data are also provided.
Abstract
Created by the State Drug Enforcement Task Force, the Regional Drug Enforcement Task Forces are designed to facilitate intra-agency coordination and enhance the ability of law enforcement agencies to attack large-volume, multijurisdictional drug trafficking networks. Staffed by Federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents, State police investigators, and local law enforcement officers, the Capital District Task Force was established in April 1987, followed by the Central New York Task Force in 1987; the Mid-Hudson Task Force was implemented in December 1989. The task forces are supported by Federal funds administered by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services and asset forfeiture proceeds. The task forces focus on upper and mid-level drug dealers who operate beyond the reach of local law enforcement agencies while supplying drugs to local street dealers. The report concludes that the regional task forces have been highly effective. The task forces have enabled participating law enforcement agencies to achieve a previously unattainable level of effectiveness and address age-old issues; they have opened lines of communication and interagency coordination among Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies. Since their inception in 1987 the task forces have initiated more than 600 investigations, made more than 1,400 arrests, seized or adopted property seizures valued in excess of $14.3 million, and removed more than 780 kilograms of drugs from the streets. Selected case summaries are presented. The 1994 operations report presents data on cases opened, arrests, drug removals, weapons seized, assets seized, expenditures, and electronic surveillance. Selected case summaries are presented.