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The NW Raiders was one of many Police Crime Units in the United States that focused primarily on Crack Cocaine.
Contents
History
The initial Raider Unit was a temporary unit formed by Sgt George Hurt of the Fort Lauderdale Police Dept in 1983. The Unit, known as Hurts Raiders, was staffed by road patrol officers who focused on the street sales of heroin and cocaine. As they stormed into the homes and neighborhoods with their vans and cars, it became easy for the drug users and drug dealers to identify this group as the "Raiders".
They concentrated their investigations in District 2, which is located in the NW (Northwest) section of Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida. The unit was then disbanded after a 2-month period and street level investigations were left to patrol.
From 1983 to 1985, FLPD (Fort Lauderdale Police Department) patrol officers initiated all the street level investigations as part of their assignments, which included search warrants. There were four officers handling all street level drug activity during this period. Officer Keith Abrahamsen, Ron Hood, Marion Sims and Rick Kosick. At the end of 1984, Abrahamsen and Hood were reassigned to other areas of the department, which left the bulk of the investigations to Officers Sims and Kosick.
With an epidemic Crack Cocaine problem hitting the streets, the two patrol officers could not handle all the investigations. Their drug investigations were in addition to their normal patrol activities on midnight shift. With public outcry connected with street sales and the violence that goes along with it, Fort Lauderdale then Police Chief Ron Cochran formed the NW Raiders which he selected patrol officers who worked the NW Area of Fort Lauderdale.
Formed in 1985, the Unit "NW RAIDERS" consisted of Five (5) Detectives and One (1)Sgt. The Detectives were Ed Evarts, Bill Lumm, Sandy Memrick, Scott Russell, Eddie Robinson and Sgt Donald Muller. Detective Abrahamsen joined the Unit in 1986 when Detective Memrick was reassigned.
During the first two years of the unit forming, 1,100 arrests were made, 172 search warrants were executed and 116 vehicles were seized. Investigations included the use of wiretaps, reverse stings, controlled buys and stake outs.
Reverse sting
The first documented "Reverse Sting" in which a Police Officer posed as a "Street Seller" was the conducted by members of this unit. The "NW Raiders" was the first Police Investigative Unit to use this ploy in the United States. Numerous city, state and federal agencies trained with this unit to see it tactics and undercover roles the detective played in the street sales.
The use of ram vehicles during reverse stings, which is a common practice today, was first used by this unit during reverse stings. The unit was the first to seize, and have vehicles forfeited under the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act during these reverse stings.
If a buyer would drive up in a vehicle to purchase cocaine and the transaction completed by the undercover officer, the driver and/or buyer would be arrested.. The vehicle would be seized.
Publicity
The Unit's success was heralded immediately by the media both in print and news coverage. The news media routinely rode with the unit and it was featured on ABC,NBC,CBS and CNN. Media publications included Newsweek, Time, Miami Heard, Sun Sentinel and various Law Journals have done articles or photos of members of the unit.
Both media and the community identified the unit as "The Raiders or Northwest Raiders".
In November 1987, the Miami Herald was given permission to embed two reporters with the unit for 1 month. The reporters were allowed to ride along with the unit daily. Photographer Charles Trainor and Trish Power was given the assignment, and on Dec 27, 1987, the Miami Herald did a full page article on the NW Raiders calling the article "DRUG WARRIORS - UNIT SERVES ON THE FRONT LINES".
2011 Article from Sun-Sentinel
Northwest Raiders – the name, and accusations, never die November 5, 2011|By Brittany Wallman, Sun Sentinel
2012 Article from Sun-Sentinel
Sun Sentinel
Fort Lauderdale officers surrender, face charges of covering up misconduct
By Paula McMahon and Robert Nolin, Sun Sentinel
3:36 AM EDT, June 1, 2012 Copyright © 2014, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Original officers
All the original officers moved on, and the "Raiders" is still an active unit in the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.