OFFICERS RELY ON FORENSIC DEPARTMENT'S EXPERTISE

JACKSONVILLE - More and more law enforcement officers are being trained and
certified to work meth labs, but that doesn't mean the officers always know
what chemicals they are dealing with.

"We are cops," said Jason Murray, supervisor with the Calhoun County Drug
Task Force. "We are not chemists."

The Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, which has chemists trained to
identify chemicals in labs, will not respond with law enforcement officers
on meth labs beginning Oct. 1. When officers first started seeing
clandestine meth labs in homes, they were small.

"We'd get two or three jars," Murray said. "As time progressed we saw much
more elaborate, much larger labs. It's not chemists making this stuff
either. Someone is going to get hurt."

Murray said his task force depends heavily on the expertise of the Alabama
Department of Forensic Sciences.

"If there is ether or starter fluid in some unmarked jar, I can be
certified to handle it, but I don't have any idea what it is," he said.
"They know certain tests to determine these drugs. We do not have those
capabilities."

A chemist must determine what chemicals are in unmarked containers when law
enforcement officers are handling meth labs. If a chemist from the Alabama
Department of Forensic Sciences is not present, a U.S. Drug Enforcement
Agency chemist is supposed to be called, he said.

In dealing with meth labs, there is a danger to law enforcement officers on
the scene, Murray said. "There's also a great danger to surrounding areas,"
he said. "With a chemist being there, it's a great safety net for us."

Murray compared a meth lab to a burning building. "You don't send a
firefighter into a burning building by himself," Murray said. "It's the
same thing with a meth lab. You don't send an officer in there by himself
to work it." Any spark of certain chemicals mixed together incorrectly
could trigger an explosion or fire, he said.

In rural Cherokee County, the drug task force has seen its share of meth
labs, as well, said Joe Hester, commander of the Cherokee County Drug Task
Force. "It would be impossible for us to have the manpower and safely
dismantle and process a lab without the Department of Forensic Sciences,"
Hester said. "They do a great job. Most of the labs we find are in the
middle of the night and we call them. No matter what time of night, they
respond and do a great job."

With the expertise of those at the Department of Forensic Sciences,
processing evidence and preparing a case for trial is more efficient.

"It's hard to make a drug case and get evidence back for trial," he said.
"But with their work, we have a great rate for convictions."

Meth labs are giving officers in many counties the biggest headache right
now, Murray said. "Meth is a major problem," he said. "The amount of dope
flowing out there is amazing."

In a crack cocaine case, it usually takes a couple of hours to investigate
and then make an arrest, he said. With meth labs it is more time consuming,
he said. It takes sometimes as many as 12 hours, and by the time a
certified cleanup crew arrives, it can increase to 16 hours, he said. That
doesn't include the 10 officers tied up guarding the area and evidence,
waiting for the cleanup crew, he said.

"It's not something where you can kick the door in and search the
residence," he said. "It's much more fragile than that."

So far this year, Calhoun County has raided and cleaned up 48 labs. For all
of last year, the agency had 38 labs. Murray said meth has done the same
thing crack cocaine did several years ago. "It gradually moved to the East
Coast," he said. "We had a warning this stuff was coming and we got caught
with our britches down again."