JUMPING THE GUN

Maybe it wasn't another Waco or even a Ruby Ridge. But an incident in New
York City in which a U.S. marshal, who had previously been accused of
brutality in a beating incident, shot a 17yearold high school boy after
mistaking a candy bar for a gun suggests that federal law enforcement
agencies are still more armed and dangerous than is healthy.

The full story is still emerging,but what is known to date is that Marshal
William Cannon and a partner were in an unmarked car in Queens, serving as
backup for other agents seeking a fugitive in a 1983 drug case. Andre
Burgess,a high school soccer player, was walking by with a Three Musketeers
candy bar,wrapped in silver foil. Marshal Cannon thought it was a gun, leaped
out of the car and shot the boy in the leg.

The two tell different versions. Marshal Cannon says he yelled "U.S.
marshals, drop the gun, "and shot only after the boy turned toward him with
the object still in his hand. Andre Burgess says he just heard a voice ring
out"Hey you, "or"Hold it"(not"police"or"freeze")and he was shot before he
turned around.

Queens district attorney Richard Brown indicated Monday that the case would
be submitted to a grand jury for possible indictment.

Marshal Cannon, 30, was acquitted in 1994 of assaulting a prisoner with a
leadfilled leather pouch, known as a slapjack, and covering up the incident
after two other deputy marshals who said they had helped him testified
against him. The witnesses were dismissed from the Marshals Service, while
Mr. Cannon was cleared after an administrative review.

Many questions remain, which will, with any luck, be answered if judicial
action is forthcoming. The case, however, spotlights the growing involvement
of an increasing number of federal law enforcement personnel in
questionable incidents.

Quietly, over the past two decades, the number of federal law enforcement
agents has grown until they now make up 10 percent of all police in the
country. People in more than 70 agencies are now authorized to carry weapons
and make arrests. Recent concern about terrorism led Congress to allocate
another billion dollars to fighting it, but General Accounting office
says, with 40 agencies cobbling together antiterrorism programs, nobody has
any idea how much is being spent, let alone whether the money is being spent
effectively.

It might turn out that Marshal Cannon was perfectly justified in shooting
Andre Burgess. Even if that's the case, however, a critical review of federal
law enforcement personnel and policies is overdue. Congress should put such
scrutiny at the top of its agenda when it returns next year.