PAROLEES ARE BROUGHT IN FOR SURPRISE DRUG TESTS IN BELLEVILLE

Illinois prison officials and Belleville police showed up at the homes of
25 parolees starting at 5 a.m. Thursday to pick them up for surprise drug
tests and interviews.

Police Chief Terry Delaney said three of the 25 apparently no longer lived
at the addresses they had given. Warrants were issued for their arrest.

Delaney said 11 of the 22 picked up tested positive for illegal drug use.
Five were sent to the Menard Correctional Center to await a hearing on
whether their parole will be revoked. Others were freed but with new
restrictions.

Two of those picked up were wanted on warrants issued by other
municipalities and were sent to the St. Clair County Jail to wait for
action on those charges, Delaney said.

The sweep was conducted under a state program aimed at closer checks on
parolees. Delaney said that so far, it has begun only in Belleville and
parts of Chicago.

"We plan on doing this randomly on a regular basis now," Delaney said. "The
next go 'round could be anytime."

Delaney estimates 125 parolees live in Belleville. "This is another
initiative I had been trying to get going," he said. "I want to be certain
where they are residing and if they're in compliance." About 35 Department
of Corrections officers and 30 Belleville police officers worked in teams
of four or more each in what Delaney called a "major show of force." He
said none of the parolees resisted.

"It went real well. It was an assembly line," Delaney said. By noon, he
said, the operation was finished and all reports written, with parolees who
had broken no rules returned to their homes.