GRAMNET NAMES NEW HEAD

Garrett Wiggins to Succeed Dusty Schulze

Officers from the Greater Routt and Moffat Narcotic Enforcement Team
agree -- fighting the area's methamphetamine problem can be a thankless job.

With four officers on staff and new drug dealers popping up to
replace arrested ones throughout the Yampa Valley, the task is
daunting, the hours long and the recognition limited.

That hasn't dissuaded Garrett Wiggins, though.

Wiggins, a law enforcement veteran, has been earmarked to lead
GRAMNET, the task force announced Monday. He replaces current task
force commander Dusty Schulze, who has been promoted to sergeant of
the Craig Police Department, on Jan. 1.

"We're going to continue to target major crime and reduction of
major crime," said Wiggins, an officer with the Steamboat Springs
Police Department for five years and a deputy with the Routt County
Sheriff's Office for three. "We're going to take advantage of any
new technology that becomes available to us, and any new (funding)."

The GRAMNET board finalized Wiggins' ascension Sunday.

Wiggins, a Republican, lost a contentious race to Democrat Gary Wall
in November for Routt County Sheriff.

GRAMNET, composed of law enforcement officials and prosecutors from
Moffat, Routt and Jackson counties, is pledged with apprehending
mid- to high-level drug trafficking operations. Since August 2004,
Schulze has been at the forefront of leading the unit.

Schulze was selected to become a sergeant from a field of four
candidates, who took the sergeant's exam. He replaces Sgt. Larry
Mullen, who retired Sept. 30. Schulze said GRAMNET has made big
strides and secured a near perfect conviction rate of the suspects
arrested. Despite the at-times grueling schedule, he said the job
can "get in your blood," and that he has mixed feelings about
handing over the reins.

"I believe in the mission and the work so it's really hard for me to
leave," Schulze said. But, he added, "I'm leaving it in very capable hands."

Wiggins has been a GRAMNET officer for the previous eight to nine
months. His resume also includes a stint working for the police
department in Quincy, Fla.

He inherits an active task force, one that has made 21 arrests in
recent months, yet is continually facing funding shortfalls due to
grant cutbacks.

Wiggins said an undervalued tool in fighting the area's
methamphetamine problem is educational efforts. The task force
places a premium on delivering seminars to organizations, businesses
and residents regarding signs of meth abuse and production.

The incoming commander said those educational efforts would
continue. He extended an open invitation for anyone in the community
to contact him if they'd like to be presented with a seminar.

"We'd like to extend our hand out to all the public," he said.