Pubdate: Wed, 01 Apr 2015
Source: News-Item, The (PA)
Copyright: 2015 The News Item
Contact:  http://www.newsitem.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3556
Author: Eric Scicchitano

DRUGS SCOURGE OUR CITY

Narcotic Arrests Already High in 2015

SHAMOKIN - Nearly half of criminal arrests made in the Shamokin area 
this year were for drug crimes.

Of 148 criminal complaints filed at the office of Magisterial 
District Judge John Gembic III through the first three months of 
2015, 62 include at least one drug charge.

Average age of the defendants is 36. Twenty-eight are male, and 15 
female. Twenty-one are repeat drug offenders.

Arrests involved drugs like heroin, prescription pain pills and 
marijuana, as well as paraphernalia including syringes and pipes. 
Charges ranged from misdemeanor possession to felony distribution.

The district court's territory is made up of Coal Township, Shamokin, 
Shamokin Township, Snydertown and Zerbe Township.

The Shamokin Police Department investigated 56 of the drug cases, 
with 23 involving heroin. The latest arrests are of three men 
connected to a heroin overdose inside a Shamokin day care Saturday night.

Cpl. Bryan Primerano is the city department's lead drug investigator. 
Although he expressed surprise at the arrest figures when contacted 
Tuesday, in general, he said drug arrests have been steady since 2009 
when the state Attorney General's Office increased local involvement.

"Now it's basically repeat arrests. It's the same ones over and over 
again," Primerano said. The city department works on some cases in 
tandem with officers from neighboring Coal Township as well as the 
Northumberland-Montour Drug Task Force, the Northumberland County 
District Attorney's Office and Pennsylvania State Police.

Shamokin Police Chief Darwin Tobias III is in his 15th year on the 
force. There are currently 10 full-time officers, including Tobias. 
He said the department does its best to "stay on top of " the local 
drug problem.

"Unfortunately, it seems like a never-ending cycle," Tobias said. "We 
see more hard core drugs now than we ever have."

Glenda Bonetti, director of Northumberland County Drug and Alcohol 
Program, said heroin and prescription pills continue to be a serious 
threat to communities everywhere.

"This particular incident," she said of Saturday's heroin overdose, 
"is an eye opener for community members to realize that there is a 
problem and those addiced will do anything, anywhere to maintain 
their high without regard for others."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom