By Michael D. Martin, E.C.P.D.
Retired
About the author...Michael Martin (pictured front row, far right in the 1981 photo) is a retired veteran of 25 years on the Eden City Police Department, and has penned a number of anecdotal writings recalling his experiences.
XX. Dirty Tricks
I think I made Captain of the Eden City Police Department's Criminal
Investigations Division in 1982. At that time the main reason behind
most of our crimes was narcotics. Eden PD had a fine, functioning narcotics
division under my supervision. Narcotics is a dirty business. Its not like
bootlegging, there is no honor amongst these people, it is a dog eat dog
world and we had to adapt to a new reality. There were no more Andy Griffin scenarios, We wore bullet proof vests and were always under the gun as far as
"probable cause"
The Eden Police Narcotics division learned to play
the game thru trial and error and we raided every week, it was like sweeping
back the ocean with a broom.
We learned that one doper would squeal on another
in a heartbeat if he had a reason and it became our job to give these people
some reasons. One tactic we used was when we had a successful raid and got
some dope, we would put the doper in the interview room and an officer would
go in to conduct an interview carrying a folder. He would sit the folder
down and begin the interview and I would step to the door and ask to see the
interviewer for a moment, he would leave the room with the folder on the
table and we would walk to the next room and watch the doper thru a one way
mirror until curiosity got the better of him and he opened the folder.
There he would see the name of another doper who was paid a sum of money by
Eden PD for information leading to his arrest. When this information was
absorbed, the officer would go back in the interview room and finish the
interview, which usually consisted of worlds of information about the other
doper. These people were not too awfully smart.
One of the best tricks I ever heard of was when
Eden Narcotics Detectives had received information from a snitch that an
Eden businessman had a large stash of marijuana in his house, the snitch
was not someone who could be, by any stretch, called confidential and
reliable and no search warrant could be drawn on his word alone and the
businessman had no prior arrests for narcotics. So a plan was devised, if
Eden could not go in and get it, they needed to make him bring it out.
Several Eden Narcotics officers and detectives set up surveillance on the
house and one detective made a quick call to the businessman...." hello
Sam, this is Joe, I was just down at the magistrate's office paying a
traffic ticket and Barry Carter was down there getting a search warrant for
your house for dope, look! Gotta go, bye!
The business man came to his front door a few times
and peered out, but he couldn't stand it, he ran out of his house and into
his basement and came out with a large bag and jumped into his car and sped
off......the chase was on!!
Eden Narcotics got him with six pounds.
Michael D. Martin