RESPONSE TIMES TO DRUG TIPS AT RISK

If the Clare County Sheriff's Department has to bow out of a
multi-jurisdictional undercover drug enforcement agency, it could
mean slower response to tips and the wheels of justice turning more slowly.

Advertisement Although officers from the state police's Bay Area
Narcotics Enforcement Team would still work in Clare County, having a
local deputy in the group is an asset, said state police Detective
Lt. Melvin Mathews, commander of the team.

Clare County, which had not had a deputy assigned to the team from
1999 to 2005, has its share of drug problems that are easier to solve
with a local police officer on board, Mathews said.

Last year, undercover officers arrested 27 peopled on a total of 70
drug charges in Clare County, Mathews said.

They also found and dismantled three "component" methamphetamine labs
and three working meth labs, Mathews said.

A component methamphetamine lab is a building that contains all the
materials to produce the drug but is not yet manufacturing, Mathews said.

The efforts of undercover officers also led to the removal of three
children from drug houses and the federal indictment of two suspects
on meth and cocaine charges, the lieutenant said.

This year, officers have investigated 22 drug complaints and have
arrested 23 suspects on 78 drug charges, Mathews said.

Officers this year also found two component meth labs and two working
meth labs, he said.

Two suspects have been indicted on federal drug charges and three
children were removed from drug houses - one from a methamphetamine
operation, Mathews said.

All of the cases this year and last year in Clare County were the
result of the local deputy being on the team, Mathews said.

Sheriff Jeff Goyt currently has an officer assigned to the team, but
when money from the Byrne law enforcement grant program dries up, so
will the county's participation unless county commissioners decide to
ask voters in November to approve the funding.

Commissioners scheduled a special meeting for Aug. 28 at 9 a.m. to
discuss the failure of two millage proposals - one for justice and
another for parks and farmland preservation - and what, if anything,
they should ask voters to approve in the November general election.

With a new circuit judgeship taking effect in January, the county has
to pay for support staff and the judge's benefits, but does not have
additional revenue to cover the costs, county officials have said.

At a regular meeting last week, commissioners shared their views on
what should be on a ballot proposal in November.

Some suggested asking voters to pass a millage to pay for costs
associated with the circuit judgeship; others expressed interest in
asking for funding for a BAYANET officer.