Pubdate: Tue, 03 Apr 2007
Source: Pekin Daily Times, The (IL)
Copyright: 2007 Pekin Daily Times
Contact:  http://www.pekintimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2290
Author: Nick Vogel
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

METH CRIMES IN PEKIN DROP

PEKIN - In terms of methamphetamine, Pekin seems to be  following a 
national trend.

In 1999, the Pekin Police Department confronted its  first two meth 
manufacturing incidents in Pekin. In  2002, they dealt with 40.

On Monday, the Pekin Daily Times asked Deputy Chief Ted  Miller of 
the Pekin Police Department if the department  has had to fight 
meth-related crimes as often as they  had in 2004 and 2005.

"Absolutely not," said Miller. "We have noted  a decrease. We are not 
running into labs like we used  to."

But, Miller said, the apparent decrease of meth labs  does not mean 
they have disappeared. "(Meth labs  are) a little more rare than what 
we've experienced in  the past."

The deputy chief credits the decline in meth-related  crime to 
Operation Rattlesnake, which operates from the  Pekin Police 
Department. Operation Rattlesnake is a  task force made up of Pekin 
police officers, agents  from the U.S. Drug Enforcement 
Administration, Tazewell  County sheriff's deputies, Illinois State 
troopers and  federal prosecutors.

Miller said new legislation also helps keep meth  precursors 
difficult to obtain.

But Miller warned that drug trends are cyclical.  "It certainly 
doesn't mean overall drug use is on  decline," Miller said of the 
drop in meth-relate crime.  "It doesn't mean the drug of choice today 
will be  the drug of choice tomorrow. There's always something  new 
that rears its ugly head."

When asked if meth-related emergency room visits have  dropped since 
2005, Pat Vandeschraaf, a nurse from  Pekin Hospital's Emergency Room 
said, "Yes, ER  visits have dropped drastically since pseudoephedrine 
has been put behind the counter at the stores."

Tazewell County State's Attorney Stewart Umholtz  declined to comment 
for this story. But back in  December 2005, when Umholtz announced 
his run for  Illinois' Attorney General, he spoke to 
reporters  regarding Tazewell County's meth problems.

At that time, the Daily Times reported Umholtz said  Tazewell County 
"had a caseload that was literally  exploding" several years ago, 
referring to the time a  meth lab blew up an apartment building in Pekin.

Umholtz told reporters that after the creation of the  Operation 
Rattlesnake task force, the number of meth  cases in Tazewell County 
fell dramatically.

Chief Deputy Dick Ganschow of the Tazewell County  Sheriff's 
Department said the county has seen a  noticeable decline. "We used 
to routinely come  across labs, whether they were mobile labs in 
vehicles or labs in people's houses," Ganschow said. "Those  kinds of 
things have really slowed down dramatically in  the past year or so, 
ever since that task force took  hold and they started arresting people."

Ganschow also credits legislators for making it harder  to obtain 
meth precursors. "They really put a  serious dent in the local 
supply," Ganschow said.

The problem is not yet solved, Ganschow suggested. He  said the meth 
trade could be much more organized, and  it could be going out of the country.

"We may have to fight it on a whole different  level," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman