BASE'S NEW JOINT DRUG ENFORCEMENT TEAM TAKES OFF

Effort In Response To Area Activity

A newly installed enforcement team aims to take a bite out of drug-related
crime at Sheppard Air Force Base.

The Joint Drug Enforcement Team, a special Air Force detachment charged
with coordinating Sheppard's on- and off-base drug abatement effort, got
off the ground this week, base officials said.

"The Joint Drug Enforcement Team, or JDET (pronounced jay-dett), came about
in response to drug use in the area," said Security Forces Squadron
Commander Major Chris Echols. "The team will help make sure the Office of
Special Investigations has the tools they need to fight the war on drugs."

To do that, JDET will take the fight to the source of the problem,
coordinating vehicle checks at base entrances, cultivating relationships
with informants and conducting undercover operations on and off base, said
JDET Special Agent Skip Wheeler.

The team's mission is to identify instances of illegal drug use through
such procedures as vehicle inspections at base entrances, as well as deter
future criminal activity through preventive measures.

"It's about being reactive and proactive," Wheeler said. "The idea is to
stop it where it starts.

The idea, said Maj. Echols, is also to have a drug-free Air Force.

"You can't have drugs in the military," Echols said. "We most definitely
have to have a higher standard (for drug prevention than the civilian
world). We can't have people who are on drugs when we're fighting a war."

And folks who have gone off base to conduct their illicit affairs may not
find safe passage back on base, Echols said.

"Once or twice a month on a weekend night, and everybody that comes through
will be sent down for a random urinalysis," Echols said.

JDET is also charged with cooperation with civilian law enforcement to ease
the communication between various agencies, said JDET Agent Wendi Zook.
Previously, jurisdictional boundaries prevented the free exchange of
information, she said.

"We interact now with FBI, local police departments, sheriff's offices and
DPS," Zook said. "We share information and statistics and discuss case
problems."

While enforcement of drug laws is an important goal, JDET hopes its
practices - and even its presence - will have an even greater deterrent effect.

And there's likely no better deterrent than a drug-sniffing dog.

"We can take our dogs into any building on base," said Sgt. Justin Naylor,
a military working dog trainer. "The base is just a city with a fence
around it. We have banks, restaurants, shopping centers. And we can take
these dogs into any of those places. Even in the dorms, we can go into
common areas and hallways."

Knowing they're just a sniff away from possible detection has chilling
effect on would-be drug offenders, Naylor said.

"A squadron commander can order us to bring a dog over for a spot check for
any reason," he said.