COMMUNITY MEETINGS TO ADDRESS COUNTY DRUG PROBLEM

Officials To Educate Citizens On Recognizing Signs, Reporting
Suspicious Activity

LANCASTER -Concerns that the heroin and prescription drug problem in
Lancaster is too close for comfort spurred local officials to
organize meetings to assuage residents' fears.

Lancaster police and Prevention Works for a Drug Free Fairfield
County are trying a new approach to the problem by playing host to
two neighborhood discussions.

Officials from both agencies hope the neighborhood meetings will
help educate residents so they can report helpful information to the
police, said Prevention Works Director Toni Ashton. Not only that,
but Ashton hopes the education will reduce the instances of
prescription drug and heroin abuse.

That's a problem that's been on many residents' minds, she said.

"I had people telling me about concerns with finding needles on the
sidewalks or in the alleys and what do they do with the needles, and
kids playing out in the yard and being around some of the
paraphernalia," she said.

Lancaster Police Chief Dave Bailey has heard similar concerns.

"Everyone has questions: What do they do? How do they report drug
activity? What do they do if they find needles?" Bailey said. "In
essence, how do they deal with this."

Ashton and Bailey want residents to be able to recognize warning
signs not only in individuals, but also in terms of what's going on
in their neighborhoods.

Sometimes an indicator of drug activity is a rundown residence or an
unsightly area in a neighborhood. Those often are breeding grounds
for crime, Bailey said.

"When you let one house or one area deteriorate, it seems to send a
signal that it's all right to do unlawful things in that area," he said.

Fairfield-Hocking Major Crimes Unit Cmdr. Eric Brown will attend the meetings.

Brown, whose unit investigates major narcotics offenses, said the
communication at the meetings will help the public and law enforcement.

"A person that calls in may be calling in for something they feel is
insignificant, but for us it may be information we've been waiting
on for months and months," Brown said. "It may be the one thing that
cracks an investigation wide open for us."

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The Lancaster Police Department and Prevention Works for a Drug Free
Fairfield County will host two neighborhood meetings to tackle heroin
and prescription drug use in Lancaster.

What: First Neighborhood Meeting

Where: West After School Center, 620 Garfield Ave., Lancaster

When: 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday

What: Second Neighborhood Meeting

Where: Maywood Mission Church, 1029 S. Broad St., Lancaster

When: 7 to 8 p.m. June 9