TNT WIPING OUT CAPE COUNTY DRUG DEALERS' SECURITY

After one year, the Tactical Narcotics Team has made an explosive impact on the Cape Girardeau County drug trade, law enforcement officials said.

"There are a few people who are very disappointed that the team was formed a year ago," said Cape Girardeau Police Chief Howard "Butch" Boyd Jr. "The word is out: If you are going to say yes to drugs, we are going to be knocking on your door. What you had better do is say no to it."

TNT, as it is called, is a cooperative anti-drug unit involving the Cape Girardeau and Jackson police departments and the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department. Since TNT was established in December 1994, drug cases in Cape Girardeau County, excluding the city, skyrocketed by 417 percent, from just 23 cases in 1994 to 96 cases in 1995.

"TNT has been a real asset to the county and I know to the city police department," said Cape County Sheriff John Jordan. "It just shows the cooperation between the agencies,"

Considering its initial successes, the usefulness of TNT seems evident, and with some minor fine tuning Jordan said it will remain in operation.

"Police officers may go home at night but drugs are still out there on the street," said Jordan. "You have to have officers working drugs full time."

The SEMO Drug Task Force, coordinated by the Missouri Highway Patrol, helps the local effort by providing financial support, equipment and undercover officers.

"That is a necessary part of drug work," Jordan said. "You have to keep fresh faces out there."

While cooperation among county law enforcement agencies contributes to TNT's success, community involvement also plays a role.

Boyd said tips from residents with suspected drug-related activity in their neighborhoods makes an impact. Information received is confidential and callers need not leave their names.

"The cooperation we get from the public probably spells the difference," Boyd said.

Typical reports include descriptions of homes that each night receive dozens of visitors, none of whom stay for more than a couple of minutes.

Once a potential problem is identified, officers can begin surveillance by recording license plate numbers of visitors and trying to build whatever information they can on them.

"It's like building a brick house: You put one brick on top of another," Boyd said.

TNT also has proven useful in solving other crimes. Jordan declined to go into detail but said the team greatly aided several Major Case Squad homicide investigations this year and assisted with other cases.

"People steal and rob to get money to buy drugs," Jordan said. "A lot of cases are directly tied to the drug trade."

When drug enforcement started becoming a standard duty for police, efforts, perhaps unrealistically, focused on trying to topple the primary sources. Boyd said police have lowered their sights somewhat.

"Now what we want to take out are the users," he said. "Users were not a popular target a few years ago."

Not that police are no longer interested in taking down distributors. Boyd said cooperation with the U.S. attorney's office has led to charges against some major drug providers in the county.

Jordan said TNT is definitely making a difference. "As long as we fight drug use we make a dent," he said. "This year we made a bigger dent, but it's still out there, and we have to work it continually."