Formation of Task Force Targeting Major Drug Cases Considered : Law enforcement: Countywide effort would depart from local details that focus mainly on street-level activity. But officials caution that resources are thin.

Ventura County law enforcement officials are studying the possibility of forming a countywide narcotics task force that would target major drug cases too complex and time-consuming for individual departments to tackle alone.

If formed, the task force would be a departure from local narcotics details, which focus mainly on street-level cases and neighborhood complaints.

In theory, a countywide task force would go after major dealers who supply larger quantities of drugs--multiple ounces of heroin, kilos of cocaine and pounds of methamphetamine, for instance.

Police officials familiar with the idea say they support the concept of a task force to target big-time traffickers. But they caution that practical considerations may outweigh possible benefits.

“Anything that impacts drug investigations is going to be helpful,” Sheriff’s Sgt. Arnie Aviles said. “It’s just a tough time trying it now because funds are so short and resources are very thin.

“I’m just hoping there’s a feasible way for us to come together and do something with this,” he said.

Last year, the county’s top police officials and the district attorney formed a committee to study the idea of a task force. That committee met once in December and will meet again Wednesday at the Ventura Police Department.

“I’m in support of the task force,” said Ventura Police Sgt. Bill Bogner, who sits on the committee. “But it’s very, very early and whether it’s ever going to evolve is anybody’s guess.”

Still, others say the fact that the county’s top police officials have agreed to look at the concept is a step forward.

“Those of us in narcotics enforcement for years have seen the need for this,” said Sgt. Mike Matlock, who supervises Oxnard’s drug detail. “We’re just happy now that there’s a possibility that it could come to be.”

Oxnard, where much of the county’s drug activity occurs, is strongly behind the task force idea. But the whole county would benefit from it, Matlock said.

Funding and manpower are the biggest hurdles to establishing a task force. But there also must be agreement on a chain of command and the types of cases to be worked. Another issue is whether the task force would be permanent or assembled on a case-by-case basis.

Once those issues are settled, the departments must agree on practical details, such as where the task force would be headquartered.

Countywide drug task forces have been assembled before, but not since the 1970s, officials said.

“We haven’t had a task force in quite a number of years,” said Aviles, who is on the committee. “It’s like starting from the ground up.”

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Supporters say that if the task force is formed, they hope it will be permanent and include at least eight to 10 officers pooled from all or most of the county’s agencies. State and federal agencies would work with the task force.

The individual agencies would continue to work street-level sales in their jurisdictions and benefit from the task force working larger cases.

Matlock said while it is important to respond to complaints of street-corner drug dealing, such tactics do little to stem the overall flow of narcotics into a community.

“You’re just putting out little fires,” he said.

In contrast, a task force could focus on more complex cases that require enormous amounts of surveillance time. One example was the May 27 pre-dawn raid on nine Oxnard houses that led to the breakup of a sophisticated drug ring that shipped cocaine from Oxnard as far north as San Francisco.

That operation was part of a larger assault that concluded a three-year undercover investigation by federal and local agents.

Yet other Ventura County police officials question whether local agencies should spend time and money going after major drug dealers at a time when budgets are tight and detectives are being reassigned to the street.

“There’s something to be said for working the real big guys, but sometimes it’s kind of like drilling for oil. You can put a lot of money down a dry hole,” Undersheriff Richard Bryce said.

“It’s an expensive proposition and it takes a lot of time that might be better utilized . . . on a different level,” he said.

Although there has been no formal countywide task force since the 1970s, police agencies throughout the county work together frequently on narcotics investigations.

The Sheriff’s Department has operated a task force of its own in past years that has included representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, California Highway Patrol and Santa Paula police.

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This year, Santa Paula will not assign an officer to work full time with the Sheriff’s Department because of a shortage in its patrol division.

“Our manpower was such that we had to bring an officer back and put him out on the streets,” Santa Paula Police Cmdr. Bob Gonzales said. “Those are our immediate needs.”