Sheriff Plans Invasion of Drug Areas

Officials in Clayton County have intensified their efforts in the war on drugs. Sheriff Victor Hill announced he is planning an invasion into drug-infested communities.

The ACLU said the question of whether or not the so-called invasion is legal, is a troubling one for them.

Deputies have identified five known drug houses, that they want to investigate. Thursday night, deputies set up a road block, and checked each car coming into or out of the street in question for drugs.

The operation has been dubbed Operation Jericho. Mobile police checkpoints have been set up outside suspected drug houses in the neighborhood. Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill said the plan is to occupy suspected drug territories with deputies -- one house, one location at a time.

Hill said the deputies will be stationed outside a suspected drug house every day until it moves out or shuts down before moving on to the next location.

Hill said the conventional method of warrants and arrests are not working, and that military-like occupation of deputies is necessary.

But the move doesn't come without controversy.

The director of the ACLU said Hill has no legal grounds, and the occupation and intimidation are not warranted, as a result of lack of evidence to make an arrest.

"You can get a warrant," said Debbie Seagraves of the ACLU. "You don't need to have a military occupation. If there are drug sales going on in a home, and you have probable cause to believe it, a judge will issue you a warrant, and you will go in and arrest the sellers and the buyers, and they will be gone."

"The war on drugs in Clayton County, as in most jurisdictions, I liken it to the Vietnam War," Hill said. "Hit and miss, there is no clear win -- we don't know if we're gaining ground or not. What we want to do is we want to change our strategy. We want to make this more like a Normandy invasion."

The sheriff said information about the drug houses came from local residents. The ACLU's warning points to the Kathryn Johnston case in Atlanta, saying police cannot solely rely on informants for warrants, and that is the troubling issue about Hill's tactics.