Law enforcement agencies in Grundy County are hoping a new reporting and reward program will help curb the manufacture of methamphetamine in the area.
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Law enforcement agencies in Grundy County are hoping a new reporting and reward program will help curb the manufacture of methamphetamine in the area.
The program CHEM (Companies Helping to Eliminate Meth) Partners involves local merchants and their employees, as well as members of the public, providing law enforcement agencies with information about the purchase of items used to manufacture methamphetamine. Through the program, funds are also made available to reward confidential informants.
Grundy County Sheriff Greg Coon said the program began in this county when Trenton Police Officer Josh Eckerson learned of its use in another Missouri county.
Through the program, merchants have been provided lists of items used to manufacture meth, which is highly addictive. The key ingredient to manufacture meth is pseudoephedine or ephedrine, commonly used in over-the-counter cold and allergy medications. Merchants can provide assistance to law enforcement officers by reporting to authorities when a customer purchases more of the medication than is normal. Legislation passed recently by the Missouri Legislature limits the amount of the substance that can be purchased at one time and laws are changing as to where the medication can be stored, for instance in a locked case or behind a counter where a customer would have to ask for the medication.
When a merchant provides information and the subject making the purchase can be identified, an investigation can begin that could eventually lead to the seizure of a lab and/or the arrest of a subject for manufacturing methamphetamine.
Merchants can also partner with law enforcement by making donations to a reward fund that pays informants for certain types of information. Trenton Coca-Cola Bottling Co., has made a $10,000 donation to the fund, with Trenton Hy-Vee making a $1,000 donation and Total Entertainment providing $200 for the fund, which is administered through the Rural Community Foundation.
?When we first found out we were getting the money from the Coca-Cola Bottlers? Foundation we didn?t even have to think twice about what we would do with it,? said Nancy Trombley, co-owner of Trenton Coca-Cola, noting that she and her husband, Peter, feel the program is very worthwhile. ?We are just very fortunate to be in a position where we can help.?
Having the funds available to pay informants has long been a problem, according to Sheriff Coon.
?Everyone wants money,? he said. ?And there were times we really needed the money to pay for information and we would have to beg and borrow to scrape up the money. This allows us to have that money available. But we?re going to be pretty tight with it, we aren?t going to squander it away.?
The confidential informant program works this way: the person with information contacts either Officer Eckerson or Sheriff Coon through their cell phone numbers (which are listed at the end of this story); that person is assigned an informant number and the information is taken; if the information leads to an arrest, a clandestine lab seizure or recovery of a controlled substance, the informant will be rewarded monetarily with the amount varying based on the information; a board consisting of Mrs. Trombley, Trenton Police Chief Bob Lewis and Eric McAllister, a former Grundy County deputy and member of the NITRO Task Force, determines the amount of the reward; a check is then issued to Eckerson or Coon, who cash the check and pay the informant in cash, with the informant being required to sign a receipt. An informant might be asked to testify, but will always make that choice themselves.
Eckerson and Coon said the reason they ask the informants to contact them on their cell phones is to reduce the number of persons who would know the identity of the source. By calling the cell numbers, the person will only be talking to Coon or Eckerson, not to a dispatcher or someone else in the office. Coon said to remember however, that cell phones in Grundy County sometimes have a limited range and if someone can?t reach him or Eckerson on the cell phone, they should try again.
Not everyone who contacts Coon or Eckerson will receive a monetary award, they said, only those whose information meets the criteria of leading to an arrest, seizure of a lab or recovery of a controlled substance.
With 20 meth labs seized in the city of Trenton and Grundy County since January, the problem of methamphetamine is not going away any time soon. But Lewis, Eckerson and Coon all agree that the public can make a difference by reporting suspicious activity, such as a chemical smell coming from a residence or an unusual number of cars coming and going from a residence. CHEM Partners is a first important step in the fight against meth, said Eckerson.
?This is the first step,? commented Eckerson. ?The more people we can get involved, the better it is.?
But Coon cautioned that people should not become disheartened when they provide information and do not see immediate results because sometimes an investigation can take a long time.
?And it goes in cycles,? he said. ?It seems that we?ll have three or four at a time and then we won?t have much for a few months until it all calms down again. NITRO has helped tremendously.?
Coon can be reached on his cell phone at 359-7500 and Eckerson can be reached at 359-7548.
by Ronda Lickteig