CHAPTER ONE

"THE DECISION"

The sun was just beginning to rise on a beautiful fall morning. It was Thanksgiving Day, 1981. The air was crisp and clean. It was the dawn of another day. You could feel the cold of the winter in your lungs with each breath of air you inhaled. I was just beginning my shift as a patrol sergeant for Kingston County Sheriff's office. I had no sooner left my residence, when I received a call over the police radio. The call was from Deputy Roger Blackwell requesting a roadside meeting with me. It was a common practice for the off going shift officers to meet with the oncoming officers and update them on the events and situations of interest which had occurred during the previous shift.
We arranged to meet by the power substation located about two miles down the highway from my residence. Deputy Blackwell was still wide awake after his long night of graveyard shift. He appeared extremely excited, as he began to relate the events of the early morning hours. He began by telling me of a sixteen-year-old girl by the name of Mary Jo Carpenter. Apparently, last night Mary Jo was waiting for a bus on a downtown street corner in a nearby city. She was approached by a man. He walked up to her and stuck a gun into her ribs, forcing her to accompany him to his vehicle which was parked in an alley, just down the street. He put her into the trunk of his car and then drove to a remote area of woods located in Kingston County. He then began to assault and rape her.
You could see the look of disgust and anger in Deputy Blackwell's eyes as he continued to describe the details of the incident. He was upset, to say the least. He explained to me how the suspect held a gun to the young girl's head as he kept threatening her and forcing his way on her. He went into vivid detail, telling how the suspect made the young girl suck the barrel of his gun as he raped her. It was obvious Deputy Blackwell was emotionally distraught over the ordeal the young victim had experienced.
Deputy Blackwell then remarked,
"It was bad enough that he raped her over and over again. The animal then tied her hands behind her back and attached weights to her feet, and threw the poor girl off the end of the dock out in Edgewood."
Deputy Blackwell just looked at me with a blank stare on his face. He swallowed and continued telling the story.
"The only thing that saved her was that a car drove up by the pier before the suspect finished tying her feet. Not wanting to be seen with the girl, he just shoved her off the dock into the cold, frigid water below. He just tossed her away like a piece of garbage."
Deputy Blackwell paused, shaking his head in disgust.
He continued, relating the events this young woman encountered, as I listened intently.
The young girl was able to loosen the weights and free her feet. With her hands still tied behind her back, she managed to keep her head above water and work her way from one piling to another. She would stop at each piling, grabbing it with her legs and holding on just long enough to catch her breath. The freezing water and current threatened her very existence as she struggled to survive.

Her naked body became covered in her own blood, from the barnacles that ripped her flesh as she gripped the pilings to stay afloat, in order to stay alive. She was able to make it to shore. She walked up to the door steps of a beach house which was near the dock and bamged on the door. She was exhausted and suffering exposure from the icy waters. She collapsed into the arms of the elderly woman who opened the door to the residence. The women took the young girl into her home and made her comfortable. She then called 911, requesting an Aid car.
Deputy Blackwell remarked. "She is a very brave young girl with a strong determination to survive. She also is a very intelligent young lady and was able to give me a detailed description of the suspect and of his vehicle."
He then gave me the information he obtained from the young victim. The suspect was a white male in his mid-to-late twenties. He was approximately five feet, ten inches tall, with a fair complexion and blonde hair to his shoulders. His hair was rather stringy and streaked with different shades of blonde. He was clean shaven except for a blonde mustache. He was wearing blue jeans and a red flannel type shirt. He had on black hiking boots and an olive green Navy foul-weather jacket. He was also wearing black leather gloves. The suspect's gun was a silver revolver, which, from the barrel, appeared to be a large caliber.
The young victim gave Officer Blackwell a good description of the suspect's vehicle as well. She described the vehicle as an older model Dodge sedan. It was blue, with rather faded paint. The front passenger side fender had a large dent in it and red paint transfer. The trunk key lock was missing so when she was in the trunk, she could look out of the key hole. She described the interior of the car as having blue cloth seats. She said that on the dash, there was a decal of a roadrunner and some other type of design. These designs were on the door to the glove box. She also told the officer that her panties and bra were thrown on the floor in the back seat of the suspect's vehicle.
Deputy Blackwell commented that she was very articulate in her description of the events and of her observations. He informed me that he left the young victim with the detectives who were now handling the investigation. He was taken aback and it was obvious he was upset with the ordeal this poor young lady had endured.
After briefing me of the events of the night, Deputy Blackwell went home and signed off duty. I went to the precinct office and conducted line up. I informed the deputies who worked for me of the incident, giving them the description of the suspect and of his vehicle. After line up, I called Chief Logan, who was the Chief of Detectives, to learn if there was any update concerning the identity of the suspect, so I could pass the information onto my deputies. There was not.
I decided to drive up to the Edgewood Community and search for the suspect myself. In law enforcement, you cannot have too many eyes out in the field looking and searching for information. Suspects tend to disappear, blending into the community. It sometimes is a difficult task locating the suspect even when you have a good description. It becomes difficult, like the search for the proverbial "needle in the hay stack."
I was a "probationary" sergeant, having been promoted to sergeant only eleven months ago. My last assignment prior to my promotion, was that of a detective. I spent the last two years working as a detective, specializing in burglary investigations, and really enjoyed the work. I held the record for clearing the most burglaries in any investigation, having cleared one hundred and twenty-five burglaries with the arrest of a ring of eight subjects who were involved. So, I guess you could say, supervising the deputies was still new to me. I enjoyed getting out there and becoming involved, getting my hands dirty, so to speak. I was still, mentally, a road cop. It was due to my nature and demeanor that I found myself patrolling the streets of Edgewood looking for the suspect.
I realized that this suspect was sick and had to be stopped before he hurt someone else. I had just arrived at Edgewood, when I drove by the "Cash and Dash," a combination grocery store and gas station. There at the outside island, I observed the suspect pumping gas into his vehicle, the Dodge sedan. He fit the victim's description exactly to the letter. I drove around the block, parking my patrol car behind the store. I walked to the corner of the building and observed the suspect going into the store to pay for his gas. There was a large motor home parked at the inside pump. The motor home blocked the suspect's view of his own car. I took advantage of the obstruction and walked over to the suspect's vehicle in order to get a better look at the car. As I approached the vehicle, I immediately observed the key lock to the trunk was missing, exposing a hole, just like the victim had described. I walked around to the side of the car and looked inside. I observed the "roadrunner" decal on the glove box door. I then glanced in the back seat and could see what appeared to be a pair of blue panties laying on the floor, half hidden under the seat.
I walked over to the gentleman pumping gas into the motor home asking him to go over to the phone booth at the side of the building and call 911. I directed him to inform the operator that I was out on the rape suspect's vehicle, and to give the operator our location. I advised him to stay by the phone booth until I had the suspect in custody. He gave me a strange look and then ran over to the phone booth.
I waited for the suspect to exit the store, concealing myself from the suspect's view by standing beside the motor home. I suppose I should have been scared. I knew the suspect had a gun and I realized he had absolutely no respect for human life. I mean, the way he treated that young girl, how could he have any respect? He had to be sick and dangerous. I was totally consumed with apprehending this guy. My thoughts were on how to safely and effectively bring about his arrest. I was basically improvising as I went, caught up in the moment. I stood there beside the motor home, just waiting. It seemed like a very long time had passed, but actually, it was only a couple of minutes.
The suspect finally walked out of the store and around the motor home toward his vehicle. As he passed the location where I was standing, I reached out and grabbed him. I threw him up against his vehicle.
I yelled, "your under arrest! Up against the car, don't move!"
I slammed him against the car with such force it made a loud bang as his head bounced off the hood. I grabbed his hands one at a time, and pulled them behind his back, placing them in the hand cuffs. I then frisked him, finding a three-fifty-seven caliber revolver in his waist band. It was silver in color and matched the description given by the victim. The entire incident was over almost before it started.
I then advised him of his rights. "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to have an attorney present before or during any questioning if you wish one. Do you understand these rights I have read to you?"
He answered. "Yes, what is this all about Officer?"
I remarked. "She lived."
My answer caught him completely off guard and he blurted out. "Oh my God, she's alive?"
I did not say another word, just walked him over and placed him in the back seat of my patrol car. I called Central Communications on my police radio and advised them that I had the suspect in custody. I moved my patrol car over next to the telephone booth and called Chief Logan at the Detective's Office. One of the detectives answered. He informed me that Chief Logan didn't have time to talk to me at this time. He was in a briefing. They had developed a suspect in the rape/attempted murder case and were preparing to raid this guy's home. The detective advised me that the suspect was a local guy who recently had been released from prison. He apparently had just served seven years for charges similar to the ones involved in this case. I demanded he interrupt the meeting and get the Chief on the phone now.
The chief came on the phone a short time later. He immediately began chewing me out advising that they were extremely busy and he did not have time to talk. He stated that the suspect they have developed matched the description given by the witness.
When I could finally get a word in, I told the Chief the guy they were looking for was not the right man. I informed him that I had the suspect in Edgewood who committed the rape/attempted murder.
Chief Logan began to lecture me. "Well, don't do anything. Just observe the guy and I'll send a detective up to your location. Meanwhile, we're going after this other guy down here in the south end of the county."
I responded back, "It's too late, Chief."
"What?" He asked.
"I already have the suspect in the back seat of my patrol car. I've recovered the gun he used and also the vehicle involved. From my observations, the vehicle appears to have evidence inside of it. He's been placed under arrest and advised verbally of his rights."
Chief Logan paused for a moment and then responded "I'll have a team of detectives en route to your location. Where are you?"
I gave him my location and then waited for the detectives to arrive. After their arrival, I gave the detectives an update of what had transpired and turned everything over to them. I cleared the scene, feeling good about myself. Words really cannot describe the feeling of satisfaction one feels, when they're directly responsible for removing elements of evil from our society.
The suspect was a Donald Healey. He was a twenty-nine-year-old white male who was employed with the Department of Transportation. Ironically, he had a beautiful young wife and two daughters, ages four and six. Evidence found in his vehicle not only tied him into this case, but also linked him to four other abduction/rape cases, two of which were unsolved homicide cases. I could not help but feel sorry for his wife and daughters. His wife did not have a clue that there was any problem, nor was she aware what her husband had been doing. In fact, the morning after he repeatedly raped Mary Jo Carpenter and threw her off the dock leaving her to die, he went home and had sex with his wife. She then fixed him a big breakfast. After he had eaten, he decided to gas up his car before he went to sleep. He was working the late night shift and did not want to have to stop for gas on his way to work that evening. If he had decided to go to sleep instead of getting gas, we might have never caught him.
The following Monday when I went into work, I was advised by Central Communications to contact Chief Logan in the Detective Division. I went to the precinct office and conducted line up. I gave out the assignments to the deputies working my shift, and got them out into their assigned areas. I proceeded to drive down to the south office and contact Chief Logan. He greeted me with a smile on his face. The chief was what you would call a "good ole country boy." He lived out in the country in an old homestead style ranch house and raised horses. He became a cop back in the early days, when your strength and loyalties determined how good a cop you were. His demeanor was rough, tough, and a bit on the crude side. I liked him, just the same. I always considered him to be an honest cop who tried to be fair to the deputies and the public. He seemed to balance out Sheriff Johnston and the rest of the top administrators who constantly lacked consistency in executing their decisions. Everyone in the department looked up to Chief Logan. He was respected and held the highest seniority within the department. You always knew exactly where you stood with the Chief. He would call a spade, a spade. I guess, what I really liked about him was the fact that I could call a spade, a spade back to him. I could tell him exactly what was on my mind without having to worry about holding back. I could disagree with him if I felt he was in the wrong on an issue. He never held anything against me. In fact, he respected me for stating my opinion. He knew I respected him as my boss and would follow his commands even if I didn't agree with them.
Chief Logan advised me, he and Sheriff Johnston had a meeting earlier that morning concerning the nighttime burglaries which had been occurring in the Seaside area. Seaside was a small waterfront community located in the north end of the county. It was an unincorporated community, which meant their law enforcement needs were handled by the Sheriff's Office. For the past few months, Seaside residences had been plagued with an intruder coming into their homes in the middle of the night, while they were sleeping, and robbing them. The majority of the burglaries occurred while the occupants lay sleeping and unaware that they were being victimized. Twice, however, the victims awoke to catch the suspect rummaging through their belongings. The victims were beaten severely and then tied up. Everyone in the Seaside community was shaken and upset about the incidents. Chief Logan related the problems to me as well as the concerns they were having over the burglaries. The detective he had assigned to that area of the county had not been able to come up with any leads. The emotions of the citizens were running high, and something needed to be done to identify and stop the suspect before someone got killed. Chief Logan then stated, "Sheriff Johnston and I, have been greatly troubled over these burglaries. They need to be stopped before the people up there take the matters into their own hands and someone gets hurt seriously. Heck, the other day this one guy shot at his own son who had snuck out of the house in the middle of the night. The kid was sneaking back into his own home when his father awoke, thinking it was a burglar. Luckily, he fired his pistol only to scare the intruder. If he had shot to kill, he would have killed his own son."
Chief Logan continued, "Anyway, Sheriff Johnston and I talked about the situation up there in Seaside. We decided to pull you off patrol and assign you to Detectives. It will be a temporary assignment for just thirty days, then you'll go back to patrol. Your task will be to investigate and get this guy who is doing these burglaries in Seaside. You have had a lot of success in the past handling burglary investigations. We considered your expertise in these matters and decided to give you a shot at getting this guy and clearing these crimes. What do you think?"
"Sounds good to me, when do I start?" I responded
I always liked working out of the Detectives Division and enjoyed investigating burglaries.
Before Chief Logan could answer, I asked, "But what should I do about my shift? Who will supervise my men if I'm working investigations?"
Chief Logan answered.
"We already have that taken care of. We're going to pull Sergeant Newton from the Traffic Division and have him run your shift. He can still oversee the Traffic Division while he's supervising your patrol shift. They really don't need a full time sergeant in the Traffic Division anyway."
Chief Logan always viewed the traffic cops as mere revenue collectors and not real cops. If he had his way, there would not be a Traffic Division.
He then continued.
"You'll start tomorrow. We'll give you an unmarked car and you can set your own hours. I want you to catch this guy. But, remember, you only have thirty days. Whether you get him or not, you are back to patrol after a month's time. I just don't want you to get your hopes up that you'll be staying in detectives, okay, you understand?"

I advised Chief Logan that I understood and looked forward to the challenge of the assignment. I was given the rest of the day off. I went home and informed my wife of the task I was given. She was supportive and happy for me. She knew how much I enjoyed working detectives. We went out to dinner. We both realized we would not be seeing much of each other over the next month. I would be consumed with solving the Seaside burglaries and would be spending every waking hour working on clearing them.
The next morning, I arrived at the Detective's Division. I spent the entire day reviewing all the burglary complaints which we had received from the Seaside area over the last three months. On two occasions, according to the reports, the patrol deputies had arrived on the scene prior to the suspect departing. The deputies actually chased the suspect into the woods before losing sight of him. All the burglaries appeared to have been committed by one person working alone, a person who was familiar with the area and the surroundings. I concluded from reading the reports that the suspect was a local person who lived somewhere within the Seaside community.
Burglaries are committed by two types of individuals: those who live outside the community and travel to a certain destination to commit the crime, and those who reside within the community they victimize. Normally, the burglars who travel to a certain area are older individuals who are either drug addicts or professional thieves. The ones that commit burglaries within their own neighborhoods are usually teenagers or young adults with alcohol or drug problems. Reaching the conclusion that these burglaries were being committed by someone within the community gave me a location to start my investigation.
My method of solving burglaries consisted of working the people. All burglars have one thing in common, they all like to talk about their crimes and accomplishments. They always tell someone. They tell someone either directly, in the form of bragging, or indirectly by attempting to sell the loot they acquired. Some people know. So it is really rather simple, you just keep talking to people until they tell you what you want to know.
I started my investigation by going to the local teenage hang outs in the Seaside area. Now people in general, especially those who are aware of crimes, really have no desire to tell the police what they know. You have to give them a reason to want to tell you.
Informants come in all shapes and sizes. They come from all classes of people. You cannot solve burglaries without first developing informants. There are a variety of ways of developing informants. The quickest way is by putting pressure on individuals to make them believe it is in their own best interest to help you. I was pressed for time in solving these burglaries. The best course of action for me to use was to put pressure on the local teenagers.
I went to one of the most popular teen hang outs. It was a small restaurant located next to a public park in Seaside. The local kids would assemble in groups at that location, especially on Friday and Saturday nights. I got a hold of the north end Deputy and requested his assistance. He then accompanied me to the teen hang out. The group of teenagers gathered there just looked at us when we drove up in a marked patrol car. I told the uniformed deputy to stop his patrol car in the middle of the parking lot, where all the kids were just standing about.
I exited the marked patrol car and yelled out to the teenagers who were all staring at us.
"Hey guys, come over here, I need to talk to you. I need to talk to all of you."
I waved my hands in a motioning fashion, as the groups of kids started to walk toward us. There were about forty teenagers and young adults in all. They consisted of boys and girls ranging in age from sixteen to twenty-one. I identified myself as a sergeant with the Kingston County Sheriff's Office. I informed them that I had been assigned the task of investigating and arresting those involved in the Seaside burglaries. I told them that I believed one of them, or their friends, was involved in the burglaries. I advised them that I needed their help in solving the crimes. I then continued informing them that from this moment on, until the burglaries were solved, none of them would get any breaks. Anyone involved in even minor infractions would be arrested. I explained to them that the police would be watching their every move and coming down with a hard hand on them until the burglaries were solved.

There was one guy in the group who became mouthy toward me as I spoke to the crowd. I directed my attention to the uniformed officer with me. I told him verbally in front of the group of kids, to go over and "frisk" the mouthy guy. I then told him if the guy doesn't shut up, to arrest him for obstructing justice. The subject causing a scene became even louder. He began screaming that he had rights and we had no business bothering him and his friends. The deputy contacted the individual and attempted to "pat " him down. The subject resisted and had to be restrained. He was arrested for obstructing and resisting. In police work, one of the tools an officer has to work with is a law called "obstructing justice." If an individual interferes with a police officer while that officer is acting in his official capacity, the person interfering can be arrested for obstructing justice.
I used the arrest as an example to the rest of those present. I advised the group to tell their friends that from this moment on there was "zero tolerance" to any violations. It would remain that way until the burglaries were solved. I then passed out my business cards, advising each of them that if anyone came forward with information, I would protect them and keep their identity confidential.
Over the course of the next couple of weeks, every teenager that was caught speeding or with alcohol on their breath or, for that matter, doing anything that they were not supposed to do, was arrested. The patrol deputies handed out my business cards to everyone they came in contact with. Teenage parties were broken up and those present were arrested. Normally, the deputies would break up the parties and tell the kids to go home without arresting anyone.
After a couple of weeks of pressure placed on the local teenagers, it began to pay off. I began receiving information on individuals who were committing crimes. I began to solve burglaries and other crimes on a daily basis.
It came down to the last week before my thirty days in detectives were up. I had cleared more than forty burglaries and arrested over a dozen people. Yet, I still was not any closer to solving the Seaside burglaries than I was when I started. To make matters even worse, the burglaries to occupied homes in the Seaside area were still occurring a couple of nights a week. I was rather frustrated over the entire matter.
Just as time was running out, I got the break that I had been searching for with the arrest of a young man. I arrested a subject who had been breaking into boats at the marina. He was stealing fishing equipment. This individual was a nineteen-year-old man by the name of Bobby Kemp. He confessed to his crimes and was cooperative, assisting me in recovering all the items that he had stolen. The young man then informed me that he knew who was committing the Seaside burglaries. He advised he would help me get this individual if I would help him with the charges against him. Bobby was on probation for a prior theft conviction and this new charge would send him to prison.
I went to the Prosecutor's office and talked to one of the deputy prosecutors. I explained the situation to him and we worked out a deal for Bobby. The deal was, if Bobby cooperated completely with me in my investigation, the prosecutor would recommend restitution and probation on the theft charges against Bobby. I then went back to Bobby with the deal. He was pleased with the arrangement especially since it would keep him out of prison. He then informed me who was doing the Seaside burglaries.
He told me there was a guy named John Gleason who went by the name of "THE EEL." This guy, had an eel tattooed on his right forearm. Gleason took pride in the fact that he could slip into peoples' homes, while they were sleeping and take whatever he wanted. He would brag that he was "THE EEL." Bobby then continued advising that there was a guy named Jack Webber. Webber would fence all the stuff that Gleason would steal. Webber lived on Trinity Island and his home supposedly was full of stolen merchandise. Bobby turned over a stereo set to me which he said was stolen in one of the Seaside burglaries. He had recently purchased the stereo from Jack Webber.
I ran a check on the serial numbers from the stereo through the National Crime Information Center and it came back with a hit. The computer advised it was in fact stolen in one of the Seaside burglaries. I went to the prosecutor's office once again and was able to obtain a search warrant for Jack Webber's residence from the information Bobby supplied me plus confirmation of the stereo being stolen.
The next morning, just at daylight, a team of detectives and I executed the search warrant on Webber's residence. His house was located in a quiet country setting on the east end of Trinity Island. Webber was still sleeping when we stormed into his house and took him into custody. The house was full of stolen merchandise, just as Bobby had stated.
I interviewed Jack Webber. He admitted fencing stolen items for John Gleason. It was the first time Jack had ever been arrested and he was scared. He volunteered to cooperate with my investigation. He informed me that "THE EEL" planned to break into another residence this evening in the Seaside area. He advised that Gleason had been staking out this residence for the past week and planned to hit it around midnight tonight.
I ran the new information past Chief Logan. It was decided that I would take a team of detectives and stake out the residence. We hoped to catch Gleason in the act of committing the crime. I contacted the intended victim and advised him his home was being targeted for a burglary. He was extremely cooperative and opened his home up to us so that we could apprehend the suspect. I arranged for the home owner and his family to stay at a motel for the night. Meanwhile, two detectives and I moved into the residence. We found a location in the house to sit and wait for "THE EEL" to make his entrance.
Midnight came and went, but still there was not a sign of the suspect. One a.m. came and went as well, yet "THE EEL" never showed. Around two-thirty a..m., our patience paid off. The suspect slipped the lock to the back door and entered the residence. We jumped him and were able to take him into custody without incident. He was then transported to the Sheriff's office.
I explained in detail to Gleason all of the evidence that we had against him including the recovered stolen property from Jack Webber's residence. He decided to come clean and confess to all the burglaries he committed in the Seaside community over the past three months. John Gleason was a twenty-one-year-old man who had already spent two years of his life in prison for burglary. He originally went to prison shortly after his eighteenth birthday and had only been released from prison six months ago. He had grown up in Seaside and knew the area well.
I asked him why he committed the burglaries?
His response was, "I did it just for the excitement of it."
The greatest reward I received for solving the Seaside crimes was my own self-satisfaction, satisfaction that I was able to solve the burglaries and do so within the thirty days I was given. I also felt good knowing I was able to give the people of Seaside some "peace of mind" once again. They were again safe in their own homes.
I finally was able to take a couple of days off. I slept most of the first day. The next morning I felt somewhat rested. My wife got me up and we took our children to church. To our surprise, we were warmly greeted and congratulated by the congregation for solving the Seaside burglaries. After church we made it a family day. The four of us played games and just enjoyed being together.
When I returned to work, I had three days left of my thirty-day assignment to detectives. I spent those three days getting all the paper work and reports done on the arrests which I had made over that period of time. Attempting to separate all the recovered stolen property into groups of what belonged to whom was a paperwork nightmare.
My last day in detectives finally arrived. I was just finishing up the last of the paper work on the burglaries when Sheriff Johnston and Chief Logan walked into my office and shut the door. "We would like to get your input into a problem we have been discussing,"
Sheriff Johnston remarked.
Chief Logan nodded his head in agreement with Sheriff Johnston as they both sat down in my office. I stopped what I was doing and looked up at them. They both appeared intense.
Sheriff Johnston began to speak.
"There is this organized crime group which operates topless clubs in six different states. They are heavily connected to drugs and prostitution. We just learned that they have applied for a license to open a topless club here in Kingston County. The license is going to be approved, basically because we have no legal grounds to refuse to issue the license. They plan to open the club sometime in the middle of June, 1982. The people involved have already picked out a location for the club and have signed a lease on the building they are going to use. It's an old restaurant and bar located in the Wintergreen Community. The building is right by the highway junction, you probably know the place I'm speaking about. Here's what we want. We would like to put a deputy undercover to infiltrate the organization when it starts its operation here. The problem is, we don't know who we could put undercover that is willing and capable of doing the job. We thought we might go over the deputies' list with you and get your input as to who would be the right person to do the job."
I told both the Sheriff and Chief that I would be happy to go over the list with them. We spent the entire afternoon going over each and every name on the list, one deputy at a time. Some were too old and some of the deputies were too young. Others lacked the ability to act independently and were in constant need of supervision. Then there were other deputies, whose independence could easily get them in over their heads. Some of the deputies were too naive or else portrayed themselves too much like cops. One by one, we went through the list of the more than seventy officers employed by the Sheriff's Office. We could not use the ones that we all agreed had the ability to do the job. They had all grown up in the county and were too well known by the locals in the community. Come the end of the day, we were no further along than we were when we started.
I made a comment. "I could probably do it, if you wanted me to. It would most likely be exciting and kind of fun, besides I would get a lot of satisfaction out of it if I were successful."
I paused, Sheriff Johnston and Chief Logan looked at each other.
I then continued. "The only problem is, my expertise is in burglary investigations. I really don't know much of anything about drugs."
Chief Logan responded. "I would feel comfortable with you handling the investigation. I trust your instincts. You know people and how to deal with them."
I thanked him for his comment and then stated.
"But, if I agree to do this, I want to be in control of how I do it. The only way that I will be able to be successful in infiltrating this organization is if I do it my way. I can't be pressured or be put in the position that I have to perform how others want me to. I mean, it has to look natural, so I have to do it my way."
I paused. They both looked at me. I continued.
"I really don't know how I will do it, or if I will be any good. I'll just have to figure it out as I go. If you want me to, I will. Like I said however, you'll have to trust me."
"We trust you." Sheriff Johnston responded.
"Yea, there's no problem there." Chief Logan remarked. The chief then continued.
"I believe the Sheriff will agree with me that after going over the list of deputies, our best chance of getting into this organization is you. And if you're willing to make the sacrifice, we will support you 100% and give you the freedom you need to get the job done."
Sheriff Johnston nodded his head in agreement.
"Well, then, I guess that I'll give it a try. I can't give you any guarantees other than to tell you that I will do my best."
Both Sheriff Johnston and Chief Logan acknowledged that they knew I would do my best and that they were pleased with my decision to take on the task.
I didn't give it much thought at the time, however, later when I had a chance for it all to sink in, I believe I was actually set up. Neither Sheriff Johnston nor Chief Logan really wanted my input on which deputy would be right for the job. Their intentions from the beginning were to get me to agree to take the job. I was "conned," but really didn't mind. In fact, I considered it a compliment that they had enough confidence in me to allow me the opportunity to go undercover. The job they were assigning to me was what is referred to as "deep cover." Working "deep cover," is separating yourself and actually severing all ties with the police department, except for occasional telephone calls or out of the way meetings with one designated contact person. You operate alone and totally independent from the department. The single scariest part is that you function without a safety net. For the most part, no one knows where you are or what you are doing. You have absolutely no one to back you up or to protect you if something goes wrong. It was going to be interesting, to say the least. I was kind of looking forward to the challenge in a reluctant sort of way. The truth of the matter was, I really had no idea what I was getting myself involved in.