Wiretapping in War Against Drugs

Wiretaps are the answer. Let everyone know that Big Brother, as you call our government, will be watching the major drug dealers in this state. Your April 14 editorial, (“Wiretaps: Not the Answer”) implies that law enforcement will be tapping the phone calls of citizens. That is simply not accurate. I don’t know many citizens who carry around 10 gallons of liquid narcotics or 3 pounds of cocaine or heroin, but I know about major drug dealers who do.

I believe the people of California want the police to have the ability to listen in on major drug dealers’ conversations and put them behind bars. It’s only when they are finally in jail that we are able to stop them from plying the trade that killed 180 men, women and children in Orange County last year.

The authority to wiretap major drug traffickers will be in the hands of the presiding Superior Court judge. It will not be in the hands of law enforcement officers, as your editorial suggests.

I’m told that 30 states have wiretap laws, including all the large states except Illinois. Our state’s law is by far the most restrictive and assures the protection of personal liberties. The ability to wiretap is a law enforcement tool. If that ability causes the drug dealers to stop using phones for their drug transactions, the police can then return to more traditional ways to apprehend them. I hope the new law makes every drug dealer paranoid about using his telephone. This law will significantly raise the risk of arrest.

The war on drugs is a real war, and the police need the tools to fight the major drug traffickers. The police often find themselves outgunned, out-financed, and outmaneuvered. The wiretap law will help law enforcement keep drugs off the streets.

BRAD GATES

sheriff-coroner

County of Orange