FAIRFAX BOARD PLANS NEW WAR ON DRUG USE BY COUNTY'S YOUTH POLICE, SCHOOL
OFFICIALS ASKED FOR OPTIONS

Fairfax County supervisors instructed the police chief, county executive
and school superintendent yesterday to immediately prepare a new battle
plan to combat the growing problem of drug abuse by county youths.

Stationing police officers in middle schools and creating a new detective
squad specializing in arresting juvenile drug dealers and users are among
the options under consideration, supervisors said.

"It is shocking how prevalent drugs are among our youths and how easy it is
for them to buy them," said Supervisor Elaine N. McConnell (R-Springfield).
"And the public is just not aware how severe this problem is."

The board's actions came in response to a Washington Post report last month
detailing the dramatic growth in arrests of juveniles on drug charges and
the role of county youths as both consumers and dealers of drugs.

An estimated 12,000 county youths have received drug treatment in the last
four years. In the last year alone, 560 juveniles were arrested in Fairfax
and its independent towns for drug crimes, nearly 12 times as many as a
decade ago.

McConnell initiated yesterday's debate by suggesting that the county
immediately allocate $300,000 to hire five detectives to strengthen the
narcotics squad. But supervisors instead agreed to give the police chief,
in consultation with the county executive and school superintendent, a
chance to come up with his own plan.

"We have got to try to reach out to these kids before they become
entrenched in the drug culture," said Police Chief M. Douglas Scott. "Once
they are in it, it is like being in a gang; it is much harder to get them
out."

So far, Scott said, the police department has had a hard time combating the
problem. Placing an undercover officer in a school in 1995 produced limited
results, he said, in part because it is difficult to infiltrate the drug
network among county teenagers. And using a teenager as an undercover
informant is risky, Scott said.

Also, he said, the department has a policy of making arrests immediately
when officers find juveniles involved with drugs, instead of spending time
working up the chain in an attempt to arrest the dealers.

"It is a complex problem," Scott said. "If we had the answer, we could
bottle it and sell it across the nation."

Fairfax already has police officers stationed at each of its 23 high
schools and secondary schools, but supervisors and Scott agreed yesterday
that the county needs to consider putting officers in its 20 middle
schools, to reach students at the age when drug use often begins.

Scott also said he wants to find the money needed to maintain a gang task
force created in the last year, noting that gangs are often involved in
drugs. And he said he will consider proposing a new division of the
department's narcotics squad to investigate drug activity by young people,
a plan praised by the county board.

"We need a specialized team of trained professionals to focus on this
challenge," said Supervisor Robert B. Dix Jr. (R-Hunter Mill). "There is
clear evidence that the need is significant enough to justify the investment."

A $1.9 million federal grant will help finance expansion of the county's
anti-drug effort, officials said. The money will be used to help hire 25
police officers, adding to the current force of 1,077 and making it easier
to shift experienced patrol officers to specialized squads.

Supervisors yesterday also addressed two other threats to young people in
the county.

Dix announced that two alcohol wholesalers -- Guiffre Distributing Co., of
Springfield, and King Wholesale Inc., of Chantilly -- had donated $5,600 to
buy 28 pairs of goggles that simulate the effect of being drunk.

The goggles, one pair of which will go to each county high school, distort
the wearer's vision, making it all but impossible to walk a straight line,
as was demonstrated yesterday morning by Chairman Katherine K. Hanley (D),
who tried them out.

"You can't do this," Hanley said, nearly falling over as she tried to take
a step along a line that had been taped to the floor in the board chambers.
"It is unbelievable."

Also, the board voted to ask the General Assembly to pass legislation
allowing Fairfax to ban guns from its teen and recreation centers, as well
as the grounds that surround them.

A judge last month overturned a county regulation banning weapons in
Fairfax government buildings, ruling that Fairfax needed specific
legislative authority to adopt such a regulation. Five Democrats on the
county board said yesterday that they wanted to ask the legislature for the
power to ban weapons in all buildings, but Republicans successfully argued
that the request was too broad and would never win support in Richmond.

The Republicans -- joined by Democrat Gerald W. Hyland (Mount Vernon) --
also moved to amend the proposal to ensure that residents with permits for
concealed weapons would be exempt from a ban.

"That is probably the most that is going to get through the General
Assembly," said Supervisor Stuart Mendelsohn (R-Dranesville).

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