AREA POLICE DEPARTMENTS COORDINATE WAR ON DRUGS

Area police departments are looking at more collaborative ways to fight the
war on drugs.

Officials from several Delta police departments met with representatives
from the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics Tuesday morning to discuss how to
better coordinate their efforts.

"You've all got small budgets," MBN Agent Leon Williams told the group. "If
we combine all of our resources together, we've got a big budget."

Williams had all the officers write down the names of the biggest drug
dealers in their respective towns.

"I bet some of the same names are going to turn up," he said.

The MBN wants to keep its main focus on the bigger dealers who are bringing
the drugs into the area, according to Williams.

He also stressed the importance of community involvement.

"Get to know the pastors and ministers in your community," he said. "The
people need to know that the cops are trying to do something about their
problems.

"People are tired of seeing the same people at the same house doing the
same thing every day."

Charles Spillers of the U.S. attorney's office in Oxford also spoke to the
group.

Spillers stressed the importance of sharing information between
departments, pointing out the more information, the better the case against
the dealer.

He also focused on the use of firearms charges to bring dealers to justice.

"It's hard to catch a dealer with drugs," explained Spillers. "You can bet,
though, that dealer is almost always carrying a gun."

He went on to point out that some weapons offenses carry mandatory jail
time that runs in addition to any time a dealer may receive for the drug
charges.

"Drugs and firearms are a dangerous combination," he said. "If we soundly
enforce some gun laws, maybe there will be a let down on some violence."