Editor's Note: The following is the first of two articles looking at the local drug task force. Monday's article looks at opinions about the task force from seven candidates running for sheriff.

The number of felony drug arrests in Kosciusko County - many of which have historically come through the local drug task force - has declined in the past two years.

Part of the decrease, according to people familiar with local law enforcement, is tied to problems within the drug task force.

In 1995, the county filed 81 felony drug charges, but saw that figure decrease to 48 in 1996 and 52 in 1997, according to statistics from the prosecutor's office.

In past years, most of the work by the task force culminated in high-profile drug sweeps in which officers with dozens of warrants fanned across the county in night-time drug raids.

Those operations have nearly ceased. Three raids in the first half of 1997 resulted in just 14 arrests.

The task force - also known as the Special Operations Team - has been hurt by turmoil, turnover and a lack of cooperation with the county prosecutor.

The multi-county program just three years ago included two officers from the county, two from the city of Warsaw, two from Wabash and one from North Manchester. A part-time secretary was also part of the program.

But in late 1995, Kosciusko County Sheriff's Det. Sgt. Sam Whitaker, who headed the task force, was briefly suspended and then reassigned out of the task force. At the same time the task force was put on hiatus.

The suspension stemmed from an investigation into under-age drinking. Whitaker and Det. Ron Moser, the other county member of the task force, both contend the suspension was politically motivated. Soon afterward, Moser retired, saying he was tired of the politics.

Since then, two other county officers have been assigned into and later removed from the task force.

The county currently has one detective, Larry Holderman, involved in the program, and uses county patrolman Craig Bale and his K-9 on some operations. The secretary has been reassigned to other duties.

Warsaw and Wabash County continue to supply two officers.

Sheriff Al Rovenstine made the changes after various problems arose.

"I guess there's an awful lot of freedom in those positions and it's hard to monitor," Rovenstine said.

Changes were made because of certain activities and also communication problems with the prosecutor, Rovenstine said. He did not specify the activities.

Rovenstine said the decreased number of felony arrests is part of a change in strategy.

He said he's satisfied with the current level of drug investigations.

He said the task force is now focusing more on bigger dealers rather than "buying a bunch of stuff off people to make numbers."

Prosecutor David Kolbe said he agrees with the new approach.

Kolbe is not a big fan of undercover investigations, and said in the past that he prefers to see police play the role of police instead of criminals in their efforts to secure arrests.

In the past year, Kolbe has begun working with the Indiana State Police in monitoring hotels and motels for illegal drug deals. The program has netted 20 arrests.

But some officers contend the prosecutor's office has put a damper on the task force's enthusiasm for undercover operations.

Some of the cases have "hit a brick wall" after reaching the prosecutor's office, Holderman said.

"It's been a problem. He'll work with them, but it's a lot harder to get a lot accomplished," Holderman said.

Kolbe denies any lack of cooperation on his part, but said there have been some cases in which he's questioned tactics used by the drug task force. One case, he said, involved a questionable use of an informant.

"I'm very concerned and always will be in the way we achieve (drug arrests)," Kolbe said.

Holderman said he's looked back at old cases and found some that seemed questionable.

Cases assembled since he joined the task force last September appear to be "up to snuff," Holderman said.

Kolbe said he has appointed deputy prosecutor Dan Nelson as a liaison to work with the task force.

"We don't want to dampen enthusiasm, but we want to be sure that we have the same angle of attack," he said.

Wabash Sheriff Tim Roberts said he thinks the decreased number of felony arrests is a good sign. One that suggests big dealers are few and far between.

"It's getting harder and harder to purchase major quantities, but that tells me that its getting harder for people to get ahold of major quantities," Roberts said.

"We're not seeing the numbers of quantities," he said. "We're seeing lots of people with drugs, but very small quantities." [[In-content Ad]]