A suburban police chief brushes off concerns voiced by the county prosecutor and a parent about whether it's proper to have a 14-year-old make an undercover marijuana buy.
WWJ reports on the Oakland County controversy:
Lake Orion Police Chief Jerry Narsh said such cases involving children are rare, but that the matter was handled appropriately and that the teen wasn’t at risk. He said the teen’s mother gave her approval and was nearby in a police car at all times during the March 15 bust. . . .
“Since we believe he was targeting teenagers, the only way to get him off the street was to arrange a buy. . . .
“Here you have a situation where someone is approaching potential teenage customers. It’s a sad reality but we have to devise ways to deal with it and stop it.”
Wednesday:
A father and Oakland County's prosecutor say Lake Orion detectives acted improperly by using a young teen in a marihuana-buying sting, John Turk reports in The Oakland Press.
Police "shouldn't have played cops and robbers with my son," Turk quotes the 14-year-old's unnamed dad as saying.
In a recent drug investigation, the boy played a major role in the arrest of Edward Mark Watkins, 35, for attempting to sell drugs to a minor.
The boy's mother gave permission, according to Turk. The father, who lives sepoarately in Lapeer, worries about possible repercussions.
"What’s going to happen when this guy gets out of jail? What if something did go wrong?”
In Pontiac, county Prosecutor Jessica Cooper also questions the tactic in a comment to The Press, saying this is the first use of a minor in a drug bbust that she has seen.
“I can’t imagine using a 14-year-old kid as an . . . informant . . . all for a $20 bag of marijuana,” said Cooper.
Lake Orion Police Chief Jerry Narsh tells Turk that circumstances called for the boy’s assistance in the March 15 bust.
He said Watkins — a Southfield resident with a long criminal history — had the 14-year-old’s cell phone number and was pressuring the boy to buy marijuana from him that same day.
The boy’s mother “was fed up,” said Narsh. “She came to us and said, ‘We know this guy.’ ”
