STERLING – Growing up in Sterling and Rock Falls, John Trancoso saw high school friends struggle with drugs.

“I saw what [damage] drugs were doing back then, and the reason I wanted to be a police officer is that I wanted to fight the drugs,” Trancoso said.

The 52-year-old detective sergeant retires Thursday after 30 years with the Sterling Police Department.

In his first few years on the force, very few of his calls dealt with drugs.

He joined as a patrol officer on April 1, 1981. For 7 years, he handled calls ranging from domestic violence to residential burglary.

In 1988, then-police Chief Cadet Thorpe asked Trancoso to join the new Black Hawk Area Task Force, which at the time covered Lee, Ogle, and Whiteside counties.

Working undercover for a unit that had not yet gained notoriety made buying drugs “like taking candy from a candy store,” Trancoso said.

“It was just wide open,” he said. “Everyone would just sell to you left and right.”

In May 1988, the new task force made one of the largest busts in state history, arresting 167 people – 127 of them from Whiteside County and 60 or 70 of them from Sterling and Rock Falls.

The bust was a huge wake-up call for Transcoso, who said he never knew just how bad the drug problem was.

“We went to smaller communities, P-town, Lyndon, and you still had good-sized dealers there,” Trancoso said. “I guess that’s when I realized that it doesn’t matter how big the town is. It is everywhere.”

Things haven’t calmed down since, and the task force has grown to include many counties in northwest Illinois and Iowa.

Trancoso said the “war on drugs” never will be “won,” because the demand always will be there.

“We arrest people, but there’s just so much money in the drug trade that somebody else will always step in and take over,” Trancoso said.

One of big cocaine dealers the task force busted was Ruben Garza, Trancoso said. After months of having his house under video surveillance, officers arrested Garza and confiscated homes in Sterling and in Lee County, along with many cars and two boats.

He was sentenced to 18 years in 1993 for dealing cocaine.

Cocaine and marijuana have been the drugs of choice for years in the region, Trancoso said. Ten or 15 years ago, Chicago dealers began bringing in crack cocaine, after the Cabrini-Green housing project was closed.

“I know everyone hears and knows what crack houses are for the big city, and that’s literally what [Chicago dealers] brought here,” he said. “There was just a wide-open market when they came to Sterling.”

Crack’s affect on the community has been devastating, Trancoso said.

“I saw the difference of what it does to users and to the people of this community,” he said. “Our violence has gone up because of it. It is probably the worst thing that’s ever happened to this community.”

Changes in state criminal statutes have made it easier for police to charge drug defendants, Trancoso said.

When the task force began, officers had to make a coke buy of at least 15 grams – a little more than a half an ounce – to charge someone with a Class X felony, which carries a lengthy prison sentence of 6 to 30 years.

“For a little agency,” Trancoso said, “it was hard to just let $1,500 (the typical cost then of about 15 grams of cocaine) walk and not worry about it.”

Now, a dealer need only to sell drugs within 1,000 feet of a drug-free zone – a school, church, park or public housing – to qualify for the Class X felony.

Technology also has changed how police work.

Before cellphones, officers had to bring in Illinois State Police troopers and their equipment to monitor a controlled drug buy. Now, the department has its own surveillance equipment and GPS tracking devices – many paid for by grants and donations, Trancoso said.

Some of the more difficult cases for Trancoso have been crimes against children. One case that stuck with him involved an infant who was severely abused several years ago.

“Those are the hard ones with little kids, because they can’t protect themselves,” he said.

He said it’s important not to carry the stress of heavy cases home when the work day’s done.

Trancoso worked for the task force for 7 years. In 1997, he became a detective and was promoted to sergeant in 2008.

He’s led the detective department since last year.

He looks forward to spending retirement with his wife, Deb, 42, and children Clay, 21, Dakota, 15, and Jamyson, 13.

Trancoso said he will miss the people he’s worked with, both within the department and with other area police agencies.

He’ll also miss working with the public and staying “in the loop” on cases, he said.

“I’ve always loved the detective work, I’ve always loved the drug work. I’m sure it’s always going to be a part of me, and I will miss it.”