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Updated
March 4, 2007

 

Back home, Soares answers critics
Police say DA is letting local crime take a back seat to steroids probe

By CAROL DeMARE, Staff writer
Click byline for more stories by writer.
First published: Friday, March 2, 2007

COLONIE -- Albany County District Attorney David Soares returned from a Florida trip Thursday where he's heading a nationwide probe of illegal sales of steroids and criticized local police for their approach to the drug war.

Soares refused to back off from his position to take on all dealers, large and small, and shrugged off criticism that by investigating the alleged sale of performance-enhancing drugs from Florida distributors, he's neglecting Albany County street crime.

Local police contend steroid users don't carry guns or shoot at each other and questioned why Soares became immersed in a case that drew national headlines.

The district attorney didn't pull punches in response to police criticism. "They can do a street-level rip, never focusing on anything other than the guy they can pick up and make $500 in overtime," he said.

"My position has not changed," regarding the drug trade, he said. He wants law enforcement to go after "upper management and upper distribution channels."

Christian Mesley, president of the union representing Albany police, told reporters he was pleased to see that Soares found a drug law that he is willing to enforce -- a reference to what many police claim is a reluctance on the part of the district attorney to prosecute drug crimes.

Investigator John Burke of the Albany County Sheriff's Department, a veteran narcotics officer, has voiced criticism all week.

Burke has spent 35 years arresting high-level drug traffickers and street dealers, first as an Albany detective, and after his retirement, as head of the sheriff's drug unit. He felt slighted by what he saw as demeaning remarks by Soares.

"I make 400 street arrests for drugs every year," with hundreds of thousands of dollars in street value, Burke said.

"Have we had any wars over turf because of steroids? Have we had any shootings over steroids?"

Burke said the war of words began when a television reporter called asking for a comment on Soares' trip.

Steroids are "not a big problem in this county," Burke said. "Is it a problem for kids in high school? Maybe. Would we take action if we got a call? Absolutely."

"We have murderers running around, dope dealers on the street, kids chasing people all over the streets getting shot in Albany, and he's down in Florida," Burke said.

Soares stood firm.

"In 2004, I made a promise to the people of Albany County that I would be pro-active, not only prosecuting street-level crime, but also going after manufacturers and distributors," he said. "My commitment is to shut down the pipelines and not just putting cups under the faucets to collect the drips."

Last May, Soares got in hot water after comments he made at a conference in Canada during a speech on U.S. drug policy. He said America continues its failed war on drugs "because it provides law enforcement officials with lucrative jobs." On returning home, he apologized to rank-and-file officers offended by his remarks.

At a news conference at Albany International Airport Thursday, moments after his flight from Orlando, Soares was badgered by a hostile press corps.

He was asked why the Times Union knew to send a reporter and photographer to Orlando this week for the exclusive story on the raid of a pharmacy and the arrests of four suspects, and why when calls were made to the district attorney's office for information, none was forthcoming.

The Times Union did its own months-long investigation into steroid trafficking.

The steroids probe involves three states and includes members of the New York state Health Department's Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, whose agents "stumbled into a world where this practice was pervasive" -- online sales and doctors allegedly illegally writing prescriptions, the district attorney said.

Distributors and physicians were targeted, he said. It's against New York law for a doctor to write a prescription without seeing the patient.

"Albany County should care that people were going online ordering narcotics without doctors ever seeing them," Soares said.

The district attorney, who traveled to Florida with Assistant District Attorney Christopher Baynes, head of the office's Financial Crimes Unit, fielded numerous questions about comments made in an Orlando court by a defense attorney.

The attorney said his client wanted to surrender a month ago, but Soares wasn't interested, because, the attorney alleged, the district attorney "wanted to come down with a camera crew."

Florida attorneys called his office, were suspicious and were fishing to see if their clients were targets, and their calls weren't returned, the district attorney said. An "element of surprise" is necessary for a raid to be effective, he said.

Part of the cost of the Florida trip came from assets forfeited by arrested drug dealers in Albany County, he said, declining to give a ballpark figure.

DeMare can be reached at 454-5431 or by e-mail at cdemare@timesunion.com.

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