Pubdate: Mon, 10 Jun 2002
Source: Northwest Arkansas Times (AR)
Copyright: 2002 Community Publishers Inc.
Contact:  http://www.nwarktimes.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/828
Author: Steve Whitmill, Washington County sheriff

SHERIFF NO 'DRUG WARRIOR'

I ordinarily do not respond to letters to the editor, however I feel the 
need to set the record straight on this one.

On June 6, the Northwest Arkansas Times printed a letter from Georgia Lance 
of Elkins, who indicated what she understood from a newspaper article in 
which the county judge and myself reported as responding differently to the 
question of what to do about the methamphetamine problem in our area.

Ms. Lance's letter said that I was a "drug warrior" and the judg ge was 
more contemporary with his approach to the problem, in which he indicated 
what we need is to look at the root of the problem or why we as a society 
feel the need to alter our personality with drugs.

Let me first say I have conversed with the judge in-depth several times on 
this very subject and I agree with Judge Hunton 100 percent. I also gave 
the same answer to the reporter who interviewed me. In addition to this, I 
told the reporter as the county's chief law enforcement officer I am sworn 
and expected to enforce the law, which includes drug law, both in spirit 
and in letter. The spirit of the law dictates that I will fight all illegal 
drugs and prevent their use and distribution. The letter of the law, while 
it has good intentions is full of loopholes, that the drug dealers use to 
get around the spirit of the law. Let me put it another way, as long as our 
friends and neighbors keep calling me and telling me they have a meth lab 
next door to them and wanting to know what I am going to do about it 
(because there are laws you know) I have no choice but to act with the 
tools given to me by the legislators that we elect and from the people that 
we work for. These tools include money, officers and jails. I do not like 
it any more than you do, because I pay taxes also.

However, until we as a society change this through our elected 
representatives, the laws they make and the way we as a society think, I am 
still obligated to enforce the law and try to close the loopholes that 
exist and prevent law enforcement from doing just that. Nothing would 
thrill me more than to prevent on the front end the tragedies we in law 
enforcement have seen as a result of methamphetamine, horrible things that 
most people cannot imagine. Instead we in law enforcement have to be the 
ones who clean it up on the back end. Therefore, you see I do not have the 
luxury of seeing only one side of this terrible saga.

Unfortunately newspapers being newspapers, they don't always report the 
entire interview, but only the contrast in opinions of the people being 
interviewed and I can't change that either.

Steve Whitmill

Washington County sheriff 
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MAP posted-by: Beth