METH PLAGUE DRAWS CROWD IN MOKE HILL

Mokelumne Hill resident Pamela Hill had her purse stolen from inside her home.

"I thought, 'This is just what kids do,'" she said.

"I wonder how many of us just take it?" Now small-town residents are
banding together to stop possible methamphetamine-related crimes, as
more than 80 people showed up at a town hall meeting Tuesday night at
Mokelumne Hill.

"There have been a lot of what I consider minor thefts," said Hill,
who didn't report the crime to law enforcement.

One resident had the battery stolen from her car parked in her
driveway. Another described a line of cars coming and going to her
neighbor's house at all hours of the night. These reports, as well as
accounts of drug trafficking at nearby Protestant Cemetery, fueled a
gathering of residents, county officials and the Calaveras County
Sheriff's Department.

"We can see it, observe it, we can hear it," said cemetery chair Jane
Canty of the area's theft, destruction of property and drug abuse.

According to Calaveras Sheriff Dennis Downum, 17 calls were received
in proximity to the cemetery in the past 14 months. Mokelumne Hill
has had 818 calls total. However, this is dwarfed by huge spikes in
Valley Springs and Copperopolis, which had 5,297 and 2442 calls respectively.

"People I assign up here are constantly getting sucked out to take
care of something in Valley Springs," Downum said.

Downum said it's a constant balancing act to deploy his total 57
deputies to the areas that require the most attention. Now the
Sheriff's Department hopes to increase its presence in Mokelumne Hill
by establishing a substation at the Mokelumne Hill Fire Station.

Residents said response times and crime prevention were better back
when there was an office at the Hotel Leger.

Methamphetamine use has been steadily climbing in rural counties
across the nation and small communities are starting to feel the
pressure. Calaveras saw 60 arrests related to methamphetamine in
2005, according to past reports.

To curb the problem, the county received $295,000 for 18 months from
a state grant and established the new California Multi-Jurisdictional
Methamphetamine Enforcement Team, which helps protect kids exposed to the drug.

Downum said that the cemetery has always been tagged as a teenage
hangout, even back when he was growing up, but that methamphetamine
was "changing the whole dynamic." According to deputies, the last
methamphetamine bust in Mokelumne Hill took place in December.

While many residents understood the limitations of law enforcement,
some were concerned about how to stop drug trafficking from sullying
their community.

According to Health Services Director Jeanne Boyce, violence, erratic
behavior and odd sleeping patterns are key signs of drug abuse.
"There is help out there for you," she said during the meeting.

She emphasized that there was hope, and that it takes a community to
rebuild a person's life.

Health Services provides a number of programs to help addicts and
their families, such as counseling and group meetings. The
devastating effects of drug use rang true for Mokelumne Hill resident
Melinda Ervin, whose daughter is a recovering addict.

Ervin told the room that her daughter's son had to be taken away
through the courts.

"We're not going to be quiet until something is done in this town,"
she said. The meeting ended on a positive note. District 2 Supervisor
Steve Wilensky invited each attendee with personal issues to talk
with Downum, Boyce and Suzie Coe, a Neighborhood Watch specialist who
could help start groups in Mokelumne Hill.

"This is a place where you never had to lock your door," Wilensky
said. "And I think people feel that this is a place worth defending."