Pubdate: Thu, 13 Feb 2003
Source: Oak Ridger (TN)
Copyright: 2003 The Oak Ridger
Contact:  http://www.oakridger.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1146
Author: Beverly Majors

OLIVER SPRINGS OFFICERS GET A JUMP ON LABS IN TRAFFIC STOPS

Other Area Police Departments Find Their Share

Oliver Springs police lead the way among area law enforcement agencies in 
making arrests for methamphetamine. Police Chief Kenneth Morgan said he 
thinks Oliver Springs is unique in making arrests because of how the town 
is situated in three counties and has a lot of people traveling from county 
to county.

Morgan can identify with the statistics provided by the Drug Enforcement 
Administration.

"We find as many labs out of cars as anybody," Morgan said. "We don't find 
that many in houses, one or two last year."

Morgan said his officers find everything from syringes and other leftovers 
from recent use, to chemicals, to all the components for a full-blown lab.

"We get a lot of people traveling through, and because the labs are 
portable, with our traffic stops, we seem to find more," he said.

During routine traffic stops for speeding or an equipment violation, 
officers ask to search a car if something rouses their suspicions, Morgan 
said. Unless an officer finds probable cause, such as seeing paraphernalia 
in the car, the officer must get permission from the driver before 
searching the car.

Officers look for large amounts of ephedrine pills and household chemicals 
that look out of place or in too large a quantity for regular use, but also 
look for signs of drug use, such as syringes, he said.

Morgan said most of his officers have been to some type of school or 
training on methamphetamine. The chemicals are dangerous and can blow up or 
cause serious respiratory problems.

"If we find a bunch of mixed-up chemicals, we call DEA," he said. "We back 
up and leave it alone."

Morgan said most recently officers found a lab in an apartment in 
Kellytown, but most arrests come from traffic.

He said he has also seen some of the dangers associated with making meth or 
using meth.

"We arrested a man that had been burned from the acid he had spilled on 
himself," Morgan said. He said most people who make meth also use it.

Describing meth as an addictive drug, Morgan said a couple who had abused 
the drug for years told him that methamphetamine is "one of the plagues the 
Bible talks about."

Morgan said meth is so cheap that people are getting off crack cocaine and 
pills and getting on meth.

"It's cheaper and easier to get, and according to them (addicts), it's a 
better high," he said.

Lake City Police Chief Jim Shetterly said his officers have also had their 
share of meth labs but hear of more than they actually see.

"We've located two labs in vehicles and we've heard of several outside of 
the city," he said.

Lake City officers arrested one person in 2002 for manufacturing meth and 
other charges associated with drugs and firearms. That case is in federal 
court.

Shetterly said the man arrested was from Powell and was making 
methamphetamine in a Lake City motel room. He said officers keep a close 
watch on each of the four small hotels in Lake City because of drug activity.

"One concern is that they go from place to place," he said. "I know it's a 
hot item in this area."

Shetterly said his officers find drug paraphernalia associated with 
methamphetamine during traffic stops.

Norris Public Safety Police Chief Danny Humphrey said because Norris is a 
small, somewhat confined community, officers there are not seeing 
methamphetamine as yet.

"We hear about it being in the surrounding areas but we haven't really seen 
anything here," Humphrey said. "They (dealers/users) are either keeping it 
low profile or are not coming into town with it."

Clinton Police Chief Rick Scarbrough said his officers have made mostly 
simple possession meth arrests. Clinton officers have not seen too much 
activity with labs. He said his officers found one lab on Clinch Avenue and 
worked with the Sheriff's Department on that incident, which led to arrests 
in Lake City.

"Marijuana and crack are still the prevailing drugs of choice in our area, 
based on arrests," Scarbrough said.

He said he sent two officers to a Bureau of Justice Assistance training 
program last fall to learn more about the drug and safe entry when a lab is 
found.

"We have agreed to partner with the Sheriff's Department on a 
methamphetamine task force," he said.

He said one of the problems he sees with finding meth labs is that people 
do "small cooks" in one place and then put the drugs together in another place.

"That makes it difficult locate," he said.

Scarbrough said area business owners are also more aware and informed now 
and are calling police when someone makes large purchases of ephedrine or 
pseudoephedrine products, found in cold remedies. Some stores have stopped 
carrying some of the products and others have put limits on how much a 
person can buy, he said.

"Its a pretty serious threat to our area," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens