In The Wire (TV show), a special police detail is set up in Baltimore to investigate a drug-dealing operation, and they have a large amount of time and leeway to get at the major players how they see fit. At some point in the series, this detail becomes a Major Crimes case squad that tackles large, sprawling cases, one at a time. They use long surveillance, wiretaps, assets investigations, etc. to go after their target organization.
How common is this? Does every major city have a detail like this one? If not, how does a city police department decide whether or not to have one? How successful are they?
In general, what is the breakdown of how policemen are assigned, in a given major city? Is it mostly clerical and patrol stuff, with a smattering of other stuff? How prevalent are beat officers, who really get to know certain neighborhoods and their inhabitants on a more personal level?
I don’t work on a big city department. I do know some people on the NYPD. They have units such as anti-crime (unmarked plain clothes, assigned to high crime areas) and anti-drug task forces.
On my level we do have county drug task forces. They consist of investigators form the county prosecutors office as well as personnel who have been detached from local departments in the county. Usually for a year. They do low level drug buys but usually just to use the little fish to get to the big fish. They do long term cases on drug kingpins and gangs.
Thanks for the reply! I hope you don’t mind a few more questions.
How long does it usually take to bring in a case against big drug or other organizations? Months? Years?
How do they select officers for special task forces? Is it usually the cream of the crop, or those that are willing, or those that have connections? Is there any special benefit to being on them, as opposed to just being a standard patrol officer?
How common are wiretaps in big organizational drug cases? Is it an accepted tactic to use off-topic crimes (like tax evasion/fraud) to bring down known drug leaders, since it would be hard to pin them to anything else?
How do special case squads choose who to target? Those that drop the most bodies? The biggest organizations? The ones with ties to politicians or business leaders?
Any info at all is much appreciated; I’ve suddenly got an appetite for this type of thing
I can reccomend two books if you’re interested in this kind of thing.
Under and Alone: The True Story of the Undercover Agent Who Infiltrated America’s Most Violent Outlaw Motorcycle Gang- Its the story of an ATF agent who spent 28 monthes under cover in a biker gang. His investigation led convictions of more than fifty bikers. Its been a while so I don’t recall all the details, but it deals with all of your questions.
Running with the Devil: The True Story of the ATF’s Infiltration of the Hells Angels This is the story of a massive undercover operation that tried (and failed) to bring down the Hells Angels.
Both books are great reads as well as informative. They’re also availible on Amazon and probably at your local library.
Both investigations tooks years and made extensive use of wiretaps and such. The cops in Running with the Devils outfitted the undercover officer’s house with cameras in almost every room. In both operations they charged the bikers with crimes from murder to drug trafficing. There have been attempts to prosecute bikers und the RICO laws, but these have been highly problematic.
It depends on what you mean by drug organization. If you are talking international cartels then that is a whole different topic. That could only be handled on a national level with local cooperation.
With us it is mostly volunteer. It is not necessarily the cream of the crop. It is you wants to go. Sometimes they nudge who they want. I have never considered it since the hours would be very hard on my family. That is a consideration for a lot of people. There isn’t a big benefit for doing it. Those that liked it say that it is a more relaxed environment. Not as much bullshit. They care about results but there isn’t any office politics. Some go to the county task force just to be away from the brass for a year. If you talk to a lot of cops many will tel you there is more stress dealling with the administration than with criminals. The county taskforce is a year long break from that. Other than that if you do well it will look good on your resume later when trying to get promoted. But they’ll promote who they want anyway. See about comment on the administration.
Court approved wiretaps are used. I can’t tell you how much but it is a tactic. It depends on the case. If you are talking about using RICO and other such laws, that is federal and I don’t have much knowledge on it’s use.
Little fish lead you to big fish. It’s old fashioned police work. Informants and snitches. The low level drug dealer is getting supplied from somewhere. They don’t usually pick a high level target then build a case (like the chief pinning a kingpin’s picture to the board). Targets are developed through street level intelligence and hard work.
How exactly does the administration make officers stressed out? Is it about hitting certain target numbers (arrests, charges, convictions)? Is there pressure to go after weaker or even irrelevant targets in order to juke the stats? Is there just a lot of political maneuvering, with the peons caught in the middle?
Ah, I see. I guess targeting a specific head honcho makes for better drama than it does police work.
Thanks again for answering, it’s fascinating stuff.
