Tough New Drug Laws Sought by Governor

Declaring that California has experienced a “staggering” rise in cocaine trafficking, Gov. George Deukmejian announced Saturday that he will ask the Legislature for more severe drug laws that will allow wiretapping, longer prison sentences and make it easier for police to confiscate the personal property of drug dealers.

Deukmejian, outlining proposed anti-drug legislation in his weekly radio address, said tougher laws in Florida and other states are believed to be partly responsible for an upsurge in drug trafficking in California, where laws and penalties are more lenient.

The governor said drug dealing in California is viewed as “a far less risky proposition” than in other states because penalties here are not as great and it is tougher for law enforcement authorities to win prosecutions.

‘Stronger Action’

This year, Deukmejian said, California will spend $172 million on drug abuse and prevention activities and drug-related law enforcement programs, but he added that “as the scope of the problem escalates, we must take stronger action.”

The quantity of cocaine seized by the Los Angeles Police Department alone has soared from 358 pounds in 1983 to 13,000 pounds in the first 11 months of 1987, he said.

A background report released by the governor’s office said: “Cocaine is clearly the No. 1 drug problem facing California law enforcement.”

To combat the alarming trend, Deukmejian said he would renew efforts to enact legislation that would allow police to use court-supervised electronic surveillance for the investigation of drug-related crimes.

The wiretap bill Deukmejian wants has been approved by the Senate and is scheduled to come up for a vote Monday in the Assembly Public Safety Committee. Similar legislation has been defeated in the past by Democrats on the committee who argue that wiretapping infringes on individual privacy rights. As it stands, police in California cannot legally listen to or record telephone conversations without the consent of at least one of the parties.

Electronic Surveillance Urged

“Our ability to investigate drug offenses would be greatly enhanced with the use of electronic surveillance,” Deukmejian said, noting that two-thirds of the states now permit wiretapping.

The governor blamed past defeats of wiretap legislation on “a few key legislators” in the Assembly.

Deukmejian also proposed strengthening existing drug forfeiture laws to allow the state more freedom to confiscate property used in the commission of a crime or purchased with profits from drug deals. The governor wants legislation transferring forfeiture proceedings from the criminal courts to the civil courts because the burden of proof required by prosecutors is not as great.

In addition, Deukmejian said he would like to impose 15-year sentences on those convicted of selling wholesale amounts of cocaine, PCP, heroin and other drugs as well as legislation that would provide for a minimum 10-year prison term for repeat offenders.

Comparing California’s law to Florida’s, Deukmejian said Florida hands out minimum 15-year sentences to anyone convicted of possession for sale of 400 grams of cocaine. In California, he said the same crime would bring a prison term of three to five years. “These punishments are inadequate,” he said.

Deukmejian also said he will ask the California Council on Criminal Justice to recommend new steps that can be taken to deal with the escalating problem of youth gangs involved in the drug trade, including a review of California laws on conspiracy and racketeering because of the movement of gangs into organized criminal activity.

Additional Funds

As part of the effort, he said he will ask the Legislature for an additional $1 million to expand the statewide computer information system on gang members and increase funding for the existing gang suppression program.

Deukmejian also said he is considering additional measures, such as proposals to allow such things as the revocation of driver’s licenses for those convicted of drug violations, increased penalties for drug transactions near schools and expanded drug testing for prison parolees.

Deukmejian press secretary Kevin Brett said Deukmejian “is in the process of developing specific proposals” on each of these measures.

Traffickers Move Elsewhere

The report released by the governor’s office said some law enforcement officials believe that “increased enforcement activities in Florida have prompted drug traffickers to move their activities to other regions.”

“The exodus out of Florida is generally attributed to significant strengthening of anti-drug activities, such as stringent drug-related forfeiture laws, severe penalties for drug trafficking and authorization of electronic surveillance for drug offenses,” the report said.

Deukmejian said he will work with the National Governors’ Assn. on adopting uniform drug laws among states to reduce whatever incentive exists for drug dealers to target certain states because of the relative severity of their drug laws.