The undercover police officer whose work was instrumental in the Aug. 10 arrests of 14 adults and 8 juveniles charged with dealing drugs is stepping out of his disguise.

Officer Wayne Thomas, a 2005 graduate of Pardeeville High School, was studying criminal justice at Madison Area Technical College in Madison when the Wisconsin Dells Police Department recruited him for the undercover work.

'We just interviewed him and talked to him and thought that he was young enough," said Wisconsin Dells Police Chief Bret Anderson.

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Law enforcement and neighborhood residents in Wisconsin are looking for nontraditional ways to rid their communities of drug users.

Pinning property owners with the responsibility of curbing drug use on their property is becoming a recent trend in drug abuse abatement in the state.

A neighborhood program implemented in November 2003 in Sheboygan supplies landlords with suggestions on how to rid drug users from their property. Ultimately, the program strives to empower neighborhoods to file civil suits against property owners that take no action against drug-using tenants.

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Advocates for affording drug abuse treatment to nonviolent offenders as an alternative to sending them to prison pleaded their case during a news conference outside of the Brown County Courthouse on Wednesday.

There are 22 organizations in Wisconsin that support the educational endeavor, Treatment Instead of Prison, that explores the benefits of using drug abuse rehabilitation instead of sending certain offenders to prison.

The idea has been discussed in the Wisconsin Senate. A bill called the Addicted Offenders Accountability and Public Safety Act was introduced in the 2004-2005 legislative session. Wisconsin Sen. Carol Roessler was a spokesperson for a group of legislators that backed the bill.

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