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Lieutenant Bart Knowles is in charge of the Special Investigations Division and is responsible for the enforcement of narcotics violations in the city of Gainesville. Special Investigations / Street Drugs The Special Investigations Division investigates illegal drug activity at three levels. The Narcotics Unit investigates street-level drug crimes that occur throughout the City of Gainesville. Detectives assigned to the street-level Narcotics Unit identify and arrest subjects who are selling drugs in neighborhoods and affecting the quality of life for the residents in the area. Most enforcement of street-level drug crimes is done through undercover drug buys. The drug buys usually result in the arrest of the drug dealer and/or a search warrant being served on the location where the drug activity is occurring. ID also has detectives assigned to state and federal drug task forces to increase the impact of local drug cases. The FDLE Multi-Agency Task Force investigates mid-level suppliers of the street-level dealers. These mid-level dealers often extend beyond the City of Gainesville into surrounding cities and counties. The DEA Task Force investigates upper-level suppliers of drugs. Many of the upper-level drug investigations extend to other states and countries. Both task forces work toward significant State or Federal prison sentences for serious drug offenders. The investigations of mid- and upper-level suppliers often develop from street-level cases made by the Narcotics Unit when working community problems.
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