Citizens Police Academy Week 7 – Narcotics and OUIs

Waltham Detective Sgt. Stephen McCarthy and members of a regional drug task force at last week’s Citizens Police Academy outlined the challenges and procedures of narcotics enforcement and the policing against drivers operating under the influence.

The eight-municipality task force — composed of officers from Waltham, Arlington, Belmont, Lexington, Newton, Watertown, Lincoln and Weston — relies on training and funding based on each town’s population. Officers complete 64 hours of initial training plus an additional 30 to 40 hours every year, McCarthy said.

Task force operations span drug classifications and law enforcement strategies. McCarthy explained that drugs fall into five classes: 

• Class A (including heroin, morphine and ketamine)
• Class B (including cocaine, amphetamines, LSD)
• Class C (including tranquilizers, hydrocodone, diazepam)
• Class D (including marijuana, phenobarbital) 
• Class E (including lower-dose prescription drugs). 

Penalties for possession or distribution hinge on the drug type, amount and whether intent to distribute can be proven, often through evidence such as cash, scales or ledgers.

Larger seizures can result in drug trafficking charges, which carry heavy penalties. More severe consequences apply to selling drugs to minors or within 300 feet of schools or 100 feet of parks.

Massachusetts law allows for civil asset forfeiture and sale of items linked to drug crimes with half of the proceeds going to the drug task force for equipment and training and the other half to the district attorney’s office that is overseeing the case. Officers employ field test kits and spectrometers for suspected drugs, which are then confirmed and destroyed by the State Police Crime Lab.

Detectives Tim Cadman and Jay Ferranti described strict procedures for using confidential informants and undercover officers during investigations. CIs typically make verified drug buys that lead to warrants and coordinated arrests. Undercover officers, monitored closely via live-stream tech with a sergeant always present, engage with repeat offenders.

Across the region, the task force prosecutes roughly 50 cases each year.

Operating under the influence

The meeting’s second half focused on policing impaired driving with Officer William Wentworth, Waltham’s lead nighttime traffic investigator. Wentworth reported five crashes per night in Waltham, with an annual average of 1,300 crashes and 100 to 110 OUI arrests.

Penalties for first-time OUI offenses in Massachusetts include fines up to $5,000, a $300 fee, up to 2 1/2 years in prison, license suspension up to one year, and a three-month wait for hardship license eligibility. Refusing a breathalyzer or blood test results in an automatic 180-day license suspension by the Registry of Motor Vehicles. Subsequent offenses trigger stricter penalties.

OUI arrests follow a three-phase process: initial observation, interaction with the driver, and pre-arrest testing with field sobriety assessments and/or a breathalyzer.

As discussion closed, attendees voiced concerns about speeding throughout local neighborhoods. Waltham, which doesn’t use traffic cameras,  enforces a default speed limit of 25 mph unless otherwise posted.erns about speeding throughout local neighborhoods. Waltham, which doesn’t use traffic cameras,  enforces a default speed limit of 25 mph unless otherwise posted.