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Owens addresses COG about meth problem by Holly Matthews [email protected] �It has not gone away, and I don�t think it will go away any time soon,� Titusville Police Chief Don Owens told members of the Oil Creek Area Council of Governments meeting at City Hall Wednesday evening. Owens addressed the COG about the methamphetamine problem in the Titusville area and elsewhere and how municipalities within the organization might cooperate with the department in the future. Currently Titusville police cannot become involved in a meth investigation in area municipalities unless their involvement has been authorized by the Attorney General�s Bureau of Narcotics Investigation Drug Task Force on which five local officers serve. Owens discussed the possibility of area municipalities eventually having intermunicipal agreements with the department authorizing the police to carry out such investigations inside their borders. Following Owens� presentation, members said they thought it would be worthwhile to learn more about the kind of agreements that would be required and what if any liabilities could face the municipalities. Supervisor James Reisinger of Allegheny Township said he would check with the township�s solicitor. Cherrytree Supervisor Jeff Langworthy said he commends the Titusville Police Department for how much it has been able to accomplish with limited resources in combating methamphetamine production and use. Owens said he believes meth problems exist throughout the state and nation, but some areas have yet to identify its existence. He said it took the department two to three years to fully understand what it was dealing with. The department became proactive with the backing of city council and the city manager, he said. The Attorney General�s Bureau of Narcotics Investigation Drug Task Force with which the department is involved, covers the counties of Erie, Crawford, Warren, Venango and Forest. Owens said that the labs seized where the PSP Clandestine Lab Response Team was involved rose from two in Crawford County in 2001 to three in 2002, seven in 2003 and 41 in 2004. The regional totals increased from three in 2001 to 65 in 2004. Of 52 labs seized in Crawford and Venango counties in 2004, 23 were directly related to the Titusville area, and Titusville Police Drug Task Force investigations, Owens said. This includes labs seized in Forest County and other locations outside the Titusville School District. Owens said that since April of 2001, approximately 50 individuals from the Titusville area have been arrested for the manufacture, possession and/or distribution of methamphetamine. Of those 50, over 40 were arrests made directly by Titusville Police Department officers. The others were arrests by the Attorney General agents, PSP or other departments. The chief also provided the COG members with a listing of 19 lab seizures in 2004 in municipalities within the Titusville Area School District. He said in 2005, three labs already have been seized in the area, two in Cherrytree Township and one in Steuben Township. Owens said the department has been faced with a number of problems in its battle against meth, including a manpower shortage and a lack of funds. Federal grants currently are limited, he said. Funding from the Attorney General�s office covers overtime on authorized cases. The department is currently down four officers to illness and one to the military, Owens said. That can pose a very real problem with scheduling considering the department is staffed 24 hours, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Owens said the problem of not having enough staff available to dedicate to the meth investigations is also faced by state police and by the Attorney General�s office. Owens said area municipal officials also could help by speaking to legislators about the need to increase funding for the investigations. He added that he would be willing to attend township supervisor or borough council meetings to further discuss the issues. The meth lab operations, Owens said, are becoming more dangerous. He said that armed guards were encountered at one lab. �They are very paranoid,� he said. Langworthy asked if the meth produced locally is sold elsewhere. Owens said most of the area labs have been �Mom and Pop� operations with the drug being produced for the use of the operator and acquaintances involved. People involved supply the necessary chemicals. He said the labs are dangerous and volatile, and toxic waste results from the manufacture. He said he believes that eventually the government will require more stringent cleanup of the sites � creating another expense for municipalities. �We all pay for this sooner or later,� he observed. Owens added that meth is considered to be �the walk away drug.� People who take it walk away from their lives, he said. �They don�t care about anything but getting more meth,� Owens explained. He said meth is devastating to the human body. �We�ve compared pictures of users two years apart and it�s amazing.� Owens said use can cause teeth to rot, extreme weight loss, skin lesions and hair to fall out. Exposure to the chemicals can cause physical and mental disabilities in the children of people who operate labs at home, he said. Owens said he would like to be able to have two officers who do nothing but drug-related investigations. He said a lot of man hours are involved in compiling and documenting investigations and information and tips received. Also present at Wednesday�s meeting were Etienne Ozorak, director of the Crawford County Solid Waste Authority, and Judy Downs of the Venango County Recycling Program, who discussed recycling efforts in the two counties. Venango County Comm-issioner Sue Smith attended and updated the COG members on county projects. Add a comment |
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