The Sterling Police Department has been experimenting with new ways to deal with suspected drug dealers.
Sterling police have been conducting a series of "Knock and Talks," where officers simply knock on the front door of a suspected drug house and ask if they can look around inside. But Thursday night, officers tried something a little bit different.
"We don't want to give everybody a warning by knocking on their door. Then they'll believe there are no consequences," said Doug Fargher, Sterling Police Lieutenant. "They've had their warnings and now we're going to mean a little more business."
Police have knocked and they've talked ... but have suspected criminals learned their lesson?
"We're going to mix it up a little bit and do a little more traffic," Fargher said.
"A combination of detectives in plain clothes and plain cars, watching suspected drug locations, and then calling out vehicles that come and go." Detectives have compiled a list of suspected drug houses. Police know about the houses because of prior problems at those locations and tips Sterling residents.
"Citizens had given us some information that there's some illegal activity taking place," Fargher said. Detectives check those houses out and, if there's a lot action,those detectives their cars nearby and watch.
"If someone comes to a house that's a suspected drug house and they leave, we're going to follow them and they're probably going to get stopped." But Fargher said that's where it gets tricky, "You can't just stop a car for no reason." In order to stop a car, police are looking for any type of traffic or equipment violation.
"It is very difficult for someone to drive and not commit a traffic violation," said Fargher. "There are a lot of laws on the books, but what we will not do is make something up."
Police look through windows with flashlights, they look out for any suspicious behavior the driver is displaying, and sometimes they bring in someone with a better sense of smell -- a K-9.
Surveillance isn't as glamorous as it seems on TV. Oftentimes it's a lot of sitting and waiting around.
"When it comes to this kind of stuff it can be boring or you can have places that are hopping," said Fargher. He says showing suspected criminals that they're not invincible is half the battle -- "Usually you stop two or three cars coming from a house and it shuts things down."
And sterling police plan to continue shutting things down.
