Saturday, February 28, 2004

City would like to continue working with State Police on drug investigations

Dana L. Bowley El Defensor Chieftain Editor

Socorro will ask State Police to continue working with city and county law enforcement on joint drug interdiction projects.

City councilors unanimously agreed last week to a proposal by Councilor Ernest Pargas that the city formally request more projects with State Police such as the recent six-month undercover operation that netted 25 drug-trafficking arrests in the area.

Pargas, who at times has been critical of drug enforcement efforts, had nothing but praise for the work of Socorro police in the latest operation.

"Chief (Joel) Haley and his officers have been doing a great job on this," Pargas said. "I'd like to see us ask the State Police to continue working with our police on (drug) enforcement."

He suggested the city send a formal letter expressing that wish to State Police. Mayor Ravi Bhasker and the other seven city councilors concurred.

Bhasker was quick to point out that the recent drug operation was not in any way related to recent council discussions about drug enforcement or Pargas' earlier criticism.

"I don't want it to appear that this interdiction just started," Bhasker said. "This has been going on for years. It is not the result of our discussion."

Pargas quickly added his agreement to the mayor's comments.

In related news, the council was present with updated statistics on drug-related deaths in Socorro County and the state.

At a previous meeting, Pargas presented state Health Department statistics showing the county as No. 2 in the state in drug-related deaths adjusted per 100,000 population. Those figures, however, covered the period from 1998 to 2000. In real terms, they indicated the county had suffered about six confirmed drug-related deaths during that period.

The statistics presented to the council Wednesday, from the Office of the Medical Investigator, cover the period of 2000-2002 and show Socorro County No. 14 in illegal drug overdose mortality among the state's 33 counties. In real terms, they indicate the county suffered about two drug deaths during that period.

Catron County is No. 2 on the OMI's statistics. It was No. 10 in the 1998-2000 listing. Because the statistics are adjusted per 100,000, and because Catron's population is so small, even one drug-related death can move Catron's statistics sharply. To a lesser extent, the same is true of Socorro County, where two or three drug deaths could change the ranking significantly.

Pargas took note of that when the statistics were presented.

"I don't think mortality is an important measuring stick," he said, noting he used it only because it's one of the few measuring sticks available to help a community assess its drug problem.

He said the city needs to compile its own drug statistics to use as a benchmark for judging future results.

Bhasker said Haley is in the process of compiling local drug arrest statistics, and suggested they could be used as that benchmark.

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