SCSD Unfairly Targets Minorities in New Drug Campaign

[S. Franklin]

Recently, several readers have written to me, asking me to investigate a reported rise in drug crime in Fort Shannon. So I’ve taken on the case, and I’ve spent several days in Fort Shannon interviewing people and researching the case.

What I’ve found is certainly troubling. Reports from the Shiloh County Fire Department and Shiloh Volunteer Ambulance indicate an increase in responses to overdoses in South Fort Shannon, especially on overdoses of opiates according to their Public Information Officer. The PIO relates that overdoses on heroin, fentanyl, and carfentanyl are being seen in Fort Shannon in record numbers. The PIO advised that he was not able to speculate on the reasoning, other than possibly an increased supply of such drugs. I was able to receive the following statement from the Shiloh County Sheriff’s Department:

 

The sheriff's department has made numerous low level drug arrests however due to the liberal drug laws in Saratoga and sympathetic people in the community and the justice system has made it hard to make these charges stick. The court system has basically declared an amnesty making any enforcement effort by my agency null and void on low level. This combined with high call volume in south Ft. Shannon may make it seem like there's nothing being done. And patrol officers have been avoiding low level arrests due to them being perceived as a waste of time however our county narcotics task force is focusing on Ft. Shannon almost exclusively.

 

SCSD seems to believe that “liberal drug laws” are to blame, but I am not convinced. Is jail time really the best way to combat a victimless crime like drug usage? Perhaps the government should explore other options - safe use centers, rehabilitation programs, needle exchanges, and addiction recovery programs. Other areas of the country have reported success using such methods.

SCSD statistics show that since the beginning of the year, 38 people have been arrested for possession of a controlled substance and three for possession of drug paraphernalia. Only nine arrests have been made for trafficking. So realistically, nothing is being done about this drug problem. Arresting street-level users does nothing to stem the flow of drugs into our communities or to resolve the institutionalized problems our state and nation face in dealing with addiction. SCSD continues to disproportionately target the poor and minorities in this campaign on drugs by arresting users instead of dealers. Users are responsible for nothing but what happens to themselves. Dealers are the ones responsible for sowing violence and crime into our streets, yet SCSD appears to lack any kind of visible enforcement on the issue. They claim that a “narcotics task force” is focusing on Fort Shannon, but without visible results, who can really say? 

As a citizen of Shiloh County: SCSD, I am disappointed. Continuing to racially profile citizens and arrest low-level users is not the answer to this problem. You know that. We know that. Arrest the dealers, the manufacturers, the distributors. Seize the means of production. Do better.