Pubdate: Sun, 27 Jan 2002 Source: Tacoma News Tribune (WA) Copyright: 2002 Tacoma News Inc. Contact: http://www.tribnet.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/442 Author: Stacey Burnes METH LAB BUSTS DECLINE AS DRUG COOKS GO RURAL Tacoma police and Pierce County sheriff's deputies raided fewer methamphetamine labs in 2001 than in 2000, but not because fewer people were cooking the illegal drug. Last fall, Tacoma police cut the number of officers checking tips about clandestine labs. As a result, police uncovered 134 labs in 2001, compared with 141 in 2000. Before the cutback, the department expected to break its 2000 mark. The sheriff's department, which has the only full-time meth team in the state, found 175 labs last year, compared with 201 in 2000. Despite the lower numbers, officials from both agencies said Pierce County continues to have the state's worst meth problem, with officers discovering more than twice the number of labs as in any other county. "As soon as one person is taken down, many more take the place," said Tacoma police Lt. Michael Miller. "It's a fact of life we deal with day in and day out." Priscilla Lisicich, executive director of Safe Streets, said the police cutbacks mean community members will have to be more aware of drug problems in their neighborhoods. "It puts the pressure on the community to be even more vigilant," she said. "It's a tough call, I know, for the police department." Pierce County detectives say the drop in busted labs is partly because of drug cooks moving to other counties to avoid stepped-up enforcement. "We're just moving it out of our community," said detective Sgt. Dave Dewey, who commands his agency's meth team. "They're not just going to quit." No state agency tracks just the number of meth labs busted in each county, though Department of Ecology statistics show how many times crews were called out to clean up either illegal labs or dump sites. Statewide, Ecology officials cleaned up 1,886 meth labs and dump sites last year, compared with 1,454 in 2000. Pierce County remained atop the list, with King County a distant second. In 2001, cleanup crews went to labs or dump sites in all of Pierce County 585 times, up from 545 in 2000. In King County, crews cleaned up chemicals at 271 labs or dump sites in 2001, compared with 231 in 2000. Thurston County sheriff's Capt. Jim Chamberlain said the number of busted meth labs needs to be looked at skeptically "The signs are hopeful compared to what we've seen in the past," said Chamberlain, a commander with the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force. "There are so many other facets with this drug problem than others in the past." In Tacoma, the police department's drug fighting was hurt when one of two special emphasis teams was disbanded and eight officers and one supervisor were reassigned to patrol duties. The North End Community Policing Team had investigated crime sprees in the northern part of the city and followed up on residents' tips about meth labs. "They had more time to go out and work tips," said Lt. Michael Miller, who commands the Special Investigations Division. "They were very helpful." The second unit, the South End Community Policing Team, continues to conduct similar investigations, but doesn't devote as much time to tips about meth. The team also might be disbanded. Administrators are making the changes to solve staffing problems caused by vacancies and military leaves, Miller said. More than half of the 134 Tacoma labs busted last year came from the work of the North End and South End policing teams, Miller said. In addition, patrol officers are trained to spot the signs of a meth lab, though they most often respond to calls - including burglar alarms and traffic accidents - that don't take them to places where labs are set up. "It's just not as effective as people who have the time to go places where we expect to find meth labs," Miller said. "I don't see any way we get the team back until we hire more people. And we're a good year away from getting relief." In Pierce County, the sheriff's department has eight full-time investigators and 20 deputies assigned part time to its anti-meth team. The team also has gotten help from Sumner, Buckley, Orting and Bonney Lake police departments, which have assigned patrol officers to work part time with the deputies. "I think we are effective," said Pierce County's Dewey. "We're actually driving them out of here." Of the state's 37 other counties, six - Columbia, Ferry, Jefferson, Klickitat, Mason and Pend Oreille - saw decreases last year in the number of meth labs and dump sites found by investigators, according to the Ecology Department. Among counties seeing significant increases were Thurston, Lewis and especially Spokane, which had the largest increase in meth labs and dump sites in 2001, going from 137 to 248. Spokane County sheriff's Lt. Chan Bailey, coordinator of the Spokane Regional Task Force, attributed the jump to the drug trend moving east and to residents learning more about how to spot a meth lab or dump site. Thurston County sheriff's officials investigated 151 labs and dump sites in 2001, compared with 139 in 2000. In Lewis County, the numbers were 61 in 2001 and 43 in 2000. Thurston and Lewis officials said the increase can be blamed on Pierce County's beefed-up enforcement and on the migrant cooks heading for the secluded northeastern corner of Lewis County around Mount Rainier National Park. "It's rural, it's out of the way, it's not as patrolled," said Doug Lee, a Centralia police detective assigned to Lewis County's six-member Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team. Lee said the enforcement team doesn't blame Pierce County for the increase in meth cooks. "It's just the price of doing business," he said. "We'll start driving them out of our county. I certainly would not want Pierce County to slow down." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom