A large portion of just about every police department and law enforcement agency is spent on the so-called war on drugs. Although the success of this war has been debated for years, it still continues.
The crack cocaine “epidemic” that started in the eighties brought drug use and trafficking to a new level in the United States, resulting in policies that increased the proportion of money spent to fight drug dealing and use. In recent years, the rise in heroin use threatens to do the same thing.
Since drug use and trafficking affect every community, local law enforcement agencies have to address the problem in their precincts. Monetary, manpower, information, and expertise resources are hard to come by. To address these deficiencies, task forces have been created that combine the efforts of local, state, and federal agencies.
For example, the Atlanta Police Department has a page on their website called “Special Enforcement.” This page lists a number of special programs that department is participating in, one of which is called the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program. According to the website, this program, also referred to as HIDTA, “is a task force of local, state, and federal officers charged with investigating drug trafficking.”
HIDTA is also active in many other cities. It is specialized in the sense that it was created for a specific purpose and to accomplish a specific goal. Unlike a lot of other police work, which is conducted in reaction to a one-time crime (such as a murder or robbery) many drug investigations are an ongoing process, not just a solution to one case.
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