POLICE SEEK HELP IN FIGHTING DRUG ABUSE

Yellowstone County law enforcement officials Tuesday evening
encouraged residents to take action in drug prevention and education.

At the fourth annual Education and Action Meth Conference, U.S.
Marshal Dwight MacKay, Yellowstone County District Attorney Dennis
Paxinos, Billings Police Chief Rich St. John and Yellowstone County
Undersheriff Jay Bell held a panel discussion with several dozen
community members on drug enforcement in the county.

Methamphetamine is the No. 1 drug problem in Billings, St. John said,
and local, state and federal agencies have been working together for
several years to curb drug-related crimes in Montana. In 2007, task
forces made up of police, sheriffs, U.S. Marshals and other agencies
seized in Yellowstone County more than 3 pounds of meth. They have
seized about 1.13 pounds of the drug so far in 2008.

Attendees were presented with an array of stats about the use of meth
and other drugs in Yellowstone County. Bell said 70 to 80 percent of
the inmates at the county jail are either there because of drugs or
have substance abuse problems. He said the jail offers treatment
services and has contracted with Rimrock Foundation to send some
low-risk inmates to treatment facilities. MacKay said about
three-quarters of the inmates in federal custody from Yellowstone
County are in on meth-related charges. However, Montana's drug
problem is not only the responsibility of law enforcement, Paxinos
said. The effects of meth reach far into the community, from kids in
schools to the economy to families of people with drug convictions.

"It's a societal thing," Paxinos said. "We have to address it and
take community action."

The panel recommended that parents get involved early and often in
educating children about the dangers of drugs, especially meth.

High schools and middle schools throughout the county have school
resource officers to provide education, St. John said, but there
isn't the manpower to assign an officer to every elementary. MacKay
said that is an excellent opportunity for parents and concerned
residents to take the time to educate themselves and then, in turn,
go to the elementary schools to educate children.

"Take our communities back and help police the police," he said.

The drug unit in Yellowstone County is part of a federal program to
coordinate drug enforcement efforts among local, state and federal
agencies called High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas. The
Yellowstone County unit works with the Rocky Mountain HIDTA, which
covers Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah.

"It's really a combined effort," Bell said.

Much of the efforts through HIDTA focus on arresting mid-to
high-level dealers with the intention of prosecuting them on the
federal level, which has established mandatory minimum sentences for
drug traffickers.