[Narkcop]

As a former Task Force Officer (6 1/2 years) that is now retired I am still amazed at the waste and mismanagement that went on at the DEA local resident office.

It was always hard to work with operational plans that wanted NO RISK whatsoever.

I get a kick out of the DEA tv show cause I'm here to tell you it wasn't like that where I worked. The RAC (resident agent in charge) was scared of his own shadow and on one buy/walk actually turned away from the target so that he wouldn't have to testify in court. We later jammed up a dirty cop who turned over thousands of dollars of drug money he was holding for a family member and I swear you would have thought we were the dirty cops the way the RAC treated us.

We managed to get one big marijuana bust (3,000 lbs. and nearly 2 million in cash) and it took him 3 weeks to say good job. He was mad because an ops plan wasn't done. All further work was scrutinized & micromanaged so much everyone just said screw it.

The office was built 3 years ago & is being rented for $15,000 a month! All the agents make in excess of $110,000 a year. There is a bonus system where management is awarded thousands of dollars for cases. It is a kingdom unto itself.

[IGotIt]

It does stink when you are trying to do a good job, but get no cooperation from those who are supposed to be spearheading the effort or at the least, helping out.

[Sharkey]

Having worked for city, county, and now a state agency, the amount of bureaucracy and risk aversion just seems to multiply. I can only imagine working for the Feds. That said, I'd take the six figure salary.

I've worked with some FBI and ATF guys before and no offense, but wasn't impressed.
I've worked with Marshals and SS before and have been impressed.

It is what it is I guess.

[series1811]

I used to tell people to remember that it is the federal government. Usually, people excell in spite of being part of the G, instead of because of being part of it.

The main thing is to work with the system you get, not the one you wish you had. I don't know anyone who doesn't wish there was less bureacracy. I don't know anyone who wishes there was more.

I worked for good bosses, mediocre bosses, pitiful bosses, and great bosses. The common denominator was always my work ethic and although I tried to not let the bad ones get me down sometimes, I would be lying if I said it never happened.

But, working against the system only makes you frustrated.

But, I laugh at the no-risk thing. There is some of that, now (probably wasn't enough of that when I started). We had an undercover and informant get robbed one day in a really bad part of town, with all the ensuing excitement that goes along with that kind of event. Later, in the ASAC's office, we were asked what we were doing in such a dangerous part of town. To her credit, our supervisor told the ASAC to get a map and circle the places he thought were too dangerous for us to go.

[Dragoon44]

Series1811 is the only one professional enough to comment on this thread.

[series1811]

Originally Posted by Dragoon44

Series1811 is the only one professional enough to comment on this thread.

Don't get me started.

[blueiron]

Government at every level wastes money, because they have a seemingly endless cashflow. The USG does it at a larger scale.

When I was there, the cowboys from BNDD were still in charge. Some were good, many were just reckless drunks. Now, they'll all gone and its the institutional government worker types that took over DoD, NASA, DoE, and every other agency.

Complaining? At least you didn't work for/around a corrupt fast tracking GS, thieving senior agents, and a SAC & ASAC who worried about the political ramifications of it all when I confronted them all about it.

DEA is an agency where the best and the brightest are at the bottom of the pile, doing a thankless job for cretins who steal, lie, and backstab their ways to the top.

[series1811]

Originally Posted by blueiron

When I was there, the cowboys from BNDD were still in charge. Some were good, many were just reckless drunks. .

Ain't that the truth. That's who were running things, along with a lot of the spooks, who sure weren't risk adverse, when I came on.

Stuff that was routinely done back then would get you fired quick today. We didn't even know what op plans were back then, and drunk every afternoon, wasn't just a slogan on a T-Shirt.

I knew the era was over when new agents started sneaking out early to go to the gym instead of to the bar.

[CAcop]

Our PD has an officer that works with our local ABC unit. For a lot time they had a boss who was lazy so our bars were out of control. It got bad enough the big man from SJ had to read the local boss the riot act. It got better for a year. Retirement was the unltimate problem solver.

No wonder you pulled the pin.

[Hummerbike]

A friend of mine worked with the DEA and said you could easily tell who the DEA agents were because they all wore Rolexes.

[Southswede]

Originally Posted by Narkcop

As a former Task Force Officer (6 1/2 years) that is now retired I am still amazed at the waste and mismanagement that went on at the DEA local resident office.

It was always hard to work with operational plans that wanted NO RISK whatsoever.

I get a kick out of the DEA tv show cause I'm here to tell you it wasn't like that where I worked. The RAC (resident agent in charge) was scared of his own shadow and on one buy/walk actually turned away from the target so that he wouldn't have to testify in court. We later jammed up a dirty cop who turned over thousands of dollars of drug money he was holding for a family member and I swear you would have thought we were the dirty cops the way the RAC treated us.

We managed to get one big marijuana bust (3,000 lbs. and nearly 2 million in cash) and it took him 3 weeks to say good job. He was mad because an ops plan wasn't done. All further work was scrutinized & micromanaged so much everyone just said screw it.

The office was built 3 years ago & is being rented for $15,000 a month! All the agents make in excess of $110,000 a year. There is a bonus system where management is awarded thousands of dollars for cases. It is a kingdom unto itself.

Same experiences as you. DEA= Don't Expect Anything

[Narkcop]

The funniest thing I heard before I left was when a local police chief told one of the agents " DEA is like the loch ness monster, I hear a lot about it but I never see it".

I can't believe the media has jumped on the bonus system in place where thousands of dollars are awarded to SAC's & ASAC's for OCDETF case's. They are VERY quiet about the cash awards.

[ateamer]

DEA = Drunk Every Afternoon


Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine

[lawman800]

My buddy got on DEA after 10 years of trying every local agency here with no luck. He says he sits around 28 days out of the month playing solitaire and then maybe goes out once to do something job related and then maybe once in a while, he'll do some interdiction missions with the National Guard along the border.

He's pretty bored... yeah.

[Narkcop]

I always made the RAC nervous because I wanted to work. I actually was responsible for over 1/2 of all activity on the enforcement group & he couldn't wait until I left. I guess stats don't matter anymore.

I had one case where I had a signed state search warrant for a stash house & ops plan in place & the RAC called me in & said I didn't have probable cause for my search warrant
AFTER the Judge had already signed the search warrant!!!!!! DEA for the most part promotes the worst and berates the best, at least in the Detroit Division.

[lawman800]

Originally Posted by Narkcop

I always made the RAC nervous because I wanted to work. I actually was responsible for over 1/2 of all activity on the enforcement group & he couldn't wait until I left. I guess stats don't matter anymore.

I had one case where I had a signed state search warrant for a stash house & ops plan in place & the RAC called me in & said I didn't have probable cause for my search warrant
AFTER the Judge had already signed the search warrant!!!!!! DEA for the most part promotes the worst and berates the best, at least in the Detroit Division.

It was pretty maddening to read all this and almost unbelievable until I got to the Detroit part... then it all made sense.

[series1811]

The thing with DEA is I see lots of guys come on thinking that they are going to be out doing street deals all day (and the Fox TV show "D.E.A." made it worse because it made it look like that was the job.

That was the job when I hired on, but it has evolved into something that's more a little slower paced, and geared towards working higher level violators (which is boring to some people, without a doubt).

I always likened it to the difference between hunting rabbits or hunting deer. Some people like going out and shooting all day and coming home with a bagful of rabbits, and some people like scouting and hunting all season to take one trophy buck. There is nothing wrong with either of those types of hunting. But, don't try and make a rabbit hunter into a trophy buck hunter, and don't try and make a trophy buck hunter into a rabbit hunter, because neither one is going to be happy.

If you like chasing one large drug organization for two years, spending all day debriefing some mope in jail and wringing him out, writing a ton of reports and other paperwork documenting it, sitting on surveillance for a week waiting for something to happen, writing telephone taps and listening to Title IIIs, and sitting in a command post while other agents go out and kick all the doors in on your case while you coordinate things, the modern DEA is for you.

If you like doing the stuff that is on TV like the series DEA, or COPS or other shows like that, do yourself a favor and get on a local narcotics squad, or an agrressive uniform crime control unit (there are DEA offices like that, but usually because they are run by people who don't have a clue how to set up an office to work cartels, or worse, are sure the cartels are not operating in their area).

Trying to fit round pegs into square holes, only frustrates the pegs and holes. Working for the G is frustrating enough already, without adding that to it.

[series1811]

But, I will add one point. I was a RAC when I retired, and over two groups, a TFO group and a HIDTA group. I recognized, that everyone in a while, guys needed to let off some steam.

So whenever I saw people getting to much office fever, I used to call up the guys in the worst town we had (where officers would be attacked and disarmed by gangs on several occassions) and we would just suit up and go do some "street enforcement." I used to sell it to my ASAC as informant development, but I would usually catch hell for it everytime we would do it because of wrecked cars, shootings, and whatever, that would occur from time to time.

But, even I thought it was fun.

[Dragoon44]

I was a RAC

What does RAC stand for?

Really Actually Crazy?

Restricted And Confined?

[blueiron]

Originally Posted by Dragoon44

What does RAC stand for?

Really Actually Crazy?

Restricted And Confined?

Now with the overarching concern over liability and what it means for a fast tracker, it means Repressed And Constipated.

[blueiron]

Series 1811 is spot on with his assessment. If you want action, DEA is not the place for you. If you enjoy the machinations of large scale investigations, then you'll fit in well.

[series1811]

Originally Posted by Dragoon44

What does RAC stand for?

Really Actually Crazy?

Restricted And Confined?

Real Ass**** in Chaos

[series1811]

Originally Posted by blueiron

Series 1811 is spot on with his assessment. If you want action, DEA is not the place for you. If you enjoy the machinations of large scale investigations, then you'll fit in well.

One of the stories they told at my retirement was about one of the days we went into the hellzone. We were looking for a guy to try and flip him and we had done a warrant on his house earlier that morning. While we were looking for him, he tried to shoot a guy about a block from us and hit and killed a girl instead.
Me and about ten other guys went back to his house to wait on him while a friend of mine, a real understated guy who was RAC of ATF stayed at the crime scene.

About ten minutes later, he called me on the phone and said, "We have a little trouble here, could you send some guys back over here?"

I said, sure, how many? There was a pause and then he said, "Oh, I think I would send everybody."

When we got back there it was a full fledged riot going on with about two hundred people. We finally got things under control and he and I are standing in the driveway listening to our guys chase a guy who had the shotgun the girl was killed with.

We weren't super familiar with the streets and as we stand there talking, we see this guy running down the street toward us, and its the guy, so me and the ATF RAC chase this guy for about ten blocks before we finally drag him down. That was my first foot chase in about three years and I lost my cell phone at some point. So, the ASAC, at this point, has heard about the murder and all and starts calling me, and of course, I cant' answer, because my cell phone is on its way to some pawn shop somewhere.

That was fun.

But, not a normal day.

[Narkcop]

Just to let you know I've worked 8 title III investigations and I'm not saying buy bust and run n gun. I know the goal is large scale organized drug organizations. But our office was so micromanaged that was not possible. I'm not suggesting 8 ball or even ounce take offs , work is discouraged.

[Narkcop]

Detroit Division covers Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky. It is top heavy with Managers and no Leaders from what I've seen.