COUNTYWIDE : D.A. Seeks Federal Funds for Drug Unit

To cope with the spiraling number of drug-abuse arrests in Ventura County, the district attorney’s office has applied for federal funds to create a special Drug Offender Prosecution Unit that will target repeat offenders.

The number of arrests of people under the influence of drugs reached about 3,000 last year, a 35% increase since 1985, prosecutors said.

If approved, the $191,321 grant will be used to hire two attorneys to prosecute only repeat drug abusers. The two would work to ensure speedy trials and close monitoring of offenders once they leave jail.

“This program will target the people who are always coming back,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Edward F. Brodie said. “We get to know their names because they keep coming back to jail every five or six months. We want to find some way to stop that from happening.”

The plan calls for the Corrections Services Agency to beef up random drug testing and mandatory drug-treatment programs for those on probation.

The combination of high surveillance and frequent drug testing will reduce the number of crimes committed in Ventura County by repeat offenders, who often steal and commit violent crimes to support their habits, according to a report prepared by Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury.

The unprecedented increase in street-level drug-abuse cases over the last five years has led to a backlog in the Sheriff’s Department crime lab, “which has been unable to handle the volume of drug cases submitted for prosecution,” Bradbury’s report said.

“In many cases, subjects who are arrested for being under the influence of a controlled substance--primarily cocaine and heroin--are being released at arraignment due to the inability of the crime lab to analyze body fluids in a timely fashion,” the report said.