METH TRAINING PROVIDES FOUNDATION FOR LOCAL ANTITERRORISM CLASSES

It sounds like an unlikely parallel -- fighting terrorism and hunting down
the people who make methamphetamine. But there are key similarities in the
two crime-fighting techniques for law enforcement officers because both
require special training in ways to deal with hazardous materials,
according to Cheyenne Albro, director of the Pennyrile Narcotics Task Force.

"When the anthrax threats started it was just natural to use those people
we had already trained for methamphetamine," Albro said Tuesday at the
start of a three-day antiterrorism class.

Approximately 40 local, state and federal officers are participating in the
session at the Regional Training Center off Russellville Road. They will
learn about the medical dangers associated with chemical and biological
threats and receive lessons related to the Patriot Act recently passed by
Congress that gives law enforcement officers broader powers to investigate
suspected terrorists.

Albro said the session is the first of its kind in Kentucky, and perhaps
the country.

"I don't know of anybody else who is doing this," he said. "As far as I
know this is the only one."

Prior to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, the Pennyrile
Narcotics Task Force had already provided specialized methamphetamine
classes for about 140 officers in western Kentucky. The classes have been
funded through a pair of $1 million federal grant, which was secured
through lobbying efforts of Rep. Ed Whitfield, a Hopkinsville Republican,
according to Albro.

Methamphetamine is manufactured, or "cooked," in crude laboratories
typically hidden in secluded areas. The illegal labs produce toxic
materials that require police and emergency workers to use protective
clothing and other equipment that is similar to the techniques that would
be needed to handle chemical and biological attacks, according to Albro.

"We are going to cover the majority of the chemical weapons," which
includes sarin, mustard and tear gases, he said, outlining the
antiterrorism classes.

The three-day session is a cooperative effort of the task force, the U.S.
Attorney's Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Stephen Pence, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, told the
officers attending the training that the public is depending on them to
protect Americans from foreign and domestic attacks.

"It is a literal war on terrorism," Pence said.

The United States has adopted a wartime attitude and the U.S. Attorney's
Office has made antiterrorism its No. 1 priority, he said.

"The citizens are counting on you to fight the fight," he said.