Pubdate: Mon, 03 Jun 2002 Source: Messenger-Inquirer (KY) Copyright: 2002 Messenger-Inquirer Contact: http://www.messenger-inquirer.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1285 Author: Justin Willis Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) GUARDSMEN HELP COUNTY BATTLE METH Troops Help With Surveillance Ever since methamphetamine began to exhibit signs of an epidemic in western Kentucky in the late 1990s, the Daviess County Sheriff's Department has taken an aggressive stance against the proliferation. A prime tool in the county's fight against meth during the past three years has been cooperation with specially trained Kentucky National Guardsmen, according to Daviess County Sheriff Keith Cain. The full-time guardsmen are part of the Joint Support Operations unit, which commonly assists law enforcement authorities in wiping out marijuana patches in eastern Kentucky. The guardsmen provide the sheriff's department with manpower and equipment to assist in the surveillance of suspected meth labs or anhydrous ammonia tanks. "We have a very close working relationship with the National Guard," Cain said. "They have been a tremendous help to us. We certainly would not be able to man the surveillances that we have without their assistance." Because of Daviess County's aggressive stance against meth, the county is the prime recipient of assistance from the National Guard in western Kentucky. Cain said the covert nature of investigations prevents him from disclosing specifics of how the guardsmen are used. Cain said one or two sheriff's deputies are always with the guardsmen during operations. When the possibility first surfaced of using a military organization to assist a local police agency in the fight against drugs, Cain had reservations, he said. Those concerns were eased when Cain was exposed to the motivation and professionalism of the guardsmen. "We've been able to develop a close working relationship with those individuals," Cain said. The sheriff's department allocates part of a $1.5 million federal grant toward the pay for the use of the guard, he said. The money is shared throughout the year by law enforcement agencies throughout western Kentucky. Kentucky State Police Sgt. Ronnie Ray of London, who is the marijuana eradication supervisor of the Governor's Marijuana Eradication Strike Force, said Kentucky receives invaluable help from the guardsmen in the battle against drugs. The eradication strike force is composed of 17 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies who rely on guardsmen to provide transportation and manpower, he said. The Guard has about seven helicopters that either circle above the ground to provide surveillance or allow law enforcement to rappel into eastern Kentucky fields during marijuana eradication efforts, Ray said. The Guard also helps gather and dispose of marijuana plants, he said. When law enforcement officers are dispatched to remote marijuana patches, they are sometimes accompanied by as many as 200 guardsmen who serve full time with the eradication unit for four to six months a year, he said. The guardsmen are intended to serve strictly in a support role, Ray said. They do not have the police powers to arrest and must be accompanied by sworn officers, he said. Ray said he was not as familiar with the Guard's meth enforcement but estimated three to eight guardsmen may be used to perform surveillance on a suspected meth location. Often in the winter when the guardsmen are less busy with marijuana eradication they may assist police agencies in other areas of the state with problems related to meth, Ray said. Without the assistance of the guardsmen, many departments could not afford to crack down as hard on marijuana patches or meth. Last summer the eradication force seized and destroyed 430,000 marijuana plants, Ray said. Without the Guard's help, that would not have been possible, he said. U.S. Congress passed the Posse Comitatus Act during the Reconstruction that followed the Civil War. The act prohibited the use of the military in civilian law enforcement. The act separates civilian and military authority. It was amended in 1981 to permit increased Department of Defense support of drug interdiction and other law enforcement activities. "They don't take any actions as far as arrests toward a civilian," Ray said. "They are strictly a support role. It just boosts us up." - --- MAP posted-by: Alex