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.
Back
This site maintained by Lynne
Jackson of Jackson's
Computer Services.