Newspaper walks a fine line in its crusade against drugs, urging readers to become police informants.

CLINTON, Iowa —  The war against illegal drugs and drug dealers in this Mississippi River town has fostered an unusual alliance between the local newspaper and police while triggering debate over the propriety of the partnership.

Declaring that “we have had enough of drugs, enough of users and dealers, enough of the whole sordid business,” the Clinton Herald asked its readers to become police informants. The paper urged them to report, anonymously if they wished, suspicious activity in their neighborhoods, among their friends and in their families.

“The drug traffic depends on our indulgence,” the paper argued in an editorial. “We don’t want to get involved, don’t want to cause someone trouble, can’t turn in a friend or a loved one--all good reasons much appreciated by the drug trade.”

Provides Coupons

The Herald printed on its editorial page a large coupon with blanks for names of possible drug users and dealers, the addresses of “suspicious activities” and the license plates of cars that might be used in drug-related activities. Readers were encouraged to return the coupons to the paper’s “Letters to the Editors” department for forwarding to the police.

“It’s a witch-hunting campaign,” said City Councilman John P. Rowland, who has emerged as the most visible local critic of the activity in this conservative, blue-collar city of 32,400 residents. “Governments in China and Russia encourage this type of thing. They did it in (Nazi) Germany. As a citizen, if you see a break-in, you don’t fill out a coupon and send it to the newspaper, you get on the phone and call the police.”

“It undercuts the role of a free press,” said the Quad City Times in nearby Davenport, in an editorial sharply critical of the Clinton Herald. “The press is not an arm of the Police Department. . . . The press is not in the business of gathering unsubstantiated tips for the police.”

Underscores Credibility

“At some point our system of justice needs to operate on credible evidence,” says Randall Wilson, legal director of the Iowa Civil Liberties Union. “The hallmark of credible evidence is (informants giving) his or her name.”

Clinton’s police chief, Gene S. Beinke, says that having the paper as an intermediary serves a valuable function.

“There is a reluctance--sometimes guilt--associated with making a direct report to the police,” Beinke said. “A conduit relieves that guilt. People can say: ‘I didn’t do it directly.’

“I think I’m pretty sensitive to the role of the media,” he added. “They need me and I need them . . . (The question is) what role do they have as a citizen in the city and what role do they have as a watchdog. A newspaper should be a reflection of the community.”

At the paper, housed in a two-story building in the heart of the downtown business district, there is both a sense of pride at what they have done and a sense of wonder at the attention the campaign is drawing.

Time May Be Ripe

“I didn’t think it would snowball like it has,” said Jack Dermody, general manager of the Herald, which has a circulation of 20,000. It’s easy for a community newspaper to handle the non-controversial topics, he said, “but there is a time to say ‘maybe we can play hardball and deal with something like drugs.’ ”

“We knew that people are reluctant to approach law enforcement so we became a go-between,” Dermody added.

Drugs are a problem in Clinton, but the police chief says it is no better or worse than in other cities of comparable size. “Eighty percent of the persons we arrest are somehow connected to substance abuse,” Beinke said.

In the two weeks since the Herald first printed the coupons, police say they have received about 24 “tips,” all of them unsigned.

“We’ve gotten a lot of names (of suspects) that we already knew,” Beinke said. “It further substantiates . . . it adds another piece to the puzzle.”

But Wilson of the Des Moines-based Iowa Civil Liberties Union warns: “Once rumors are there, you can’t get rid of them.”

There has been little criticism of the program in Clinton itself. “I feel like the Lone Ranger,” said Councilman Rowland, whose attempt to call a special City Council meeting to discuss the issue was rejected by the mayor.

Mayor Praises Idea

“I think it was a good idea, well-conceived, constructive in its intent,” said Mayor Elizabeth C. Snyder, a former college administrator. She said drugs are a bigger problem “than most people realize. In the Midwest, in small towns, people might not expect it to be a major economic, social and health problem. But it certainly is.”

“I had a brother who took his own life who was involved in drug activity. I’m not soft on drugs,” said Rowland, who believes that the police chief should be dismissed for participating in the program with the Herald. “But I don’t want my name (as a city official) to be associated with creating a spy network among the 8,000 (constituents) I represent.

“But,” he added, “it’s tough to stand alone on an issue.”

Researcher Tracy Shryer in Chicago contributed to this story.