RESIDENTS PLEAD CASE FOR DRUG TASK FORCE

A group of residents concerned about police manpower shortages and the
proliferation of drugs unveiled a presentation Thursday before Daviess
Fiscal Court with hopes of garnering support for a drug task force among
city and county law enforcement.

A drug task force would focus exclusively on drugs throughout Daviess
County, allowing the officers to gather intelligence, work with an assigned
prosecutor and have access to a lab technician to eliminate the occasional
one-year backlog of evidence analysis, according to the presentation.

The presentation was the result of at least six months of discussion and
research between members of the community and police officers in the study
circles in "Citizens and Law Enforcement, Partnering for a Stronger
Community." The residents were part of Action Team One, which was one of
several groups that continue to meet with hopes of solving lingering
issues. The team is led by Debra Kolar.

Fiscal Court expressed interest in the idea but requested additional
specifics regarding funding and average times between arrests and
convictions, along with comparisons from other communities that have
started such efforts.

Nita Kincaid, a member of the action team, said she learned that
confronting the area's drug problem was "the most immediate need." The
action team continues to meet once every other week.

A drug task force would create a law enforcement agency that would devote
100 percent of its time to the drug problem while allowing many of the
overworked city police and sheriff's deputies to focus on other
responsibilities.

Kincaid used a map of the county and major roads to show a smattering of
small colored squares, which represent meth labs located by police since 1998.

Team member Cecil Phillips said the need for a countywide drug task force
composed of members from both the Owensboro Police Department and the
Daviess County Sheriff's Department is more of a need now than ever. The
transfer of the juvenile detention facility to Bowling Green has required
sheriff's deputies to spend more time on the road and less time patrolling
county roads, he said.

Only one sheriff's detective is assigned full-time to narcotics
investigations, he said.

Part of the team's research involved meeting with the director of the
Bowling Green-Warren County Drug Task Force, which has an arrangement with
a state lab that returns drug evidence in three weeks.

A task force would result in increased sharing of information and
resources, which ultimately would make a wiser use of the tax dollar, team
member Laura Morris said.

Daviess County Judge-Executive Reid Haire was not present, but other
members of Fiscal Court expressed interest in learning more about the
program and its benefits. Daviess County Attorney Bob Kirtley said he would
be thrilled to have a lab technician help with the evidence backlog.

Occasionally, defendants facing narcotics charges may be re-arrested on the
same charge while they are out of jail and awaiting action from
prosecutors, who are awaiting results from the labs.

The action team plans to gather additional facts and statistics and make
another presentation to Fiscal Court.

The residents were supported by Gary Hall, senior director of RiverValley,
and Debbie Zuerner Johnson, executive director of Community Solutions for
Substance Abuse, who both addressed Fiscal Court before the presentation to
express their support for the project. Daviess County Sheriff Keith Cain
and several detectives were present to support the group.