The manufacturing, trafficking and chemical dependency of illegal drugs continue to be a tremendous problem and a concern to all citizens.
The excessive number of overdoses, the overdose death rate, and property loss incidents, as people turn to crime to support their drug habit, are rising faster than ever.
We must aggressively confront and attack the drug problems in Surry County, including:
- The nationwide ongoing epidemic of Opioid abuse, including the recent Fentanyl scare
- The highly dangerous Butane Honey Oil (BHO) Labs, which are now surfacing
- Cocaine, both the crack and powder form
- Methamphetamine made in the county or the crystal form brought in from Mexico, using our nation’s highways and interstates
I will concentrate efforts on education, treatment, and enforcement and will work together effectively with other law enforcement agencies, education officials, health care workers, emergency first responders and non-profit advocacy groups to help reduce the use of narcotics and other dangerous drugs.
I want to enhance the Narcotics Division by creating a “Street Crimes Unit” within the division. This unit will focus on the high traffic areas of the county and deal with drug abusers. By focusing on the users, property crimes and serious, violent assault crimes can be solved since these crimes are often committed by drug users. The traditional Narcotics Unit will continue to focus on dismantling Surry County’s drug trafficking organizations.