Pubdate: Sat, 06 Jul 2013
Source: Daily Republic, The (SD)
Copyright: 2013 Forum Communications Company
Contact:  http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1320
Author: Anna Jauhola

Small Town, Big Law

JERAULD CO. CRACKS DOWN ON DRUGS

in 2009, There Were No Drug Arrests in Jerauld County. a Crackdown 
Since Then, With the Help of a Drug Dog and Aggressive Law 
Enforcement, Has Produced 52 Drug-Related Charges Since the Beginning of 2010.

WESSINGTON SPRINGS - What seemed like a routine motorist assist call 
turned into a tense, drug-related situation. Two men from Mitchell 
had been driving on a rural road in Jerauld County and got lost. 
Their vehicle got stuck in a snowbank on a dead-end road. Sheriff's 
Deputy Shane Mentzer responded to the call.

"He was out there in the middle of nowhere, 20 minutes from the 
closest backup," said Sheriff Jason Weber. "There was nearly a felony 
amount of marijuana in the vehicle, numerous weapons in the vehicle."

Mentzer said the two men had machetes, bows and arrows, and knives 
visible in the vehicle.

"When you see that, automatically, you get on edge a little," Mentzer 
said. "You pay more attention to what's going on. There was two of 
them and one of me."

The potentially dangerous situation was defused when the men admitted 
they had narcotics in the vehicle and Mentzer arrested them. He said 
there was a substantial amount of marijuana found, but not enough to 
constitute a felony charge. The men pleaded guilty in June.

Still, it served as a reminder of what has become a new reality in 
Jerauld County, a rural enclave of 2,071 residents where the county 
seat, Wessington Springs, is 40 to 50 miles from the biggest nearby 
cities of Huron and Mitchell.

Until recently, Jerauld County was also thought to be far removed 
from the state's epicenters of drug crime. In 2009, according to 
numbers from the sheriff, there were no drug-related arrests in the county.

But that has changed - so much so that in 2012, according to the 
sheriff, there were 27 drug-related charges filed in the county 
mostly in Wessington Springs.

Weber said his office records each charge as an arrest, meaning the 
filing of 27 charges does not necessarily mean 27 people were 
arrested, but likely some number less than that.

The Sheriff's Department is attacking the problem with a special 
focus on drug crimes and with new tools like a drug-sniffing dog. So 
far this year, there have been 11 drug charges filed in the county.

Weber said there was always drug activity in the county prior to him 
taking office, but it wasn't pursued as actively.

"We are being more proactive. They were here," he said of drug 
dealers and users. "They just weren't being actively investigated for 
the most part."

Canine assistance

The three-man Sheriff's Department of Weber, Mentzer and Sheriff's 
Deputy Mike Krueger - who also serves and is paid by the city of 
Wessington Springs as its police officer - has been helped since last 
year by Ajax, a Belgian Malinois dog handled by Mentzer.

In March 2012, the department received a $15,000 grant through the 
state Attorney General's Office to pay for Ajax and his training and 
supplies. The grant was made possible by the state Drug Control Fund, 
which is funded by the sale of confiscated property and seized cash 
used in drug crimes.

In June 2012, Mentzer and Ajax began their patrol together, which not 
only included sniffing out the bad guys, but also down time while 
Mentzer filled out paperwork and applied for other grants.

The sheriff's office set up a K-9 fund last year, which does not 
include any tax dollars, Sheriff Weber said.

Aside from the original grant, the office has received other grants 
from the Attorney General's Office to purchase canine supplies, drug 
test kits and other supplies needed for drug investigations.

"The Attorney General's Office and DCI have been superb," Weber said.

Otherwise, the K-9 fund has been supplemented by donations from the 
community. The local veterinary clinic has not only donated food, 
medicine and accessories such as a collar for Ajax, but the 
veterinarian also offered to donate time in the event the dog is ill 
and needs medical attention.

Link Snacks Inc., or LSI, in Alpena, has also donated to the fund.

People throughout Wessington Springs are aware Ajax is part of the 
sheriff's team, but few are willing to talk openly about the rise of 
drug arrests in the area. Nobody interviewed during a recent trip to 
Wessington Springs would speak on the record about the issue.

One woman said she's heard Ajax has made a big difference.

Another woman commented that she'd watched law enforcement take boxes 
full of evidence from a home down the block from her.

"That house is now empty," she said. "I had heard the Sheriff's 
Office had picked up people for drugs."

Arrest numbers affected

According to Weber's statistics, in 2009, the Sheriff's Department 
filed no drug-related charges. That was followed by four in 2010, 10 
in 2011, 27 in 2012 and 11 so far this year.

Drug arrests are also up statewide. According to the annual Crime in 
South Dakota report, arrests for drug offenses increased 17 percent 
for all of South Dakota in 2012, with 4,584 drug arrests reported 
compared to 3,908 reported in 2011.

Weber, Mentzer and Krueger are Wessington Springs natives. When Weber 
joined the department in 2005, he said he dealt with more juvenile 
issues in general, not necessarily drug-related issues. Recently, he 
and his deputies have spent many extra hours chasing drug activity 
caused by adults.

Weber said the kids in Wessington Springs are respectful and stay 
mostly out of trouble. That has a lot to do with the school district, 
he said, noting his department hasn't dealt with much drug activity 
at the school.

Mostly, the sheriff and deputies are finding local adults dealing and 
doing drugs. A few people have moved to town and brought drugs with 
them, Weber said.

When he was elected sheriff in 2011, Weber made the decision to crack 
down on drug activity. That's when he hired Mentzer, who had the same idea.

Weber said since they've worked to clean up drugs in Wessington 
Springs, associated crimes like burglary, theft and assaults have 
also gone down.

"We haven't investigated a burglary for a long time," Weber said.

Mentzer said he used to monitor constant traffic through town until 3 a.m.

"Activity at night has plummeted," he said. "It's just a quiet town."

It wasn't always that way. In the last 12 months, the Sheriff's 
Department has executed several search warrants for drug activity. 
Many residences they searched were located in school zones and near 
parks, Weber said. One arrest included a man who moved to town and 
two days later was arrested for meth in the middle of the afternoon, 
a block from the high school.

Many arrests they've made were aided by Ajax sniffing out drugs. 
Investigations can begin simply because Ajax detects the odor of 
narcotics, Mentzer said.

It can take a month or longer to investigate a drug crime before 
anyone is arrested.

"Drug crimes are often affiliated with property crimes, crimes 
against people, domestic abuse crimes," Weber said. "The impact it 
has to other crimes, the social impact, is huge."

Weber said he and his deputies have been concentrating on drug issues 
in Wessington Springs for the last year.

"When we first got the dog, our intentions were to clean up the local 
drug crimes with local people, then we'd get on the interstate drug 
trafficking," Weber said, referring to drugs coming in from other states.

"But we just haven't had time," Mentzer said. "I've barely been out of town."

The Sheriff's Department has spent much of its time busting criminals 
for methamphetamines, marijuana and prescription pills.

In many drug-related cases, Weber and Mentzer have seen homes in 
disrepair, children neglected and people generally not contributing to society.

They have seized two vehicles and some cash that were involved in drug crimes.

"When we seize a vehicle, that is eventually sold by the state and 
the money goes back into the (state) drug fund," Weber said.

Small department, big effort

The three-man Sheriff's Department is the only law enforcement in the 
county's 533 square miles, so it's accustomed to being stretched. But 
when the sheriff and deputies decided to tackle drug issues, they 
didn't think it would be so difficult.

"I've found it's a way tougher issue to address than I ever dreamed," 
Mentzer said. "It's taken way more time and effort."

He said a drug investigation could begin at 12:30 a.m. with Weber, 
Mentzer and Krueger on scene. They may not get a search warrant until 
8 a.m., at which time one of them may be out of time for their shift. 
The two left over will execute the search warrant.

"The next thing you know, it's dinner time the next day and you 
haven't been to bed yet," Mentzer said.

Weber said in many cases, the long hours are required because, 
especially with a drug arrest, information can immediately move an 
investigation in an entirely different direction. There's no putting 
off that information, Weber said. They act on it right away or risk 
losing a lead.

"We're finding having a three-man department, and effectively doing 
this, is a huge strain," Weber said. "But it's worth it."

Weber added that Mentzer's self-motivation is what keeps him inspired 
to continue investigating drug crimes.

"I just want to stress how dedicated my officers have been, 
specifically Shane, in investigating these crimes," Weber said.

On top of doing three-day investigations with little rest, Weber said 
his department is still covering other issues throughout the county.

"We can't just say, 'The barking dogs, or the accidents, fires and 
emergencies have to wait.' We still have to respond to them," he said.

The state Division of Criminal Investigation has been helpful. Weber 
said within three hours, in most cases, one to three DCI agents have 
been on scene to help his department with a drug-related case.

Oftentimes, the three local officers work more hours than what 
they're paid for. Mentzer, for example, typically donates his time 
for training done with Ajax - both at home and when he went to Pierre 
for initial training. Weber said both his deputies respond if he 
needs assistance, even if they are out of town on vacation or for training.

"My first week of K-9 training, I received a call from Jason at 10:20 
p.m. It was a drug overdose death," Mentzer said. "I had already 
settled down for the night in the hotel. I packed up the dog and our 
stuff and responded to assist. From Pierre. That's 110 miles from here."

Prescription pills

Drugs have always been somewhat of an issue in Jerauld County, Weber 
said. Many drugs come from outside sources and nearby large towns, 
like Mitchell and Huron. Drugs like meth and marijuana are brought 
into town and prescription drugs are typically acquired locally.

Inside the Jerauld County Sheriff's Office evidence room, plastic 
evidence bags are filled with marijuana pipes, aluminum cans used to 
smoke meth, small baggies of white powder and crystal substances. One 
large bag in particular contains at least 20 prescription pill 
bottles, some of which were labeled, others that were not.

Misuse or illegal possession of prescription drugs are the most 
difficult cases to prove, Mentzer said.

"You have to catch a person with a pill in their possession and prove 
they don't have a prescription for it," he said.

In some cases, they've been lucky. During the execution of a search 
warrant, Mentzer and Weber found, in plain sight, a plate on top of a 
microwave covered in a white powdery substance.

"It was crushed prescription pills," Mentzer said. "It was a dinner 
plate full of powder. They even had a credit card there they were 
drawing lines with."

Lying next to the plate were tubes the criminals used to snort the powder.

Some of the prescription pills they've found include oxycodone and 
hydrocodone, both pain killers, and Ritalin and Adderall, both drugs 
to control attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

When Ajax smells an illegal narcotic, he signals to Mentzer, 
typically by sitting. This gives Mentzer probable cause for searching 
a vehicle or home without a warrant, he said, a crucial role Ajax has played.

"We've made arrests where people told us, 'You weren't going to catch 
us on the road or out in the community because we knew you'd get us 
with that dog,' " Weber said.

The last arrest his department made was in March. The people they 
arrested said, "We knew you were coming for us because you've gotten 
everyone else."

Rumors about LSI

There are rumors that Link Snacks Inc., the Jack Link's jerky plant 
that employs 800 workers in the small Jerauld County town of Alpena, 
population 286, has been the primary driver of the drug problem 
because of the hundreds of commuters it brings into the county every workday.

Weber said those rumors are false.

Although the Jerauld County Sheriff's Office has dealt with a few 
drug arrests at LSI, Weber said the plant and its workers are not a 
main source of the county's drug problem.

"They don't cause a spike in crime at all," Weber said. "When there's 
an issue, it has gone through our office. Nothing has been swept 
under the carpet."

The times LSI has had issues, officials contacted the Sheriff's 
Office. LSI wants to run an efficient business to make a quality 
product, Weber said, adding that LSI has been "extremely supportive" 
during investigations and in keeping drugs out of the plant.

"They're not a kingpin for drugs in the county. They're not some sort 
of hub for drugs," Weber said. "They're not a focus for us. They're 
not the reason we got a drug dog."

LSI's Chief Financial Officer John Hermeier said the company has a 
no-tolerance drug policy.

"As the largest employer in Jerauld County, LSI has a strong 
commitment to the safety, health, welfare and productivity of our 
employees," Hermeier said via email.

"We do not tolerate or condone substance abuse of any kind and place 
a premium on maintaining a safe and clean workplace."

On to the highways

Mentzer said he's excited now that drug problems have been addressed 
in Wessington Springs, and he is eager to patrol the highways in 
Jerauld County.

He said the next step is to get on state Highway 34, which runs east 
and west through the county, and on U.S. Highway 281, which runs 
north and south through the county.

Highway 34 spans all the way across South Dakota and Highway 281 is a 
main artery from Canada to Mexico. Those are the main roads drug 
traffickers likely travel through the county, Mentzer said.

"Just in talking with other drug agents, we believe more drug 
traffickers are moving off the interstates and onto two-lanes," he 
said. Weber agreed. "Drug traffickers do anything, take whatever road 
possible. However they think they can get by with it," Weber said. 
The goal for the Jerauld County Sheriff's Office is to make it as 
difficult as possible for people to access drugs. "If the supply 
can't get to the source, then we don't have an issue," Weber said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom