SHERIFF LOOKS TO OHIO FOR DRUG-BUST SECRETS

Monroe Deputies Work with OHP, Get Patrol Tips

MONROE - Monroe County Sheriff's Deputy Tim Garbo said he couldn't help but
think back now on the traffic stops he's made over his 12-year career and
the things he didn't notice.

If he only knew then what he learned last week after spending three days
riding along with perhaps the most successful drug interdiction agency in
the area: the Ohio Highway Patrol.

"You look back now [at 12 years of traffic stops] and say the behaviors
were definitely there," Deputy Garbo said.

Hindsight may be 20/20, but Sheriff Tilman Crutchfield said foresight and
the expert training four of his traffic deputies received from their
colleagues over the last month should help his agency cut into the
significant amount of drugs that flow through Monroe County each year.

The sheriff sent his entire traffic section to spend three days each riding
with troopers from the Ohio Highway Patrol's Criminal Patrol Team, which is
headquartered in Findlay but operates primarily along the major interstates
that cross the Toledo area.

The goal is to teach his deputies the secrets of the OHP's success, which
this year has resulted in the confiscation of more than $350,000 in cash,
220 pounds of marijuana, 13 pounds of cocaine, and 23 pounds of so-called
"magic" mushrooms.

"The Ohio Highway Patrol has the expertise that we were looking for. When
you look for trainers, you want the best, and the best in this area is the
OHP," Sheriff Crutchfield said.

"We know drugs are coming through the area. We know not all of it is
stopping in Monroe County, but we want to intercept as much of it as we
can. It's a priority," he said.

Sheriff Crutchfield said his department couldn't afford to leave drug
enforcement to other agencies. That's because the impact of drugs is felt
everywhere, including his jurisdiction.

"I look at the entire crime picture in the county, and what we're finding
in the different interviews with criminals that we arrest is that they're
doing [the crime] predominately to fund their drug habit," the sheriff
said. "You' re not going to completely cut off the supply, but our goal is
to make it as difficult as we can for criminals to bring drugs into our
community."

OHP Sgt. Dean Laubacher, who commands the Findlay crime unit, said he and
his troopers and their accompanying canines have been "hot" lately in their
daily task of finding vehicles that might be loaded with drugs or drug money.

But as the Monroe County deputies attest, the OHP's secret has little to do
with profiling and everything to do with good police work.

"The whole thing is to talk to people. That's pretty much it," Sergeant
Laubacher explained. "It's talking to people and paying attention to
behaviorisms - asking yourself, 'Does what they're doing make sense to you?' "

The stint with the Monroe County deputies is one of the first times his
unit has been asked to train officers from an outside agency, Sergeant
Laubacher said, but likely won't be the last given its successful run over
the last several months.

"When you're hot, you keep doing what you're doing, and obviously, it's
working. All we're trying to do is pass along whatever we're learning," to
other agencies so that they, too can be successful, Sergeant Laubacher said.

Brian Angerer has been a deputy in Monroe County since 1995, and has spent
about a year working in the department's traffic section, investigating
crashes and focusing his attention on traffic enforcement.

During the last day of his ride-alongs, Deputy Angerer participated in a
stop on the Ohio Turnpike of a pickup truck loaded with garbage sacks
filled with marijuana.

He said the things he learned from his three days with the OHP were eye
opening and will ultimately make him much more attentive to those with whom
he interacts.

"The way I work has changed quite a bit as far as what I'm looking for,"
Deputy Angerer said.

"The success I've had in taking drugs off the street has been real low-key
stuff up till now, individual users mostly. Now we're dealing with people
that are dealing with [drugs] in quantity."