Police chief defends drug task force against commissioner criticism

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Police Chief Cleveland Spruill on Tuesday released a lengthy statement defending a regional drug task force and challenging criticism from Athens-Clarke County Commission Mariah Parker that it perpetuates a racist war on drugs .

At stake is a $ 139,000 grant to help fund the task force that the committee will vote on Tuesday night on the renewal request. Athens Politics Nerd posted a Parker editorial this weekend announcing his intention to vote against.

If we judge the war on drugs as making our communities safer and healthier, it has been a failure. Its only lasting success lies in maintaining racial control and destabilizing black communities.

So, no, I’m not interested in continuing to fund the narcotics task force, at the federal or local level. I would much rather disrupt the black drug market through well-endowed drug treatment and decriminalization. I would prefer that we invest in employment programs that create pipelines away from organized crime and into decent, well-paid work; in youth programs that keep youth away from gangs; and in housing, community gardens and other interventions based on legitimate public health science and not on the intrigues of racist Republicans who are mostly all dead now.

For Spruill, a department head, responding to an elected official’s statements in this way is extraordinary, if not unprecedented.

“The minority community of Athens-Clarke County continues to be disproportionately affected by crime, gangs, shootings, violence and deaths, all fueled by the ongoing regional drug trafficking,” he said. -he declares. “The Northeast Georgia Regional Drug Working Group plays a critical role in addressing this violence and the negative impacts of the illegal drug trade on our community. “

Spruill, who is black, accused Parker, who is also black, of “[using] the race card. As of 2018, nine of the 11 murder victims and 73% of aggravated assault victims in Athens are black, according to Spruill. Additionally, drug overdoses have nearly doubled since May, with two black women dying of drug overdoses on Monday alone.

Spruill cited several specific cases: the fatal shooting of Walter Brown in 2018 in a drug-related gang conflict, followed by retaliation against one of the shooter’s relatives, Rodriguez Rucker; another 2018 case where two Athens residents, Derrick Ruff and Joshua Jackson, were executed by gang members in Gwinnett County; and the 2019 murder of Auriel Callaway, a 24-year-old pregnant woman who protected her young son from bullets.

Police responded to 149 shootings this year, according to Spruill, and seized 393 illegal firearms.

We know that shootings take place almost daily in our minority communities and that the vast majority of victims are people of color. These shootings are often carried out by violent drug dealers and gang members using AR-15s or other high powered rifles. They ensure that people of color are shot, injured and disproportionately killed in their own neighborhoods. Homes and vehicles are riddled with gunfire almost every night, and in some cases as many as 65 bullets are fired. Sadly, Athens has become a community where violent drug and gang members are emboldened enough to post videos of themselves on social media while wielding guns, AK-47s and other rifles. assault with large capacity battery chargers, while threatening violence.

Spruill’s statement linked to a rap video by Slixk Sosa.

The Northeast Georgia Regional Drug Working Group is a partnership between ACC and law enforcement agencies in surrounding counties that includes four ACCPD officers. It targets both high-level traffickers and street traffickers, according to documents, but Spruill said low-level offenders go through a pre-trial diversion program that allows them to seek treatment and avoid the prison.

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