STORES ON LOOKOUT FOR MAKERS OF METH

Program Aims To Make Employees Aware Of Items Used To Make Drug

EAST PEORIA - At Pekin's Kmart store, only DVDs and CDs are reportedly
stolen more often than cold medication.

In East Peoria, at Sutherland ACE Hardware, purchases of paint thinners,
lithium batteries and muriatic acid are closely watched.

The Illinois State Police wants as many stores as possible that sell items
commonly used to manufacture methamphetamine to be more willing to report
suspicious purchases to law enforcement.

"Why is a 17-year-old kid coming into my store to buy muriatic acid?"
Master Sgt. Tony Lebron said Friday before about 20 law enforcement
officials and merchants at East Peoria's Par-A-Dice Hotel. "If he's coming
in the store to buy muriatic acid, lithium batteries and coffee filters,
that should set off some bells and whistles."

Lebron introduced a new educational program aimed at alerting store
employees what to look out for whenever there is a suspicious purchase of
items used to manufacture methamphetamine.

The program centers around a colorful poster that will be available to most
stores selling items commonly involved in the making of meth.

At the bottom of each poster is a section where store management can list a
local police agency's phone number so employees can report a suspicious sale.

In addition, the State Police are establishing a location in Springfield to
serve as an "intelligence gathering" facility where all information about
suspicious product sales will be reported.

Kennedy said the centralized location allows State Police to better their
communications with local merchants and police departments on how best to
handle the growing problems of meth.

Questionable purchases at pharmacies and hardware stores have been a
problem in Tazewell County since the meth epidemic began in 2002.

Since then, store managers at Walgreens, Wal-Mart and Kmart, among others,
have informed their employees on what to monitor. In some cases, display
cases of cold medication are locked up and can only be accessed by store
management.

At Kmart in Pekin, store employees "tag" each box of cold medicine and if
the package is stolen from the store, an alarm will sound.

But, "It doesn't prevent (thefts) because they take the pills out of the
box," said Candace Williams, the store's loss prevention officer.

At hardware stores, store employees sometimes recognize the people who are
making suspicious purchases.

"If you come into the store to buy four gallons of acetone three to four
times a week, it sets up an alarm for us," said Mike Sutherland, owner of
the East Peoria ACE Hardware store.

Business owners who want more information about the program or who want to
obtain a poster can call the State Police at 383-2133, ext. 222, and ask
for Lebron.