COUNTY RECEIVES FEDERAL MONEY TO CONTINUE METH BATTLE

At the Tuesday, Nov. 15, Barron County Board of Supervisors meeting,
Barron County Sheriff Tom Richie announced that the Barron-Rusk Drug
Task Force received $300,000 in federal appropriations to continue
its cooperative fight against methamphetamine users, dealers and manufacturers.

In a Thursday, Nov. 17, interview, Richie said that the $300,000 will
probably be split evenly between Barron and Rusk county, giving the
department a $150,000 boost.

"We lobbied hard for it between the two sheriff's departments,"
Richie said. "We felt the continuation of federal funding was
important because of the significant methamphetamine problem in the area."

This is the second time the county has received money from the
federal government to support the county's meth crackdown.
Approximately 18 months ago, the county was awarded $150,000 to
kick-start its crackdown on the extremely-addictive narcotic.

With the original monies received, Richie said the department was
able to shuffle some duties around and create a full-time drug
detective position. With this second allotment, Richie is hoping to
add a second full-time position to help the current drug detective -
Detective Jason Hagen - with his increasing case load.

"I feel we are on top of the meth problem in Barron County," stated
Richie. "We are aggressively going after users, distributors and
manufacturers, and it is imperative that we continue to do so."

Richie says that the 91 meth cases submitted by the county to the
state crime lab in 2004 certainly point to a large problem, but he
believes the high number of cases is directly attributable to the
increased efforts of the department and Hagen's focus on meth and
meth-related crimes.

"Since our major increase in efforts, we have drastically reduced
property crime rates," Richie points out, adding that property crime
in the area is often directly linked to the meth trade. "We have also
recovered hundreds of thousands of dollars in property. I attribute
this success to our massive increase in meth enforcement."

Hagen says having another person working with him on the meth cases
benefits the department in a number of areas.

"The money will help the department by allowing us to follow up on
more tips, conduct more thorough investigations - following the trail
from street-level users all the way up the chain to manufacturers," said Hagen.

Hagen admits that due to the level of the methamphetamine problem in
the county, he has all the work he can handle.

"For one thing, it's a safety issue as far as the officers are
concerned," said Hagen. "It's always good to have another person.
Another positive is that I will have someone working next to me on a
daily basis, which will certainly help our investigations."

Since the county began its crackdown, Hagen says the supply and
demand for meth is still strong, but it is now coming from different sources.

"The main difference is that many of the labs here in Barron County
have been shut down through our efforts, so a lot of the homegrown
meth has disappeared," Hagen explained. "Now with our own meth labs
down, we are seeing a lot more of it come from the Twin Cities
[Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn., area].

Hagen added that the meth coming across the state line is a purer
form of meth known as 'glass.'"

"The people that were 'cooks' before, are now becoming dealers," said
Hagen, referring to the nickname given to people who manufacture
methamphetamine in homemade labs. "So there's not less of a problem,
it's just a different problem. But it's still meth."

Richie says that although they will not receive the final numbers for
meth cases submitted to the state crime lab for 2005 until some time
in February, he fully expects Barron County to be near the top again.

"The number of meth cases we have is related to the full-time
enforcement, but it's also showing the level of the problem in Barron
County," says Richie. "That's why we have to keep it up."

"We could have three or four people doing it [conducting drug
investigations], but I don't think that would change the number of
cases because it's a supply and demand issue," explained Hagen. "I
mean, any informant we have can go out and buy meth with no problems
whatsoever - that's how prevalent it is. As long as the demand is
there, the supply will be, too."

Richie explained the money is better spent on a second full-time
position than on treatment programs, because traditional 30-day
treatment programs are not successful.

"It's not that simple," said Richie. "Meth addiction requires a
long-term treatment solution - something that just doesn't exist
right now. We're hoping the new drug court that will be starting in
Barron County will help, but we need this money to continue putting
the heat on meth users, dealers and manufacturers."