OPD STING SHOWS COMMITMENT TO DRUG WAR

The 10-hour drug sting conducted last weekend by the Owensboro Police
Department should send a strong message to local drug dealers that doing
business in town is not going to come without a price.

Just as important, it sends a message to the community that our local
law enforcement is committed to proactive approaches to tackling a drug
problem that has seemingly grown nonstop in recent years.

Often, the efforts of law enforcement in fighting drugs go unnoticed
because so much of the investigations revolve around confidential and
undercover operations. Though the Owensboro Police Department has worked
more than 100 drug cases this year, the perception among some is that
not enough is being done to curtail illegal drug trafficking.

It takes a high-profile roundup like "Operation River Run" to build
public confidence in the belief that law enforcement will eventually get
a handle on this drug problem.

The operation also represented an innovative approach to fighting drugs,
something many in law enforcement have talked about being a need. The
sting was the first of its kind in Daviess County, according to
Owensboro Police Chief Allen Dixon. Sixteen officers from the street
crimes unit, evidence collection and patrol divisions participated.

Police used informants who called drug dealers from a hotel room. While
each deal was going down, officers waited in another room monitoring the
action on surveillance cameras. They entered the room and executed
arrests after drugs were distributed to informants.

The sting netted 21 arrests, and police confiscated $3,000 worth of
crack, $1,500 and five vehicles. Of more significance is what the
operation could lead to down the road, OPD Sgt. David Thompson said.

"A lot of those arrests were street dealers, and we hope it leads us to
other dealers," Thompson said.

Thompson's comments mimicked the attitude of Dixon, who pledged that
these arrests were only the beginning of what will be an ongoing drug
war initiated by city police. But if police are to be successful, they
will need the help of the public in providing information, Dixon said.

During the past eight months, Owensboro and Daviess County law
enforcement have seen a 20-plus pound marijuana bust, the largest
methamphetamine lab ever found in Kentucky, a drug roundup in the
northeast end of the city that resulted in 10 arrests, an international
shipment of ecstasy that proved part of a pipeline between here and
Bowling Green and last weekend's arrests of crack dealers.

Owensboro may be one of the safest cities in the nation, but to allow
that distinction to fool us into thinking drugs aren't a serious problem
would be overlooking the obvious. Local law enforcement have
demonstrated they are committed to stifling illegal drug trade. When
they ask for our help, as Dixon has done, we should show the same
commitment.