Federal Drug Fight in Capital Has Failed, Police Chief Says

Federal efforts to stem drug abuse and related violence in the nation’s capital have failed, the city’s police chief said Thursday.

And a spokesman for federal drug policy coordinator William J. Bennett said that one lesson learned from the yearlong effort was that “civic resolve” is needed to make any anti-drug program a success.

A senior spokesman for Bennett later backed away from that comment, saying Bennett does not believe that Washington residents lack the resolve needed to reduce drug abuse.

Isaac Fulwood, the District of Columbia’s police chief, acknowledged that the anti-drug effort announced a year ago by Bennett has not lived up to expectations.

“I think there’s enough blame to go around for everybody,” Fulwood said. “I would say everything has failed right now because we haven’t turned it around. Victory won’t be declared until we stop the murders.”

The federal government promised to direct an extra $100 million to drug programs in the district, primarily for additional jail space. That money has not been spent because the city has been unable to agree on a plan for jail construction.

The Administration also assigned military prosecutors to drug cases in the capital, offered money for new drug treatment centers and established a special Drug Enforcement Administration team.

Both city and federal officials agreed that illegal drugs remain relatively cheap and plentiful and drug-related murders have not abated.

There have been 127 homicides in the nation’s capital so far in 1990. The city recorded a record 438 in 1989. Authorities have blamed more than 60% of them on drugs.