By The Associated Press
ROANOKE, Va. (AP) -- Five people who stood before a Roanoke judge -- then lost the privilege to drive -- walked out of the courthouse and got behind the wheel of a vehicle.
None thought twice about the men in plain clothes who followed them outside until they were stopped and arrested.
Roanoke Police Department’s new Street Crimes Unit strikes again.
Court compliance may not seem like a job for the unit, created primarily to focus on drug hot spots and other high-crime areas. But according to Sgt. Todd Clingenpeel, who leads the 3-month-old unit, they’ve evolved to perform a wide range of operations.
“We’re kind of a little resource for everybody,” he said.
Besides Clingenpeel, the unit consists of five officers with a long list of qualifications. Clingenpeel asked that they not be identified by name to protect their undercover work and personal lives.
Their backgrounds include training in canine handling, tactical response and drug interdiction. Two are police academy instructors, two are described as “really good street cops,” two have vice and narcotics experience, and at least one has worked with the department’s Community Oriented Policing Effort.
The unit has spent much of the past three months training, but also has made 51 drug arrests and 94 other arrests. Officers have recovered 13 illegal firearms. They also have seized drugs or money 53 times, worth a combined $58,785.
The unit uses a range of different police strategies and works with just about every other unit in the department. Clingenpeel said he would like to elaborate on the unit’s undercover operations because he is proud of his officers’ work, but he fears saying more could place them in danger.
“I really don’t want to give up a lot of secrets because if that ever got out, it would make our job a heck of a lot harder,” he said.
One tactic he would discuss is community involvement. Street Crimes officers make sure to talk with members of high-crime communities to learn the origin of problems and how they might reduce crime. Clingenpeel said community-based policing allows the unit to be proactive rather than reactive.
“Ours is different than other street crime units. A lot of those are operated out of criminal intelligence, vice or criminal investigations units,” he said. “We take an active role in the community.”
The unit has so far attended 10 community meetings and conducted 11 community surveys, police said. The surveys are conducted door-to door-in areas with problems.
Although one purpose of the unit was to focus on “group criminal activity,” which some might interpret as gangs, Clingenpeel says there has been no evidence of gangs in Roanoke so far. Still, he said, the Street Crimes Unit is trained and ready to battle problems like the ones Staunton and Lynchburg have recently had.
“When it does come and we start to have really big problems with it, we’re ready,” he said. “We’re kind of laying in wait.”