Police seek community's help in meth fight

While significant progress has taken place on lab seizures in the past 15 years, methamphetamine is still primarily the drug of choice in Independence, and law enforcement officials say they need the communitys help in fighting back.

Independence is continuing its role in a metrowide effort to curb meth manufacturing and distribution. Local police officials can easily state the statistic that Independence had seven total meth lab seizures in 2011.

Those lab busts were actually on a smaller scale shake-and-bake operations using soft drink bottles. This year, to date, just one lab has been seized, and no meth was recovered in that bust.

But the statistics that arent readily available are how many people in Independence remain addicted to meth, a drug known for its strong triggering of dependency. On the possession side, its estimated that in 2011, Independence police encountered about 170 cases in which someone possessed meth or meth-related paraphernalia.

So, despite efforts to end production in Independence, meth possession is relatively consistent, said Capt. Paul Thurman, an 18-year veteran of the Independence Police Department who oversees the Drug Enforcement Unit.

Its an absolute concern, he said. Our possession cases, while still quite high, have stabilized for probably the last several years.

And why meth? Good question, Thurman said, but he believes its mostly a matter of supply and demand.

Meth is predominant. Its easy to get, hence people are going to be more addicted to that, he said. You go across the state into St. Louis, their drug of choice from what I read, anyway is marijuana and heroin. Again, supply and demand thats what they have a majority of, and thats what people are going to get hooked on.

Because of limited resources, the police are going back to into communities to fight drugs and crime in general, Thurman said, which includes educating communities and neighborhoods about the drug-related issues.

That is a process that continues its not just a one-time blast, he said. ...The community is an integral part in knowing what we know. As everybody knows, we cannot be in every spot 24 hours a day. No matter how many officers I get, I cannot be in your neighborhood 24 hours a day.

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Police seek community's help in meth fight