METH CASES INCREASED IN 2004

Crime in Lincoln County climbed in 2004, according to a report given by
District Attorney Bernice Barnett to the Board of Commissioners recently.
While both felonies and misdemeanors were higher than 2003, felonies were
slightly lower than in 2002.

A high percentage of the cases were directly related to drugs. Of the 592
felonies, 286 were drug related, Barnett said. Those do not take into
account cases where drugs may have played a role. The most prevalent drug
is methamphetamine, according to Barnett, who said nearly all of the cases
were dealing with meth, and only a few relating to heroin or cocaine and a
few marijuana.

"Almost everything was meth," she said.

The number of meth arrests jumped from 42 in 2003 to 104 in 2004. Meth labs
destroyed also jumped from two in 2003 to 12 in 2004.

One of the reasons for the statistic jump may be the Lincoln Interagency
Narcotics Team is back up to four detectives, according to Barnett,
allowing the team to respond to tips from citizens.

"We have a fine group of detectives in the community," Barnett said.

County Commissioner Bill Hall reminded citizens that calling in tips are
still very important.

"Just because you call in a report and nothing happens in a day or a week,
it doesn't mean it will be forgotten," Hall said.

Barnett said detectives do respond to tips, but it can take time to
investigate them.

One of those tips led to a bust where five or six people were detained
after selling alcohol and marijuana to school students. That case
contributed to the 15 cases of narcotics reported within 1,000 feet of
school, compared to last year's one case.

Barnett has also expanded the number of community members being trained in
recognizing suspicious incidents. In 2004, 1,629 adults attended classes,
compared to 464 in 2003. The number of classes held tripled, with 63 held
in 2004, compared to 21 in 2003. Children attending classes also jumped to
382 in 2004, compared to 155 in 2003.

"We've worked really hard to utilize community members to help us," Barnett
said.

She said they have also coordinated with hospital staff more closely to
have sexual assault examiners who work together with rape victim advocates.
Nurses will ride along with police officers in addition to medical training.

Volunteers at the District Attorney's office are almost always busy,
according to Barnett. "We rarely see people sitting around."

With funds shrinking, the office has leaned more heavily on volunteers for
tasks. Barnett asked the County Commissioners for a volunteer coordinator,
which she said could help save the county even more money. There is no easy
way to support volunteers currently, she said.

To streamline the process even more, a new computer program updates the
District Attorney's calendar of upcoming court hearings without someone
having to enter it manually.