THREAT OF PERSONNEL CUTS PLAGUE DEU

Although cuts in funding are forcing Marshall County officials to face the
possibility of fighting an ever-growing drug problem with less personnel,
in actuality, they could really use more personnel as well as more money.

Rob Savage, director of the Marshall County Drug Enforcement Unit, who took
over command of the Unit a little more than a year ago, said dealing with
funding issues has been one of the biggest challenges he's faced since
stepping up to his current post.

At the present time, the Unit consists of one director, four agents, a
pilot and an administrative assistant. This task force is assigned with the
duty of fighting drugs in Marshall County, which, according to recent
Census numbers, has a population of about 85,000; however, some believe
that number is much higher.

Agent Phil Sims said it's his belief the population is likely closer to
100,000 because of the high number of uncounted Hispanics who have moved to
the area from countries such as Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela and many
others. Current census reports indicate the estimated Hispanic population
of Marshall County is a little more than 4,600.

Because funding for the Unit, the majority of which comes from six sources
- - the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, the four major
Marshall County cities and the Marshall County Commission - has been scarce
in recent years, due to mostly to cutbacks from ADECA, agents are doing
their best to operate with the manpower and equipment available to them.

Savage, who previously worked as a DEU agent as well as an investigator at
both the Guntersville Police Department and the Marshall County District
Attorney's Office, said a major frustration he's faced his first year as
director has been his inability to adequately follow through on leads that
come in from various sources.

"It's frustrating to receive good information but not have the manpower or
the hours to work on it. A major challenge for me has been to try and focus
our efforts where we can make the greatest impact," Savage said.

The flipside of being unable to follow through as he'd like on information
is that Savage receives calls from sources who believe he did not take them
seriously when they shared what they know with him.

"It's not that we consider the information bad or unworthy. It's simply a
matter of logistics. We are in a very difficult situation because we know
we've gotten good information, but we're limited in what we can do with
it," he said.

"But that's not to say it doesn't help," Sims added. Information which
comes in from sources often pays off because, Savage said, although it may
not be enough to bring an investigation to a close, it frequently helps to
move it forward.

As it stands now, Savage and DA Steve Marshall are hoping to retain all the
current DEU staff, even though future funding cuts could result in
personnel reductions. However, both agree the ideal would be an increase in
funds so they could hire more agents to help tackle the drug problem -
especially crystal methamphetamine, which has reached epidemic proportions.

Statistics provided by Marshall show that for 2001 a total of 417 adults
were arrested in Marshall County for possession of illegal drugs. Of that
number, 153 persons were arrested for possession of crystal meth - a figure
which indicates Marshall County made 37 percent of the meth arrests in the
state.

"To me, that's staggering. And, I believe the numbers for 2002 will be even
greater than what we saw in 2001," Marshall said.

Savage said crystal methamphetamine is the No. 1 drug enemy is Marshall
County, which statistics shows to be holding second place in the state
behind Baldwin County for the amount of meth seizures.

According to Savage, recent reports indicate, law enforcement in Baldwin
County seized during the third quarter of this year about 22,000 grams of
meth. During the same period, 16,500 grams were seized in Marshall County.

Because of the Unit's limited amount of manpower, they rely heavily upon
officers with local police departments as well as deputies with the
Marshall County Sheriff's Department to help them in their narcotics
interdiction efforts.

"It's very important we recognize the work that the police officers and
detectives in our county do. Oftentimes, they don't get the credit they
deserve, but in so many instances their initial work leads, sometimes
months later, to a major narcotics arrest.

"We get the accolades, but without what they do, we wouldn't have a lot of
the successes we do," Savage said.

Sims agreed adding, "They are a vital part of drug investigations."

In addition, the Unit and Marshall are seeking help from the community in
battling the county's drug problem.

This year, Savage has made a point of allowing the public more access to
the agents as a means of increasing awareness of what they are doing and
how parents and educators as well as students, clergy members and others
can help.

"We have really tried to make ourselves more accessible. It's important
young people especially get the opportunity to hear and see first-hand the
negative impact that meth can have in their lives. This higher profile
we've taken, I think, is important, and I hope it helps us meet our goals,"
Savage said.

Additionally, the Marshall County Methamphetamine Task Force hosted a
series of public meetings across the county, which were well-attended by
residents seeking information and help. Due to the success of the town
meetings, Marshall is planning similar events in an effort to keep the
public aware of the growing crystal meth problem.

"We've got to try and stop people from taking this the first time,"
Marshall said.