WEST MILORD, N.J. -- Township police made seven heroin-related arrests last fall after a six-week investigation that involved wiretaps, surveillance and interviews -- a difficult project for a small department struggling with a personnel shortage, officials said.
Across North Jersey, small police departments are grappling with a growing heroin problem but may not have officers to spare for time-consuming investigations.
In these communities, police departments have turned to law enforcement agencies at higher levels of government for help with manpower, intelligence and technology. Officials at these agencies say they're willing to help, but police in West Milford say the aid is limited and that it can't replace community policing that's at the root of drug investigations.
The problem of staffing is especially acute in West Milford, which police say has become a destination for suburban youth seeking to buy heroin. After a statewide wave of public-safety retirements, the township's police force dropped from 48 to 43 officers -- and one more hire is expected within weeks.
"We have many leads and tips and stuff going on, but there is only so much we can follow up on," said Detective Sgt. Robert Congleton, who heads the detective bureau. "There's stuff sitting on the back burner waiting for time and people."
Detectives are often busy pursuing other matters such as thefts and burglaries, or are pulled off to help on patrol duty, Congleton said. During the six-week investigation last fall, time-strapped detectives worked up to 70 hours a week without overtime compensation, he said.
Officials at county and federal law enforcement agencies say help is available for police departments that need extra resources to tackle drug crime.
"When a local police department reaches out, as long as we have the ability to provide help -- and generally we do -- we are going to help them out," said Passaic County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Michael DeMarco, who heads the narcotics team.
Twice in the past two years, the county's Narcotics Task Force has aided drug investigations that extended to West Milford by providing surveillance technology for wiretapping and intercepting phone calls, along with personnel support.
Both investigations began with requests for help from Ringwood police, crossed multiple jurisdictions, and resulted in arrests in West Milford, DeMarco said.
With just two detectives in the Ringwood Police Department, Sgt. Paul Rothlauf said police had to seek outside help when a drug problem became evident. "They don't hesitate to help. They're good that way," he said.
The key factors that prompt outside involvement in a municipal drug investigation are quantity -- for example, two bricks of heroin, with about 50 glassines or "bags" each, is a significant amount of street-level heroin, according to DeMarco -- and ties to a large-scale drug distribution system.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has mobile enforcement teams and task forces that are able to assist, "should we get a request from a local police department of a significant problem," said John G. McCabe Jr., acting special agent in charge of the division.
Two-way street
McCabe offered up this recent example of police collaboration: A municipal police department in northern New Jersey got a tip on an active heroin mill and passed it on the county Prosecutor's Office, which contacted the DEA in early February, leading to a joint investigation.
That kind of cooperation was on display April 29 in Fort Lee when 10 people were arrested for allegedly operating a heroin mill and trafficking ring. The arrests followed a two-month investigation by federal, county and local authorities.
And the help is mutual. County and federal agencies will look to local departments for help in local intelligence, investigations and execution of search warrants.
Many officers from local, county and state police also train and serve during two-year stints on federal task forces, giving them knowledge they can take back to local departments, McCabe said. DEA supervisors attend monthly county meetings where local police can talk about trends and problems going on in their towns.
"We have an expertise at the national and global level," McCabe said. "But no one knows the streets and targets of a particular town more than the local departments."
During its six-week investigation last fall, West Milford did not seek help from outside agencies. Asked why, Congleton said higher-level law enforcement agencies were also understaffed and often consumed with bigger cases that involved violent crime.
While larger agencies can help and have helped, they typically only get involved when large quantities of drugs are exchanged, acting Police Chief Gene Chiosie said.
"What we need right now is manpower for doing surveillance," Chiosie said. "It's hard for us to call them up and say, 'Send up a seasoned detective to sit on a house for week.' "
Paterson is source
While West Milford has a growing heroin problem, police haven't found heroin mills or significant organized trafficking in the township. Rather, they said most dealers were going to Paterson to buy drugs and selling to support their own habit.
But even low-level drug dealing is extremely worrisome in the township, where the community has seen the highly addictive drug destroy the lives of many young people. They have seen teenagers and twentysomethings suffer overdoses and watched others taken away in handcuffs.
Chiosie said he does not have enough staff to proactively police the community and do the groundwork needed for any drug investigation. The township's unique geography poses an added challenge for policing: the sprawling, mountainous township spans 80.4 square smiles but has no big drug hot spots.
Arrests instill fear
Police say outside officers can't replace the need for people on the street and in the schools to track down drug sources, make traffic stops that lead to drug arrests, and cull tips from the community.
Chiosie pleaded unsuccessfully with the Township Council for funding for 46 officers in the 2011 budget -- what he called the "minimum" needed to effectively police the township and get officers back in the schools. The council's budget, approved last Wednesday, sets aside $5.7 million for police, which Chiosie said would pay for 44 officers.
Police believe a boost in force would lead to more arrests, which they say would make dealers more hesitant to sell drugs there and scare off potential users. They hope the drug will appear "less glamorous" when people see their friends hauled off to jail.
"The more people we arrest, the more fear we put into people who are out there and do these things," Congleton said. "It's definitely going to slow it down."
