All You Need Is Drugs

October 29th, 2006 at 08:37am Post Staff 43

Did director of investigations Joe DiSalvo of the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office violate the law when he failed to arrest a repeat drug dealer in Aspen Village in 2004? Not everyone was convinced by the post by Michael Conniff, AKA the Con Man.

“Con Man could, however, get proactive,” writes PastorMustard. “Shave his head, get a neck tattoo, strap on a wire, and write, ‘NARC FOR RENT’ on his t-shirt. Get something big on this guy whom con man and alphoid [Alpha 6] are dead certain was dealing.”

Alpha 6, in contrast and as per usual, was on the side of the law.

“So what do we have?” he comments. “One, DiSalvo violated the Sheriff's own policy of investigating reported crimes, two, he advised a person engaged in criminal activity that his neighbors had complained against them, possibly putting those complainants in danger, and three did nothing to stop this person from engaging in future criminal activity except tell him not to continue doing it. Nice work head of the investigations department. Lastly. The rest of the story. This was not the first time that individual had been warned about his drug dealing activity by the Sheriffs office.”

WharfRat, meanwhile, is somewhere in the middle on this debate.

“That is an interesting example,” he blogged, “and does suggest a methodology that is consistent with your assertion that there have been no drug dealer busts by the PCSD in the last ten years. I think you have done a fine job establishing that the Sheriff's Dept. has a policy of non-enforcement when it comes to illegal drugs. I was struck by your response to the [Glenwood Springs] Community Corrections officer's description on Con Games [radio program] of the drug problem in the area. Once again, that type of testimonial is very persuasive in establishing the insidious consequences of drug abuse. But everyone knows that already. The real issue is whether there is a link between stronger drug enforcement and a decrease in drug abuse and related societal detriment.”

But WharfRat is not convinced more enforcement is the answer.

“Could the more logical analysis be that drug abuse is a deeper-rooted problem that is sourced in behaviors generally unaffected by law enforcement efforts?” he blogs further. “If you can't establish a causal connection between two variables, and the effect variable is a social problem, don't we owe it to ourselves to explore other variables which might actually have a cause and effect relationship with the problem and yield more positive results?”

As for the Con Man his ownself, he did take a moment to school the always spicy-hot PastorMustard on blogging etiquette.

“There’s plenty enough for a rush to judgment by con man though, as is typical,” PastorMustard commented. “Also, the con man, recently emboldened by his CRMS [Colorado Rocky Mountain School] blogging pow-wow, got to repeat the phrase, ‘shitty and spineless,’ which seems to make him giddy with imagined clout. This after ministering several sermons on blogging etiquette.”

“And by the way, Pastor,” Con Man commented back, “the phrase is ‘shifty and spineless.’ Not shitty. An interesting slip, no?”

Perhaps it pays to be polite on Aspen Post after all, even if you're a pastor.

Entry Filed under: Snowmass, Basalt, Woody Creek, Aspen, Con Games, Crime, Pitkin County