Mississippi has one of the highest inmate incarceration rates in the country, and the state's prison population keeps growing, amid concern about pending budget woes and a shortage of inmate beds. Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said his staff expected the inmate population to grow by 594 between July 1 and June 30, 2007. Instead, the inmate tally hit 610 additional prisoners Dec. 10. "I can't tell you what the next six months is going to bring," Epps said. House Corrections Chairman Bennett Malone, D-Carthage, said the number of empty beds in state prisons went from about 1,200 earlier this year to fewer than 200, Malone said. [continues 702 words]
It has become a familiar scene on the evening news across the country: Neighbors watch in stunned silence as police raid the house next door and the nice couple who for the most part kept to themselves is hauled away for running a methamphetamine lab in their basement. How could this happen, the neighbors ask, in our neighborhood? Isn't this the kind of thing you only see . . . somewhere else? Compared to marijuana, heroin or cocaine, methamphetamine, or "meth" as it is commonly known, is relatively new in the headlines. But this drug has had a tremendous and terrible impact in a short time. [continues 753 words]
Public Safety Commissioner George Phillips was right to reverse a recommendation to cut funding for the state's largest narcotics task force. A committee appointed by Phillips earlier turned down a $228,000 grant application for the North Central Narcotics Task Force, citing a cut in federal funding to the state. The U.S. Department of Justice cut the state's funding from $5.3 million to about $2 million, saying money was shifted from drugs to homeland security needs. That is a shortsighted shift in priorities, especially for rural states like Mississippi. Much crime is driven by drugs, as Phillips points out. Federal funding is needed for this overwhelming task. Second District U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Bolton, will be assuming chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee and says he supports restoring the law enforcement grant funding. That would help Mississippi do what it must to fight drugs. [end]
Is America giving up on the "drug war" in favor of fighting the war in Iraq? Mississippi's 14 multijurisdictional narcotics task forces were told on Sept. 29 that their federal funding was being cut. Cuts are blamed on the Iraq war. The U.S. Justice Department's Byrne Justice Assistance Grant used to fund the task forces has dropped from $5.3 million in 2003 to about $2 million this year, forcing some to shut down already. It's particularly acute in the Delta, where the state's largest task force - the eight-county North Central Narcotics Task Force - is losing its $280,000. It netted 162 drug arrests in the past fiscal year. [continues 132 words]
Owner Also Forbidden From Providing 'Harassing' Information Jackson officials are prohibited from referring to a Virden Addition duplex the mayor allegedly damaged as a crack house, Hinds County Circuit Judge Tomie T. Green ruled Tuesday. "Unfettered use of the terms 'drug house,' 'crack house,' 'dope house' or 'drug distribution center' publicly and before the media has the effect of unfairly swaying the opinions of potential jurors who may be called upon to try the issue in related litigation," Green wrote in her ruling. [continues 664 words]
You and your law-abiding neighbors in Mississippi might be just one street address away from a life-threatening, midnight raid by a local paramilitary police unit. As these so-called SWAT squads increasingly become America's favored search warrant delivery service, bungled raids - including many to the wrong address - have skyrocketed. In these assaults on private property, scores of innocent citizens, police officers and nonviolent offenders have died. In a recent CATO Institute report titled "Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America," Radley Balko describes how, "Over the last 25 years, America has seen a disturbing militarization of its civilian law enforcement, along with a dramatic and unsettling rise in the use of paramilitary police units (most commonly called Special Weapons and Tactics, or SWAT) for routine police work. The most common use of SWAT teams today is to serve narcotics warrants, usually with forced, unannounced entry into the home." [continues 436 words]
As a retired police officer with 18 years experience, I am surprised that in 2006 you still say that "crime is driven by drugs" ("Budget cuts: What happened to drug 'war?' " Oct. 5 editorial). It is the prohibition of drugs which causes 75 percent of felony crime - not the use. If we were as wise as our grandparents and ended the new prohibition, we would experience a tremendous drop in felony crime. Also, a serious drop in DUI deaths would result because then officers could focus on drunk drivers instead of Willie Nelson. As Thomas Paine wrote in The American Crisis in 1776: "Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it." Howard J. Wooldridge Member Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Frederick, Md. [end]
The News That Two Drug Task Forces In Mississippi Are Shutting Down Couldn't Come At A Worse Time. Crime is on the increase, nationally and here in Mississippi. Much of the crime is driven by drugs. It is a problem not limited to urban areas. In fact, rural areas of the state have unique and difficult drug problems that require special enforcement. Yet, at the time crime is on an increase, much-needed federal grant money is being cut. The North Central Narcotics Task force and the Metro Narcotics Unit in DeSoto County have been informed that the federal grant money that funds the state's 14 narcotics units is drying up. [continues 151 words]
Two drug task forces in the state will be shut down because of cuts in a federal grant program. Law enforcement representatives for the eight-county North Central Narcotics Task Force and the Metro Narcotics Unit in DeSoto County received word this week that they had lost their funding. At least six employees of the North Central Narcotics Task Force will be left without a job. "We kind of knew it was eventually going to come," said DeSoto County Sheriff's Department spokesman Chief Steve Atkinson. "We didn't know it was going to be this year." [continues 536 words]
Cory Maye's version of an incident five years ago sounds like a compelling argument for the Castle Doctrine, the controversial law that gives Mississippians broader authority to defend their homes and other property. Maye said he was home with his 18-month-old daughter when he fell asleep in a chair. He said he was awakened by what he believed were intruders and, like most people, wanted to protect his home and his family. He reached for a nearby handgun and shot Ron Jones as Jones entered Maye's duplex. [continues 428 words]
Jackson lawyer Rhonda Cooper said Monday she did her job in defending Cory Maye of Prentiss, who was convicted of killing a police officer in a 2001 drug raid. "I was trying to save somebody's life," she said. "It was do or die." On Thursday, Circuit Judge Michael Eubanks ruled that Maye should be removed from death row, concluding that Cooper did not represent her client adequately during the penalty phase of Maye's trial. Eubanks overturned the sentence and ordered a new sentencing hearing for Maye, who fatally wounded Prentiss police officer Ron Jones. The judge said he would rule later on the other matters raised by Maye's new defense team. [continues 605 words]
Charges 'Silly,' Political, Says Attorney Jackson Mayor Frank Melton's attorney said the fiery, first-term mayor would not resign and called three grand jury indictments handed down Friday "silly" and "politically motivated." Melton, 56, turned himself in to authorities at the Hinds County Courthouse shortly past noon, after a specially convened grand jury indicted him on five felony charges related to the Aug. 26 partial destruction of a west Jackson duplex, along with three gun violations, one of which is a felony. If found guilty, Melton faces up to 50 years in prison. Marcus Wright, 30, and Michael Recio, 37, Jackson police detectives and Melton's bodyguards, also were indicted on five felony charges related to destruction of the duplex. [continues 1412 words]
Jackson City Council President Ben Allen was actually insightful in explaining his logic for wimpish inaction instead of taking a stand against Mayor Frank Melton. "This isn't Iraq. This is the United States of America . . . We are the legislative branch of government. We are not the Gestapo," Allen said in explaining why he joined three colleagues in deciding not to investigate the mayor's possible participation in the partial demolition of a Virden Addition duplex. That this is Jackson, not Baghdad or Moscow, is precisely the point. Citizens by law are afforded due process and a presumption of innocence and not subjected to financial penalties based on suspicion, even if it's the mayor. [continues 382 words]
CARROLLTON, ALA. -- A state judge arrested on methamphetamine charges in Mississippi resigned after being indicted on similar charges in Alabama, where authorities said they found the drug in his office. Pickens County District Judge Ira Colvin said in a letter delivered to the presiding judge in the west Alabama circuit, James Moore, that he was stepping down for personal reasons."I regret any inconvenience this may cause you. Thank you for your consideration," wrote Colvin. Colvin quit on Monday, or two days after District Attorney Chris McCool said a grand jury had indicted Colvin on charges of methamphetamine possession after investigators discovered a small amount of the drug in his office in Carrollton, located near the Mississippi line. [continues 95 words]
Has the federal government given up on the Drug War? Is it raising the white flag and admitting defeat in attempting to curb crimes involving illegal drugs? Or is it simply saying to local communities and states: You pay the cost. Those are logical questions since Mississippi's 14 local drug task forces have been asked to trim grant requests by 25 percent because of federal funding cuts. Federal assistance to local law enforcement in Mississippi during the Bush administration has dipped from almost $5.3 million in 2003 to just more than $2 million this year. Federal officials say the funds are being shifted to fight terrorism. [continues 120 words]
New Tactic Vs. Youth Crime Brittany Weathersby, 10, carefully etched two sentences into her workbook about the day's lesson. "I learned that it's better to make good decisions than bad decisions. I learned that D.A.R.E. stands for drugs," she said Thursday. Drug prevention education kicked off this week in the Hinds County School District and a program geared toward older students - G.R.E.A.T. - will accompany the traditional D.A.R.E. program this year. [continues 473 words]
Students In Some Activities To Get Random Checks Madison County will perform more random drug tests on middle and high school students this year. The district has decided to test 25 percent of each school's projected enrollments, up from the 10 to 15 percent tested this past year. Random drug tests are performed on students who participate in extracurricular activities that engage in competition, such as yearbook, newspaper, band, cheerleading, athletics and choir. "The rationale (behind the testing) is to give kids a reason to say no if they're tempted," Superintendent Mike Kent said. "The more the tests are widely available, the more reason there is to say no." [continues 370 words]
Five members of the Aryan Brotherhood have been arrested for allegedly being involved in a methamphetamine ring that was directed from inside a Mississippi prison, the U.S. AttorneyThe investigation started in 2004 when correctional officers heard through telephone monitoring and confidential informants about the ring, MDOC Commissioner Chris Epps said. The scheme lasted for about a year, Luzinski said. He added there may be another arrest. The investigation is ongoing.'s office said Thursday. Several imprisoned members of the white supremacist prison gang allegedly enlisted the assistance of former inmates and criminal co-conspirators outside of the prison to produce and distribute the drug. [continues 159 words]
Regarding Perspective Editor Sid Salter's June 11 article ("Miss.: 25 years of AIDS"), needle exchanges have been shown to reduce the spread of HIV without increasing drug use. They also serve as a bridge to drug treatment for an especially hard-to-reach population. Drug users are not the only beneficiaries. U.S. Centers for Disease Control researchers estimate that 57 percent of AIDS cases among women and 36 percent of overall AIDS cases in the United States are linked to injection drug use or sex with partners who inject drugs. [continues 61 words]
Robin Webb doesn't dodge tough questions about AIDS. He's a veteran. Webb, 49, of Jackson has been carrying the AIDS virus for the last 15 years after contracting the disease from what he said was "some sexual activity" in the 1980s. "I remember those horrible early days in the 1980s when this (AIDS) affected almost everyone I knew," said Webb. "So many people died, so many suffered and all of us were treated like outcasts." Today, Webb manages his illness as a chronic disease utilizing drugs that cost over $3,000 a month. "I'm on Medicaid and right now I'm getting what I need to fight the disease." [continues 905 words]
At least 6,032 Mississippians have contracted AIDS since 1981 and 3,033 have died from it. Mississippi's death rate from AIDS is 7 per 100,000 residents, while the national AIDS death rate is 4.7. Three of four Mississippians who have contracted AIDS are male, but the fastest-growing AIDS diagnosis category is females. Some 55 percent of Mississippians with AIDS got it from male-to-male sex or injection drug use, but one in five contracted it from heterosexual contact. [continues 261 words]
ROBINSONVILLE -- Drug testing in schools is an effective tool to identify children who need help and deter illegal drug use, one of the nation's top drug control policy advisers told a conference of Mississippi drug court judges, staff and treatment providers on Thursday. "We have this disease and it is being spread from child to child,"said Scott M. Burns, deputy director for State and Local Affairs in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Prevention is the most effective approach, Burns said. [continues 247 words]
TUNICA -- One of the nation's top drug control policy advisers is calling for random drug testing in schools to deter substance abuse and will identify children who need help. But a number of Mississippi officials were skeptical about due process and privacy issues that accompany such testing. "We have this disease, and it is being spread from child to child," said Scott M. Burns, the deputy director for state and local affairs in the White House's office of national drug control policy. [continues 241 words]
Couple Hospitalized After Police Burst Into Home Looking For Meth An unidentified elderly Horn Lake couple were hospitalized Thursday after police burst into their home thinking it housed a methamphetamine laboratory. The incident occurred Wednesday about 4 a.m., said police Capt. Shannon Beshears. Beshears said it was the right address, but the wrong house. Beshears said a heavily armed Tactical Apprehension Containment Team stormed the house. "We had good information from a reliable source that had been backed up by a purchase of narcotics linked to the address," he said. "However, when we arrived at the designated address, there were two houses on the lot. We hit the larger of the two houses." [continues 252 words]
After reading your front page article ("Lawmakers from Delta to offer bills to help area," Jan. 6), I could not help but wonder how many more task forces, studies and millions upon millions of hardworking taxpayers' money is it going to take for the people of this state to realize the real problem of the Delta. Too many of our young people are dropping out of school and too many who drop out are using and/or dealing drugs, mainly crack, leading to other crimes. This lowers of the quality of life for all in the area. [continues 67 words]
BRANDON -- The county's two school districts and a nonprofit group will split a $527,181 federal grant to fund the districts' random drug-testing policies for the next three years. District officials are still deciding how the money will be divided. The districts will share about $104,000 for each of the next three years, while DREAM Inc. in Pearl will receive a total of $213,000 to oversee the program. The Pearl and Rankin districts' drug-testing policies, approved in April and May respectively, randomly test students in extracurricular activities and those that signed up for voluntary testing. [continues 425 words]
She changed her plans from teaching junior high students to doing undercover drug purchases at the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. She kept her job a secret for five years to shield her family from potential danger. And she recognizes the importance of stepping out of Jackson Mayor Frank Melton's shadow to show the public who calls the shots at the state's largest police department. Since her confirmation as police chief in July, Shirlene Anderson has re-organized JPD's command staff and cut 18 positions at the department. [continues 1083 words]
The Rankin County and Pearl school districts have completed two rounds of random drug testing without a single positive test. District officials are praising the policy's effectiveness while waiting to hear if federal funds will help pay for the program. More than 130 students in the districts were randomly tested in August and September, officials said. "With that many testing negative, compared to other school districts, I think it works as a great deterrent so far," said Justin Hallett, the Rankin County district employee who helped draft the drug-testing policy. Rankin County schools adopted a drug-testing policy in May after the Pearl district approved its policy in April. Fewer than 10 districts statewide have policies. [continues 138 words]
The Amite County School Board has amended a student drug-testing policy to require the mandatory testing of students who receive out-of-school suspension or who have been expelled. The change applies to students in 7th through 12th grade who are suspended or expelled from school for more than 10 days. In June, the school board adopted a drug policy subjecting students in grades 7 through 12 who participate in extracurricular activities to drug testing. Football players underwent drug tests on Monday during their physicals. [continues 56 words]
BRANDON -- As the school year opens, educators anticipate teens waiting outside their offices to be disciplined for misbehavior. But the youths won't be waiting for their school's principal. They'll be waiting to stand before Rankin County Youth Court Judge Thomas Broome. Summer is over, and the county's Juvenile Justice Center is bustling, readying itself for the busy season. "Kids are being monitored more by teachers during the school year," said Paul Bowen, Youth Court administrator. "The school district is in a position to make referrals to the Youth Court." [continues 287 words]
Narcotics Officials Say Manufacturers Difficult To Locate In Rural Areas COLUMBUS -- Although marijuana and cocaine are still problems, the growing prevalence of methamphetamine presents difficult challenges to narcotics officers, Lowndes County law enforcement officials say. "Marijuana is still the most popularly used drug, and cocaine is still common, but the big problem now is meth," said Tammy Prescott, public relations specialist with the Lowndes County Sheriff's Department. "Two years ago, Lowndes County had the most meth labs in the state of Mississippi, but we took them down and ran a lot of them off." [continues 371 words]
Gov. Haley Barbour named Marshall Fisher head of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics in June. Fisher has worked in law enforcement for 28 years, first in theTyler, Texas, police department before moving to the DEA. Shortly after busting several men in San Antonio for cooking crack cocaine on a kitchen stove, Marshall Fisher sat holding a 2-year-old boy in diapers on his lap. Tears rolled down the toddler's cheeks as he watched drug-enforcement officers put handcuffs on his father and uncle. [continues 416 words]
CANTON -- Three teenagers became the first to complete a Madison County program designed to combat juvenile substance abuse. One of the graduates is a 17-year-old college-bound freshmen who scored 32 on the ACT. Another has obtained his GED, and the third was excused from the ceremony because he had just begun working at a full-time job. His mother accepted his diploma. U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett, a former circuit judge who founded the state's first felony adult Drug Court in 1999 in Lincoln, Pike and Walthall counties, spoke at the first graduation ceremony for the Madison County Juvenile Drug Court. [continues 277 words]
$474 Million Loss Nationwide Has Officials Worrying About Future The loss this year of a $474 million federal grant program to combat drug crimes nationwide has Mississippi law officers wondering how they will keep up the fight in their communities. The seven-member Smith County Sheriff's Department stands to lose $21,000 because federal Byrne Grants, which are intended for violent and drug-related crimes, will be taken away from law enforcement programs and diverted to homeland security programs. "In a little rural county like ours, that almost cuts the drug agent out," Smith County Sheriff Charlie Crumpton said. [continues 314 words]
Officials Hope Random Testing In Various Activities Will Cut Down On Drug Use Dusty Acy, a senior on the power-lifting team at McLaurin High School, can bench press 330 pounds. Tyler Sanders, a ninth-grader at Northwest Rankin High, is more comfortable lifting pawns and queens as an award-winning chess player. Sanders and Acy might not have much in common, but both will be subject to random drug testing under a Rankin County School District policy starting this fall. [continues 505 words]
CANTON - A program to teach Canton students about the dangers of substance abuse looks like it will be able to continue this fall, even though its grant runs out then. The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency of Central Mississippi has run different programs reaching more than 1,000 students in three schools under a three-year federal grant that runs out Sept. 30. But, council director Hugh Barkley said the programs under Project CORD (Canton Organizes to Reduce Drugs) should be able to continue within a strict budget. [continues 244 words]
Authorities Say Son Of Ex-Police Chief Had "Club Drug" At His Home A Biloxi police officer has been charged with selling Ecstasy and having the illegal drug in his beachfront home. Darrell Cvitanovich Jr., 35, was being held Friday in a protective unit at the Harrison County Adult Detention Center after his arrest. The patrol and K-9 officer, who also is the son of a former police chief, has worked at the Biloxi Police Department for more than 10 years. [continues 225 words]
Marshall Fisher, Who Starts Monday, Has Spent 28 Years In Law Enforcement Gov. Haley Barbour on Friday named a career lawman and drug agent as the director of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. Marshall Fisher, 53, most recently was the Drug Enforcement Administration's assistant special agent in charge of Mississippi. He started his law enforcement career 28 years ago at Tyler, Texas, Police Department. Fisher, who begins his MBN job on Monday, replaces George Phillips, who became Mississippi Department of Public Safety commissioner on May 1. Fisher bio [continues 381 words]
PURVIS - The Lamar County Sheriff's Department will keep its DARE program solvent, buy several new cruisers and pay for other expenses - all without asking taxpayers for a dime. The money to pay for the projects will come from the seizure of a large amount of cash during an August 2004 traffic stop on I-59. Derryle Smith of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency on Friday gave Lamar County Sheriff Danny Rigel $195,315 of the original $244,220 that was seized in the stop. DEA will get the remainder of the money. [continues 226 words]
As a father of two high school teenagers, I agree with letter writer Todd Gatlin ("Don't tie any drug tests to activities," April 21). Suggestions that we should force urine testing of our teenagers without cause should be opposed by all parents who view such practices with disdain. It's clear most parents object to the idea of coercing such bodily fluid samples from their teenagers. Only 19 percent of public schools have drug-testing policies and just a third of those - about 6 percent of all schools - do such "random" testing without probable cause. [continues 179 words]
The Amite County School District is considering a student drug-testing policy similar to those used in other area districts. Under the proposal presented by Superintendent of Education Charles Kirkfield at a board meeting Thursday, seventh-through 12th-grade students involved in extracurricular activities would be subject to weekly random testing for illicit drugs and alcohol. School officials could also order tests of students believed to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. "It's targeting the athletes and the extracurricular kids," said board member Jimmy Burns. "I'm in favor of it. It's sad to say, the way people are in general ... students, adults, the general public, drugs are out there. People use them." Students testing positive would be suspended from extracurricular activities for two weeks and the student and/or guardian must attend two counseling sessions during the suspension. [continues 149 words]
LUCEDALE - Idice Terry's dream of a drug-free life has come true with two years of sobriety behind her and a diploma that shows she is one of nine to graduate from the drug court program in Jackson, George and Greene counties. "This program basically raised me all over again," Terry said Thursday before the drug court's first-ever graduation. The program started in south Mississippi in 2002 at the direction of Senior Circuit Judge Kathy King Jackson. Terry credits Jackson and Joanne Byrd, the court's coordinator, for leading her to a life that no longer includes crack cocaine or crystal methamphetamine and other drugs. "I owe that woman (Jackson) my life," she said. "If she hadn't started this program, there would've been nowhere else for me to go. I really feel like I owe her and Joanne and my mom. My mom was a big supporter. I can never give back to them what they gave me." [continues 302 words]
District's Policy One Of The Strictest In State, Officials Say Rankin County School Board members on Wednesday gave final approval to what school officials have called one of the most aggressive student drug-testing programs in the state. Reaction from parents and students have been generally positive, school officials say. "I think it will knock a lot of kids out of extracurricular activities next year, but in the long term it's probably a good idea," said Chris Walt, a junior soccer player at Northwest Rankin. [continues 571 words]
Little scientific research has been done to determine the effectiveness of drug-testing programs in schools, but anecdotal evidence and studies suggest that such programs do deter adolescent drug use. The Rankin County School District hopes testing will be the answer as board members move toward approving a policy. If board members sign off on the drug-testing program on Wednesday, Rankin will become the third metro-area district and one of at least eight in the state to adopt testing. [continues 94 words]
I respectfully disagree with your April 14 editorial ("Drug screening: School gives students a choice," April 14). Student involvement in after-school activities like sports has been shown to reduce drug use. Activities keep kids busy during the hours they are most likely to get into trouble. Forcing students to undergo degrading urine tests as a prerequisite will only discourage participation. Drug testing may also compel marijuana users to switch to harder drugs to avoid testing positive. Despite a short-lived high, marijuana is the only illegal drug that stays in the human body long enough to make urinalysis a deterrent. [continues 121 words]
As for drug testing students with extracurricular activities, why should kids who give back to the school be the only ones tested, when kids who give nothing back go untested ("Rankin plans strict drug testing," April 14)? Doesn't sound right to me. Todd Gatlin, Memphis, Tenn. [end]
I don't often find myself in agreement with the ACLU, but I'm not sold on the idea of random drug testing that seems to be gaining favor in more Mississippi schools. Last week, both Pearl and Rankin County school districts announced various forms of random testing. Officials in Rankin say their policy would be among the strictest in the state, giving them the authority to search kids if there is the suspicion of drugs. Mostly, the policies at both school districts -- similar to ones in Tupelo, Madison, Petal and other places -- call for random testing of students involved in extracurricular activities which, some studies suggest, is the group least likely to use drugs. [continues 511 words]
School Gives Students A Choice A few might argue with Pearl High School's new policy that random drug-testing infringes on students' privacy rights, but it shouldn't carry a whole lot of weight. Beginning in August, the policy - similar to ones in Tupelo, McComb and Madison school districts - gives students a choice. If you want to participate in extracurricular activities like sports, band, cheerleading, dance, etc., then you'll accept random drug and alcohol screenings. Most employers today have some kind of chemical abuse policy, especially where a job can cause injury to others. There must be a balance between individual liberty and the good of the whole, and children deserve utmost protection. [continues 121 words]
4,000 Student Screenings Expected Next Year Rankin County School Board members on Wednesday approved a preliminary version of what school officials called one of the most aggressive drug-testing programs in the state. The district's decision came two days after the Pearl School Board voted to approve a random drug-testing policy. "We want to do everything we can to reverse the trend of drug use in our schools," Superintendent Lynn Weathersby said. The Pearl and Rankin policies both will randomly test students who participate in extracurricular activities, seventh through 12th grades. But also, any of the Rankin district's students in those grades will be subject to testing if a school official has "reasonable suspicion." [continues 827 words]
Narcotics Bureau Rides Again? The Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics has long had the reputation of being something of a rogue agency in state law enforcement, outside the bounds of normal protocols. It certainly hasn't helped its cause with the embarrassment coming to light of MBN searching the homes of two Yazoo County lawmen March 18, based on an unsubstantiated tip and leading to a seething Sheriff James Williams. "The search warrant was bogus. I don't know what they were looking for, and it caused the guys a lot of embarrassment," Williams said, predicting: "There will be a lot of mistrust with the MBN. They are supposed to be helping us, and it seems like they are trying to bust us." [continues 115 words]
