POLICE "STING" TARGETS DRUG USERS

One Way To Cut The Volume Of Illegal Drug Trafficking: Arrest The Drug Users

Targeting the buyers of illegal drugs, Chatham-Savannah County Counter
Narcotics officers posed as drug dealers this weekend.

Dressed in jeans, T-shirts and jerseys, they offered for sale "a
crack-like substance" that was nothing more than macadamia nuts.

And, after hanging out on street corners from 7 p.m. Friday until 2
a.m. Saturday, those 24 officers and another six from the
Savannah-Chatham Narcotics Eradication Team arrested 17 people in
Garden City and Savannah.

Those arrested were taken to the Chatham County jail on charges
ranging from felony possession of cocaine to misdemeanor
obstruction.

Friday night's police "sting" was successful, said Capt. Dan
Fagerstrom, deputy commander of the Savannah-Chatham Counter Narcotics
Team.

"What we are trying to do is reduce the high volume of (drug) traffic"
in some neighborhoods, he said. "We normally go after those who sell
drugs. We're going after the user. Maybe, by going to jail, there will
be treatment for some of the users."

Sgt. Mike Wilson, spokesman for the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan
Police Department added, "You're targeting the demand for drugs."

Officers staked out street corners where Fagerstrom's team received "a
high volume of complaints about a high volume of (drug) sales," he
said. The targeted areas included: Garden City, midtown Savannah, west
Savannah and east Savannah. Fagerstrom promised more "stings" later
this year.