NATION : Fears Told on All-U.S. Crime Force

Several senators expressed doubts today about Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh’s plan to put all organized crime strike forces under politically appointed U.S. attorneys, saying their interest in “glitzy” cases could hurt anti-mob efforts.

But Thornburgh defended the proposal during a joint hearing of the Senate’s Judiciary and Governmental Affairs committees, asserting the shift would end occasional “turf battles” between rival prosecutors in the same district and streamline the government’s attack on organized crime.

“You can’t have turf battles if there’s only one turf,” Thornburgh said of his plan, although most authorities agree the more independent strike forces have been very effective since their creation in 1967 and expansion in in the early 1970s.