We want to thank Infomatics for their kindness in allowing us to use these facilities during our hearing.

The next witness will be Mr. John P. McCahey.

Will you have a seat? The committee is pleased to welcome Deputy Chief Inspector John McCahey, who is in charge of narcotics enforcement in the New York City Police Department.

Officer McCahey attended City College of New York and Brooklyn Law School, and is admitted to the New York bar. He was appointed to the police department on October 1, 1949, and has had a wide and varied experience in enforcement.

In June of 1969, Officer McCahey was appointed deputy chief officer in charge of the narcotics bureau of the New York City Police Department.

Chief McCahey will testify with regard to narcotics enforcement by the New York City Police Department and the problems faced in

that area.

We are pleased to have you, Mr. McCahey, and we will welcome your statement.

STATEMENT OF JOHN P. McCAHEY, DEPUTY CHIEF INSPECTOR IN CHARGE OF NARCOTICS, NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT

Mr. McCAHEY. The narcotics division of the New York City Police Department is presently comprised of 700 trained and experienced police officers who are knowledgeable concerning the patterns of the unlawful drug traffic. This represents an increase of 400 members of the force assigned during the last year.

In order to reduce the quantity of dangerous drugs available for illegal use now in this city, the narcotics division concentrates its efforts on the task of reaching the persons in the upper echelons of illicit narcotic traffic sellers, dealers, factory men, and importers. The existence of this specialized unit, however, does not and has not relieved any member of the force from his sworn responsibility to enforce the law.

In operational order, SOP 4, the police commissioner clearly emphasized this point by stating that the enforcement of dangerous drug laws is not the sole responsibility of the narcotics division or the detective bureau. He stated that it was the responsibility of every member of the force to effect the arrest of any person who violates a dangerous drug statute. He further directed that all members of the force carefully observe and report any place or person suspected of violating these laws and he stressed that it was the primary responsibility of every commanding and supervisory officer, regardless of assignment, to instruct his subordinates and make certain that they are aware of their responsibilities in this vital area.

As a result of the total involvement of all members of the department in narcotic enforcement, arrests for violation of the drug laws for the year 1969 totaled 35,178, a 56.8-percent increase over the 22,428 persons arrested in 1968. This increase is continuing in 1970; during the first 3 months of this year, dangerous drugs arrests increased 74.8 percent, 13,428 compared to 7,684 for 1969.

The narcotics division has effected to date this year 6,717 felonies and 1,470 misdemeanors, representing a 120-percent increase over this period in 1969. Included in these arrests were 17 major wholesalers and 133 factory operators resulting in the seizure of approximately 380 pounds of heroin to date.

To effect an ever-increasing interest in the dangerous drug traffic, narcotic review boards have been organized in every borough command of our department. The purpose of this is to coordinate the efforts of all of the local borough units and thereby emphasize the problem by this local control. This brings together the local precinct commanders, detective commanders, superior officers assigned to youth aid units within the borough, and the commanding officers of all other police units operating within the borough.

This order also expands the educational program of the department with respect to dangerous drug problems by making the field personnel of the narcotics division available for informational programs on a limited basis. The major thrust of this program will be in the schools.

Parenthetically, the New York City Police Department has presently assigned to the Special Federal City Narcotic Task Force 30 officers and superiors and the narcotic division has been coordinating its efforts with the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs and the U.S. Bureau of Customs.

The police commissioner wishes me to express his best wishes to this committee for its efforts in this area of great mutual concern.

Mr. PEPPER. Mr. McCahey, do your figures relate only to offenses, the sale and possession of narcotics or heroin? I mean, the figures don't relate to incidental offenses committed by those under addiction or using drugs; do they?

Mr. McCAHEY. No, sir. These people would be charged with a violation of a dangerous drug law.

Mr. PEPPER. How much would you estimate that you would add to the number of persons arrested if you were to add, to the figures you have given us for those who have been arrested for a violation of the narcotics laws, those who are arrested for robberies and burglaries and muggings and homicides and other offenses attributable to the use by persons charged with narcotics, heroin?

Mr. McCAHEY. Well, the only way I can answer that, sir, is there was a survey conducted, if my memory serves me, of the arrests made last year. There was a survey conducted by our crime analysis unit, and if my memory serves me right, I think burglary, approximately 12 percent of those arrested for burglary were admitted narcotic addicts. I believe that there was a similar figure concerned with auto larceny. I know that the rape figure was very low, that there was a very small percentage of those arrested for rape.

Mr. PEPPER. We heard the prosecuting attorneys of narcotics cases here from the Bronx and from the New York County district attorney's office testify and, in one instance, the number of cases, narcotic cases, the cases in New York, 48 percent up to June 22 of this year, were narcotics cases.

Then he said that if you added to those the number of people who committed offenses attributable to the use of heroin, that you would

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run up 20-odd percent more-you would get up to 70 or 75 percent of the cases that that prosecuting attorney's office had to handle that were attributable, directly or indirectly, to the use of heroin.

Mr. McCAHEY. That is very possible, sir. I don't have that figure here. We concentrate mainly on narcotics arrests at the present time. Mr. PEPPER. So it looks like the greatest problem that the lawenforcement officers experience in the New York area is attributable to the use of heroin by people in this area, doesn't it?

Mr. McCAHEY. Yes, sir.

Mr. PEPPER. And that magnifies or puts in perspective the magnitude of the problem; doesn't it?

Mr. McCAHEY. Yes, sir.

Mr. PEPPER. Now we noticed, Mr. McCahey, that, in two instances, the representatives, Mr. Roberts, the narcotics prosecutor in the Bronx, and Mr. Andreoli from the New York office, both used the figure or rather made the suggestion or intimated that they were dealing primarily with the street cases. Then they corrected that and said they did deal with some large ones, but yet we are informed that the hard core of the organized crime crowd is primarily responsible for bringing heroin into this country and is centered in New York.

Now, have you been able to break up this gangster crowd that is primarily responsible, we are told, for bringing heroin into this country, or are they-is it difficult or impossible to get at them, or why is it that they can continue to operate?

Mr. McCAHEY. I wouldn't say that we have been able to break them. It is extremely difficult to effect arrests at the top level in the organized criminal group. The reason that we make the number of arrests that we do at the street level is because that is the most vulnerable person, that is the person that the people of the city of New York most complain about.

Mr. PEPPER. But what can we do to get at this hierarchy at the top those who are making most of the profit from this operation? With all the power of the Federal and State and local governments you say you are working together-what can we do to get at those people? Mr. McCAHEY. I think, sir, what it requires, these people can be arrested and they have been arrested. We have been fortunate in arresting some this year. However, it is a long, tedious job, and it requires time. I think that

Mr. PEPPER. Well, we have been working at it a good long while, haven't we?

Mr. McCAHEY. Yes, sir.

Mr. PEPPER. Do you think you need any additional power or authority or money, or what would be helpful to you? What could the Federal Government do to help you more?

Mr. McCAHEY. Well, one area, the police commissioner has in the past requested 2,000 additional men for the New York City area in order to concentrate on this problem. It is of that magnitude at the present time. There are 700 men directly that I command, that their exclusive time is devoted to narcotics enforcement and if you take the other arrests and break it down, that would account for about 500 or 600 more men, man-hours or man-years that would be devoted directly to the enforcement of narcotic laws.

Mr. PEPPER. Well, now, Mr. McCahey, we visited some sections of the city, some very poor sections of the city, where local people told us that the local police were not even trying to do anything about this narcotics problem, that burglary and robbery and mugging were rampant in the area. As a matter of fact, they intimated that the local people were asking graft, rather than trying to destroy the drug traffic that was in that community. Now, could that kind of a thing go on without your finding out about it?

Mr. McCAHEY. I would be aware of it, sir, if it were brought to my attention and necessary action is taken.

Now, in many of these instances, I have had this complaint and I have gone into these areas and I realized the problem of these people. What they have, they have a tremendous number of addicts in that area. We are able to go in and show them that we have made arrests of seller after seller. There is no law now and I don't think that there is any way of getting such a law in the future, where we could take a patrol wagon and just take everybody off the street and put them in that patrol wagon.

What we have to do in a narcotics investigation, to give the district attorney something to work with takes time. We have our officers that go in, get next to the people, make purchases of them; that's the only way you will get an arrest and get any case that will stay in court. Mr. PEPPER. Well, will you personally look into the situation in the South Bronx?

Mr. McCAHEY. Yes, sir; I will, sir.

Mr. PEPPER. Because we saw some very, very unsavory appearances there the other day when we went up there and certain other parts of the city, and checked up on it.

Mr. McCAHEY. Yes, sir; I will.

Mr. PEPPER. If you will, please, and I know there won't be any reprisal against any of the local people, of course.

Mr. McCAHEY. Absolutely.

Mr. PEPPER. But you check up on it personally in your own appropriate way, to see whether or not there is really enforcement in that

area.

Mr. McCAHEY. I will, sir.

Mr. DENNEY. Officer, on the second page of your statement, the second paragraph, you refer to some figures on felonies and misdemeanors. Are those arrests or were those prosecuted through to conclusion?

Mr. McCAHEY. That is total arrests, sir.

Mr. DENNEY. That is just arrests. Do you have any idea how many of them were convicted, say, in the felonies?

Mr. McCAHEY. In the felonies, I can't give on the 35,000 total, but it was approximately 4,300 felonies that were effected by the narcotics division last year between June and December.

Now, we were averaging in the felonies-of course this figure has to be modified a bit-we were getting about a 70-percent conviction rate, but that was say, with about 1,300 cases disposed of. The other cases for other reasons may run into problems, like the search warrant.

Mr. DENNEY. That is what I am trying to get at-is there a breakdown between the arrest and the successful prosecution of the offender?

Mr. McCAHEY. We do not get very many cases thrown out for no prime facie case originally.

You do have a problem. The buy case, what I refer to as the buy case, when the undercover officer is able to on two occasions purchase, on that we have a 99-percent conviction. After the indictment, there is no trial and they will usually "cop" to that particular one. If it is the results of observations or tailing or the result of a warrant, in practically every case, a warrant, they attempt to controvert it at some time in the proceedings.

Mr. DENNEY. Do you find any difference in the copping of a plea between the major trafficker and the pusher on the street?

Mr. McCAHEY. Yes, sir; well, the major trafficker

Mr. DENNEY. He hires an attorney and battles you, doesn't he?
Mr. McCAHEY. Yes, sir.

Mr. DENNEY. The pusher on the street comes in and pleads guilty, is that right?

Mr. McCAHEY. Well, I think it is because of the quality of the case, too, sir. The major trafficker we are very seldom able to buy and make a direct purchase from. Whereas, this particular person, it is a police officer that has purchased from him on two occasions.

Mr. DENNEY. Are court delays any problem to you?

Mr. McCAHEY. Well, the court, there is congestion, yes, and that is because of the increase in the volume of arrests, but it is not a major problem as far as my men losing time in court.

Mr. DENNEY. In other words, is it a problem as far as losing your evidence say a year or two later and not having the witnesses available when the case is finally set for trial?

Mr. MCCAHEY. There are very few cases in which we would use a witness other than a police officer, sir, so it doesn't affect us.

Mr. DENNEY. So that is not a problem?

Mr. McCAHEY. No, sir. There are very few times we could use anybody in court other than a police officer.

Mr. PERITO. Inspector McCahey, in 1969, what would you say was your average seizure of narcotics per arrest?

Mr. McCAHEY. That would be low, sir, because of the volume here I mean, we are able to account at this time for 380 pounds simply be cause we made a major seizure of 234 pounds about 2 months ago. Mr. PERITO. SO your average seizure per arrest is very small. Mr. McCAHEY. It would be, maybe-well, it would be small, yes,

sir.

Mr. PERITO. What would you estimate your average seizure to be, per arrest?

Mr. McCAHEY. Well, on the average buy-we go back and buy-say we buy three grain bags on two occasions, six grains. But I think another way of looking at it is, this man is pushing ounces. We can't get him with the ounces in his possession, because the buy operation is such that we do not make the arrest at the time of the buy. We make that separate in order to protect the identity of the undercover man. Mr. PERITO. So it would be fair to state that the seizure per arrest is generally very small?

Mr. McCAHEY. Yes, sir.

Mr. PERITO. So you can't conclude from your arrest record that you really are hitting at the high or middle echelon traffickers, isn't that fair to say?