Police Seek Help From Residents In Tracking Down Drug Dealers
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Enough is enough.
Police have long been tired of having to deal with drug dealers, but the general public may not think enough is being done to combat the drug problem.
Well, the public is being enlisted to help the police in drawing the line and putting an end to drug dealing in their neighborhoods.
In an attempt to reinvigorate the Kosciusko County Special Operations Team, Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine is promoting a program in which names, addresses and vehicle descriptions of people suspected of drug activity can be turned over to police. The information can be given anonymously, but those who do reveal their identity to authorities can have the security of confidentiality.
"The public knows we've had some problems the last couple years," Rovenstine said of the drug task force. The unit was temporarily disbanded a couple years ago and is now back at full force, although Rovenstine would like to see additional manpower in the future.
"We would like more men, but we don't have the resources at this time," Rovenstine said.
The information can be submitted to the drug task force by telephone, fax or mail using a form (pictured) which will periodically be printed in the Times-Union.
A 17-year-old from Warsaw was recently arrested on drug charges in two separate incidents and officers reportedly confiscated "nearly a quarter-kilo" of cocaine.
"That's got to blow the community's mind is some way or fashion ... that a 17-year-old kid's got access to a quarter-kilo of cocaine," an undercover officer said.
While Rovenstine admits that the forms could be misused by people trying to get others into trouble as a form of revenge in unrelated matters, he said that the program should be seen as an overall positive way of fighting the drug problem in Kosciusko County.
"I don't know if information is ever wasted - good or bad," Rovenstine said. "(The program) worked well the first time, so we thought we'd try it again."
The program was first used in 1990 as a way of publicizing the newly organized drug team. At that time, nearly 50 people were investigated and about a half dozen arrested in connection with drug dealing information provided by concerned citizens.
The biggest drug problem now in Kosciusko County is with cocaine and methamphetamines, according to an undercover officer. "We can't buy anything else because there's so much coke out there," the officer said.
There is also a good bit of marijuana, which is indigenous to the area, being circulated in the county.
"LSD is still out there," the officer said, adding that liquid LSD is "big with the kids" in the 15 to 21 age group. "Liquid LSD is a bad, bad problem," according to the officer.
Also, police have seen heroin resurfacing in the area.
While police are working to rid the community of drugs and drug dealers, the public must understand that a tip doesn't necessarily result in an immediate arrest.
"Tips give the investigators a step forward," the undercover officer said. "We need more than just a tip to pop people."
Officers estimate that about 10 calls per day are received in their office and "we probably know 80 percent of the people that are doing this (drug dealing)," the officer said.
One tip, in which a woman saw somebody hand something from a car to another person, prompted the woman to jot down the license plate number and call police because she thought she might have witnessed a drug deal. "That one call, on a hunch, took a thousand hits of acid off the street," an officer said.
A priority is given to cases in which children are present in the drug-dealing environment, and the task force works with the welfare department to get kids out of that environment. [[In-content Ad]]
Enough is enough.
Police have long been tired of having to deal with drug dealers, but the general public may not think enough is being done to combat the drug problem.
Well, the public is being enlisted to help the police in drawing the line and putting an end to drug dealing in their neighborhoods.
In an attempt to reinvigorate the Kosciusko County Special Operations Team, Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine is promoting a program in which names, addresses and vehicle descriptions of people suspected of drug activity can be turned over to police. The information can be given anonymously, but those who do reveal their identity to authorities can have the security of confidentiality.
"The public knows we've had some problems the last couple years," Rovenstine said of the drug task force. The unit was temporarily disbanded a couple years ago and is now back at full force, although Rovenstine would like to see additional manpower in the future.
"We would like more men, but we don't have the resources at this time," Rovenstine said.
The information can be submitted to the drug task force by telephone, fax or mail using a form (pictured) which will periodically be printed in the Times-Union.
A 17-year-old from Warsaw was recently arrested on drug charges in two separate incidents and officers reportedly confiscated "nearly a quarter-kilo" of cocaine.
"That's got to blow the community's mind is some way or fashion ... that a 17-year-old kid's got access to a quarter-kilo of cocaine," an undercover officer said.
While Rovenstine admits that the forms could be misused by people trying to get others into trouble as a form of revenge in unrelated matters, he said that the program should be seen as an overall positive way of fighting the drug problem in Kosciusko County.
"I don't know if information is ever wasted - good or bad," Rovenstine said. "(The program) worked well the first time, so we thought we'd try it again."
The program was first used in 1990 as a way of publicizing the newly organized drug team. At that time, nearly 50 people were investigated and about a half dozen arrested in connection with drug dealing information provided by concerned citizens.
The biggest drug problem now in Kosciusko County is with cocaine and methamphetamines, according to an undercover officer. "We can't buy anything else because there's so much coke out there," the officer said.
There is also a good bit of marijuana, which is indigenous to the area, being circulated in the county.
"LSD is still out there," the officer said, adding that liquid LSD is "big with the kids" in the 15 to 21 age group. "Liquid LSD is a bad, bad problem," according to the officer.
Also, police have seen heroin resurfacing in the area.
While police are working to rid the community of drugs and drug dealers, the public must understand that a tip doesn't necessarily result in an immediate arrest.
"Tips give the investigators a step forward," the undercover officer said. "We need more than just a tip to pop people."
Officers estimate that about 10 calls per day are received in their office and "we probably know 80 percent of the people that are doing this (drug dealing)," the officer said.
One tip, in which a woman saw somebody hand something from a car to another person, prompted the woman to jot down the license plate number and call police because she thought she might have witnessed a drug deal. "That one call, on a hunch, took a thousand hits of acid off the street," an officer said.
A priority is given to cases in which children are present in the drug-dealing environment, and the task force works with the welfare department to get kids out of that environment. [[In-content Ad]]