Mr. McCAHEY. Well, in the great majority, we are at the street level pusher.

Mr. PERITO. It might be helpful for the committee to refer to the chart Mr. Tendy used. Would you point out to the committee your law enforcement endeavors aim at in the narcotics structure?

Mr. McCAHEY. Well, of course we would try to go up to your mill or factory level. That would be the ultimate, and then, of course, into the retailer, but from your addict pusher on the street, there is an attempt made in covering the buy operations to possibly survey and find out where he goes back to get-who would be his distributor-in other words, who gives him his bundles or loads and then an attempt to go back up to the mill or the factory.

But our main concentration at the present time would be at your addict pusher with emphasis on the distributors, if we are able to get them.

But the most vulnerable in that chart there as you well know is your addict pusher. Your distributor may give these out at 6 o'clock in the morning at a different location, in a car, so it takes good information and surveillance to come up with a good distributor, a man that has six or eight pushers out there working for him.

Mr. PERITO. Inspector, are you hampered by the lack of proper manpower to do the job? For example, undercover agents working in certain areas, let's say in the Bronx combined with a street patrol force? Would it be helpful if your manpower was increased?

Mr. McCAHEY. Our undercover is not even known to the street patrol force, so that all the operations on undercover would be working for narcotics.

Mr. PERITO. But they are a part of the narcotics squad?

Mr. McCAHEY. Yes, sir.

Mr. PERITO. Well, my question is, are you hampered, insofar as enforcement is concerned, even at that level?

Mr. McCAHEY. Well, this was in line with the statement I made before the commissioner at that time-he requested 2,000 more men and the department had a plan whereby they were going to assign units and intelligence units within the detective structure, the entire detective division, and at that time he did ask for some Federal and State funds.

If I may add this, that I feel that that is one of the points that should be emphasized in the New York City Police Department, that our main hope right now, is that if we can continue a sustained aggressive attack, at the pusher, the street level, the distributor, that is the best contribution that local law enforcement can make at this particular time. If we make it as unprofitable and as hot as possible out there, we may discourage an awful lot of people that take the place of those

we arrest.

Mr. PERITO. Mr. Durkin preceded you in testifying and he was asked by the chairman about the problem of internal corruption which Mr. Durkin reported had, to the best of his knowledge, been rooted out. Have you had a similar problem in your agency?

Mr. McCAHEY. I have not had a problem. I imagine by that you mean a unit extension problem.

Mr. PERITO. This is precisely what I am referring to, Inspector.

Mr. MCCAHEY. Occasionally, unfortunately, from time to time, individual incidents have arisen.

Mr. PERITO. But, can you say the same thing that Mr. Durkin has stated here, that to the best of your knowledge, the 700 agents in the narcotics squad are beyond reproach?

Mr. McCAHEY. Unequivocally, and I certainly believe it, sir.

Mr. PEPPER. Mr. Fleming, one of our special counsels, would like to ask a question, please.

Mr. FLEMING. Officer, are the standards of probable cause to arrest and search a problem for narcotics enforcement men in New York? Mr. McCAHEY. They are sophisticated, sir, and it does require quite a degree of training in order to become aware of them.

Mr. FLEMING. You are aware of the expanded right to search posed by the U.S. Customs Bureau aren't you?

Mr. McCAHEY. Yes, sir.

Mr. FLEMING. In line with that, when the New York City Police Department obtains information with regard to major importation of heroin or other hard narcotics, does it provide that information to the Customs Bureau as a matter of practice?

Mr. McCAHEY. When we obtain information of importation, sir? Mr. FLEMING. That is right; major importation of hard narcotics. Mr. McCAHEY. I don't recall one instance where we were aware of such information, but if we were, we would provide it to them.

Mr. FLEMING. Well, in your statement, you say that included in these arrests and I assume that is in 1969-were 17 major wholesalers and 133 factory operators, resulting in the seizure of approximately 380 pounds of heroin; is that correct?

Mr. McCAHEY. Yes, sir.

Mr. FLEMING. On any of those cases did the police department have knowledge of the importation of the heroin?

Mr. McCAHEY. No, sir.

Mr. FLEMING. When you do have such knowledge you do bring it to the attention of the Customs Bureau; is that right?

Mr. McCAHEY. We would cooperate with the Customs in an investigation of that nature; yes, sir.

Mr. FLEMING. In your figures, you state that in 1969 there were a total of 35,178 arrests in New York for violations of the narcotics laws.

Mr. McCAHEY. Yes, sir.

Mr. FLEMING What percentage of those arrests were addicts?

Mr. McCAHEY. The admitted amount was one-third felonies and one-third in the misdemeanor category admitted to being addicts. I would say it is much higher.

Mr. FLEMING. Would you say a majority of them are addicts? Mr. McCAHEY. Yes, sir.

Mr. FLEMING. Would you say also that the average seizure upon arrest, that is taking your figure, 35,178 arrests, that the average seizure would be less than an ounce?

Mr. McCAHEY. Yes, sir.

Mr. FLEMING. Now, with regard to citizens' complaints as to the narcotics traffic, if the citizen complained to the precinct, does the precinct forward that complaint to the narcotics bureau?

Mr. McCAHEY. No, sir. If I may qualify it, it would depend on the complaint. If the complaint is made to the precinct and it is a complaint that the desk officer feels requires patrol, it would then be given to patrol.

If the desk officer figures it would require surveillance by people in civilian clothes, he would then in all probability go to the detective squad which is upstairs in the same building.

Now, if the detective squad feels the narcotics division should get it, they could make the determination. However, there have been instances where desk officers have recognized that certain information was of a top level variety and they would give it to us, but the normal practice is, if the complaint is made to the precinct, if it is able to be handled by the uniformed people, it would be. And if not, it would be sent up to the squad.

Mr. FLEMING. Would you say that a majority of citizens' complaints made to the precinct are handled on the precinct level?

Mr. McCAHEY. I would say yes.

Mr. FLEMING. Would that be a great majority of the complaints? Mr. McCAHEY. Yes.

Mr. FLEMING. And that determination is made by someone at the precinct?

Mr. McCAHEY. By the lieutenant on the desk.

Mr. FLEMING. Where the decision is made to handle the complaint on a precinct level, is that information, that decision, forwarded to

the narcotics bureau?

Mr. McCAHEY. No, sir.

Mr. FLEMING. It would be fair to say that of all citizen's complaints, the narcotics bureau is aware of only a small percentage? Mr. McCAHEY. Of what occurs at the local level; yes, sir.

Mr. FLEMING. Well, I would assume that most complaints occur at the local level.

Mr. MOCAHEY. Well, the narcotics division has a number that we publish widely and to date we have telephones that are manned 24 hours a day, and to date there have been approximately 6,000 calls that have come direct to the narcotics division.

Mr. FLEMING. Well, in your opinion, Officer, based upon the way in which these complaints are handled as you have testified, in your opinion are a majority of the complaints made by citizens with regard to narcotics traffic unknown to the narcotics bureau because they have been handled on the precinct level?

Mr. McCAHEY. I would say that the complaints themselves, the individual complaints, are not known. We have a captain assigned to each borough unit which is comparable to the boroughs that are broken down.

What usually happens in a precinct, if they get a location, if they are consistently getting complaints on from the public and that is the average type of complaint that goes into the precinct-there are addicts hanging around the park, addicts in a particular hallway, something along that line they invariably will contact the narcotics division to go in there and make some buys in order to try to move this out.

Mr. FLEMING. But under the existing system you would not know about that?

Mr. McCAHEY. We would not know the details of the individual complaints they get.

Mr. FLEMING. If they don't ask for assistance, you would have no knowledge?

Mr. McCAHEY. Absolutely.

Mr. FLEMING. Is the same true with corruption complaints, that is, the procedures followed?

Mr. McCAHEY. Well, the corruption complaints could come in anyplace. Of course, if it comes to me, then I would have to make an evaluation of that and pass it on to my superiors. I would go to the chief of detectives.

Of course, if it is a preliminary complaint I may conduct a preliminary investigation. A person can go to the district attorney, the internal securities above us, in which case we would not even know that a complaint is made or an investigation is being conducted.

Mr. FLEMING. Make the the assumption that a complaint of corruption with regard to a narcotics squad detective is made to the precinct. Would that complaint be forwarded to the narcotics bureau?

Mr. McCAHEY. That would then come under the provisions of our civilian complaint review board. That would be made to the desk officer and it would be recorded on the form and then, of course, the civilian complaint review board does not investigate corruption. The chief officer would then be made aware of it, and it would be his determination as to who would investigate it.

Mr. FLEMING. Where there is a complaint of corruption on the precinct level, that is, of a patrolman and that complaint is made to the precinct, what is done with that information?

Mr. McCAHEY. That would be handled substantially the same way, sir. Since with the civilian complaint review board, there is a form 245, and if a person comes in, they make this report to the lieutenant on the desk. The lieutenant hands them the complaint and they write it out in their handwriting. A certain number of copies of that are prepared. When you get into corruption, that then becomes a chief officer's investigation. It would either be conducted by one of the super units downtown, one of those, the chief's office or the police commissioner's or the first deputy's office would conduct that. If it is a civilian complaint, which is abuse of authority, unnecessary use of force, and so forth, that would then go to our civilian complaint review board, but it would be the same regardless of who was the subject of the complaint, if it were made at the precinct level.

Mr. FLEMING. Does the precinct ever conduct its own investigation of corruption complaints?

Mr. McCAHEY. Not under this; no, sir.

Mr. PEPPER. Commissioner, would you be kind enough to step aside until we hear one other witness here? I would like you to be here when the witness testifies.

Mr. Butler, will you come forward, please?

Mr. Butler, who is now about to testify, is a certified engineer and worked as an engineer in his profession before becoming director of the Community Planning Boards of the President of the Borough of the Bronx.

We had an opportunity to talk to Mr. Butler the other day and were very much impressed by his knowledge of the situation in the South Bronx. We would welcome your statement, Mr. Butler.

STATEMENT OF BERNARD E. BUTLER, DIRECTOR, COMMUNITY PLANNING BOARDS, OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, BOROUGH OF THE BRONX-Resumed

Mr. BUTLER. Good morning, gentlemen.

Mr. Chairman, I have two prepared statements which I would rather not read, but I would ask that they be attached to the record. Mr. PEPPER. Without objection, your prepared statements will be inserted in the record at the end of your remarks and you may summarize them or make any oral comments that would you care to make. Mr. BUTLER. The problem of narcotics addiction and control has been developed by testimony from many witnesses appearing before this committee. The analogy drawn by the district attorney of Bronx County is not only apt but is most accurate. We as a society are involved in a fight to deal with a virulent, highly infectious, communicable disease. The South Bronx is infected. The infection has progressed to the point where I am not sure if the process can be reversed. Every facet of human life and behavior in this area is to some degree controlled by the impact of narcotics addiction. The lives of the people in the South Bronx, the families, the schools, business, industry, housing, health services, sanitation, yes, even law enforcement is changed to allow for the presence of drugs, narcotics, and addiction.

The results of this infection can be seen, felt, heard, and tasted in the fear, in the frustrations, in the hopelessness of the people. This is, in fact, a disaster area. It is not normal, and it is unjust to ask that any person be forced to live, be asked to raise a family, to educate children, to work in this environment. Families disintegrate, children are not educated, the economic level is lowered, doors are always locked, windows are barred, houses and homes are looted, buildings are burned out. These are the results of drug addiction.

I submit that a massive effort must be put forth at all levels of government to combat this disease. If a biological threat to the health and welfare of a community is discovered, we waste no time nor do we spare any effort to deal with the problem. We have the capability to execute a war half way across the world, we have the determination to place a man on the moon, yet, we do not seem to have the desire to place the same emphasis on a problem that could very well destroy society as we know it.

The question can well be asked as to what the Federal Government can do to assist in the fight. I think the first step has been taken. When the members of this committee visited the South Bronx, and came in physical contact with the people who live with this every day, then I have increased hope that you gentlemen can bring back to Washington a true picture of the effects of drug addiction on the people of a community.

I further suggest that at the national level the same coordinated effort must be demanded as we have used in our space program. We not only must stop the flow of narcotics, we must not only improve the local law enforcement, we must not only improve the handling of violators and perpetrators in the courts, but we must also coordinate the totality of rehabilitation programs. We must coordinate the educational processes, we must encourage private industry to build residences, day-care centers, community facilities, we must provide incentives to private industry to locate in these areas.