POLICE - MOST COUNTY CRIME DRUG-RELATED

CUMBERLAND -- Most of the major crimes that have occurred recently in
Allegany County have been drug-related in some form or another, and
area law enforcement agencies are "doing the best they can" to get
drug dealers off the streets, according to Det. Sgt. Jim Pyles of the
Combined County Criminal Investigation unit (C3I).

Pyles, who was in charge of Friday's city-wide sweep which netted 25
suspected drug dealers all over Cumberland, spoke about Friday's raids
and Cumberland's drug problem in general Sunday afternoon during a
public forum sponsored by the Cumberland Ministerial
Association.

Crediting State's Attorney Michael Twigg for leading the
investigations resulting in Friday's arrests, Pyles said the officers
from five area law enforcement agencies were able to confiscate $2,000
in cash, six vehicles, and a quantity of prescription drugs that had
been packaged for resale, in addition to the heroin.

He said "Operation Strike Back" was just one part of ongoing
cooperative efforts by the agencies.

"Our narcotics division has made 102 arrests this year to-date, and
that's not counting Friday," he said. "We are 100 percent over our
caseload."

Pyles and the other two panelists, Eric Rosenberger from the newly
formed Cumberland Teen Challenge program, and Chris Delaney, Allegany
County Health Department's addictions counselor, agreed that
Cumberland's heroin problem is an all-encompassing epidemic which
affects the family, the community, and the county.

"With the heroin use, property crimes are coming up as well," Pyles
said, adding that users will commit other crimes in order to get the
money to buy their drug.

"It goes hand-in-hand. They have to feed their addiction," he
said.

"A heroin gel-cap costs about $20 in Cumberland. In Baltimore city, it
only costs around $12 or $13," he said. "And there are heroin users in
Allegany County who are using the drug four to six times a day.

"Every cent of money they can get their hands on is going to that
drug."

Rosenberger, a Cumberland native who was himself a drug user until he
became a part of Teen Challenge, said heroin users who overdose in
Allegany County are more likely to die that those who overdose in
somewhere like Baltimore.

"They're more likely to die here," he said, "because we don't have the
treatment here."

Delaney called for more "conscious parenting" as a means of keeping
young people from starting to take drugs in the first place.

"A lot of parents are afraid to say no to their kids because they
don't want them to be mad," she said. "We have to consciously parent
them and be aware of what's going on in the world around them."

She urged the parents in the audience to ask questions about where
their children are going, who they'll be with, and whether there will
be chaperones. She cited a case in which her own daughter had attended
a party at a friend's home, and since Delaney knew the parents she
felt her child would be safe. Her daughter called her later, however,
to tell her the parents had brought in a keg of beer.

"Oftentimes," she added, "kids who are on heroin start with tobacco,
alcohol, and marijuana."

It was also stressed during the forum that drug abusers don't fit any
one particular profile.

"There are straight A students doing drugs, and there are people from
very low income families doing drugs," Delaney said. "Drug use doesn't
seem to have any boundaries anymore."

The Rev. Rick Jewell, who moderated the afternoon discussion, told the
small group that several committees have been formed to discuss
various actions the faith community can take to help combat the
problem. He said more information would be forthcoming.