The future of Barrow County rests in the hands of four men: Sheriff Jud Smith, Winder Police Chief Dennis Dorsey, Statham Police Chief Steve Martin and Auburn Police Chief Paul Nadeau.
These four men, more than any other group of individuals, have the power and opportunity to do something that could change the future direction of the community for the better.
It’s no secret that crime is a problem in Barrow County. It is one of the major issues that is holding Barrow County back and touches just about every aspect of the community.
Yes, transportation and traffic is a major problem. Yes, education results are an issue. Yes, county leadership and budgets are a concern.
But fixing those won’t mean much if the county’s crime rate, especially drug and alcohol abuse, continues to run rampant.
Fixing education won’t be possible as long as too many children who attend Barrow schools live in a drug culture where their parents care more about their next hit than their child’s homework.
Fixing transportation won’t mean much if there’s nowhere to go because businesses leave the area.
Fixing the county budget won’t be possible if property values are suppressed by the impact of crime on neighborhoods.
Statham’s Chief Martin made a very astute and telling comment in a Journal story last week about prescription drug abuse in Barrow County: “It’s so entrenched in the culture of the county, it’s almost invisible,” he said.
“Entrenched in the culture.” That just about says it all.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. Should the decent citizens of Barrow County have to just accept that drugs are an endemic part of their community? Should they sit by silently as their neighborhoods deteriorate and their children and grandchildren grow up in a culture that accepts illegal drug use as the norm?
That’s why Smith, Dorsey, Martin and Nadeau are so important to the future of Barrow County. All are relatively new in their positions and represent a break with the past when certain kinds of crime were ignored.
It won’t be easy or quick, but these four men have their hands on the levers to send a strong message to both drug dealers and drug users and other local criminal elements: Get out!
They have the means to make life difficult for those who both sell and buy drugs on the streets of Barrow County. They can make Barrow an unwelcome place for thugs and thieves.
They are already starting to do that. There’s more cooperation and coordination between the departments now than in the past. And they’re having a major impact on crime with recent crackdowns.
But to have long-term success in those efforts, these four men and their departments will need the support of the community. They will need the support of the judicial system to get tougher on drug crimes so that the doors of the county’s courthouse don’t just revolve around and around. And they will need the support of the good citizens in Barrow County who should encourage them in their efforts to crack down on crime.
Of course, nobody expects perfection. There will always be drugs and crime in any community.
But it doesn’t have to be as deep and widespread as it has become in Barrow County in recent years.
There are those in the community who believe officers should not strongly enforce drug offenses. After all, if people choose to use drugs, it’s their business, right?
But that’s a cop-out. Drug abuse, including alcohol and prescription medications, impacts the entire community. It increases thefts as people steal to support their drug habit. It affects children in the homes where drug abuse is part of family life. As some recent stories have shown, child sexual abuse is often part-and-parcel of drug abuse.
Barrow County is on the bubble in its crime problem. Community leaders can either support law enforcement and judicial efforts to clean up the drug element, or they can bury their heads in the sand and pretend no problems exist.
But if that happens, Barrow County will become a suburban haven for even more drug abuse and there will be an open invitation for gangs and other organized crime activity to come here.
Now is the time to deal with this issue by standing behind those in law enforcement who are trying to crack down on thugs and thieves.
Mike Buffington is co-publisher of the Barrow Journal. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.
Maybe if the county didn't allow the high school kids that get caught with pot become snitches to keep drug charges off them that would help. They really think these kids keep quiet about being snitches? They don't snitch on their buddies and family memebers is all it accomplishes.
I think the citizens need to be assured there is a way to annonymously report and maybe they will have better co-operation from the citizens.
You can use an anonymization services like Tor (https://www.torproject.org/) or Anonymouse (http://anonymouse.org/anonwww.html) to submit the report.
Tor is untraceable unless you're running an exit node, and getting logs from Anonymouse (if they keep them) would be difficult given that it's in Seychelles.
There's also the option of using a library computer.
Hitler did it.
Stalin did it.
Mao did it.
Millions were imprisoned and murdered by these despots.
Learn from history...Prohibition does not work.
There are plenty of Law Enforcemeent Officials around the country and the world that agree.
The war on drugs is forty years old and a failure.
legalize it and you take the profit away from organized crime gangs.
Portugal did it and the crime rate went down.
its a straw man from law enforcement
Don't fall for this mind control.
Wake Up before they imprison you.
DRUG WAR FOR FORTY YEARS IS ENOUGH...it has FAILED.
Einstiens definition of insanity:
Doing the same task over and over and expecting different results each time... it is INSANE!!!
-Hopt
Mexican drug wars have killed 40,000 people since 2006.
The United States of America has more prison population than any other country on the planet.
Legalize what you need to legalize and remove the profit motive. Makes tax revenue too.
Your Editors need to get out of Barrow and see the world now and again.
Then You all can be close by, but smoke down, shoot up and do whatever you want to in MEXICO, and then Mexico can see what it feels like to be Invaded by People of another country who want WHAT THEY have to OFFER but could care less about the Country they are INVADING Otherwise.
This would be a Win-Win, What Say You?
Drug users would be FREE of the Imperial U.S. War on Drugs; Mexico won’t need to IMPORT drugs to the U.S. because the Users will be there. Saves the U.S. Money, and Mexico profits, Everyone Wins.
President Jimmy Carter -
"Drug policies here are more punitive and counterproductive than in other democracies, and have brought about an explosion in prison populations. At the end of 1980, just before I left office, 500,000 people were incarcerated in America; at the end of 2009 the number was nearly 2.3 million. There are 743 people in prison for every 100,000 Americans, a higher portion than in any other country and seven times as great as in Europe. Some 7.2 million people are either in prison or on probation or parole — more than 3 percent of all American adults!
Some of this increase has been caused by mandatory minimum sentencing and “three strikes you’re out” laws. But about three-quarters of new admissions to state prisons are for nonviolent crimes. And the single greatest cause of prison population growth has been the war on drugs war on peaceful Americans who chose to use intoxicants not currently approved of by the U.S. government (HT: Don B.), with the number of people incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses increasing more than twelve-fold since 1980."
(and I would like to hear abck from you if you find this to be not the case in your opinion.)
yet here he is wanting all of the departments, including Auburn to "send a strong message to both drug dealers and drug users and other local criminal elements: Get out" Its going to be tough without a police department or its officers to arrest the drug dealers and users, its probably going to cost too much money. And god forbid officers ask for working equipment to arrest these suspects. By the way most of the equipment purchased in the last two to three years was purchased from drug seized money, not tax payers. Dont be contradicting.
Mike Buffington stated in the last article that "police department officials always want more. They want the latest law enforcement toys, the newest cars with the fanciest lights, the newest guns, the best of everything. Budget management isn’t a strong suit of most small town police officials; they’re cops being asked to manage people and money, two skill sets they often don’t have"
Jud Smith wants SNEAKIER, MEANER, LESS ATTRACTIVE AND MORE INTIMIDATING CARS, AND WE WILL PAY FOR HIS EGO Need. He cant just Do a good job and be a good steward of our money, NOPE…..It corrupts them all when they get that power. Yes, we elected him, but we can vote him out next time, AFTER HE Wastes our Money, then Begs for MORE at the Commission meetings. It started out Promising, but he doesn't seem to get it, he is making the DEPARTMENT FEEL LESS APPROCHABLE and those who see thru the BS that every new Sheriff tries to sell to the public (of which he is falling for, thinking we are idiots).
Yep BIG Contradictions.... Jud, Focus on the Job, not the Paint Job (another version on toys they want) We really need you to be the Sheriff that gets it done (not re-done).
How would you be able to verify this?..If you can please do.
Also, since the BCS has the EXTRA money for fancy new lettering for their patrol cars..maybe everytime they seize money in a drug bust.they could return taxpayer money to the county coffers.
You know for every dollar seized, becomes a dollar returned to the taxpayers.
Fat chance
-Wodon
Well if it isn't BCJ problem child,
wass-up Ayk?..or whatever name your using today.
whats wrong forget to take your meds today?
Don't worry though, nurse Ratchet will be right along to dose you up.
-War Father
Society has a CSI mentality. Every crime solved in 60 minutes (with commercials). Ever wonder why the shows never show the prosecution stage? The case doesn't end with the arrest. We have no control over prosecution and penalties.
Legalize it, don't legalize it. Legalization isn't the problem. Anonymous witnessing of a hand to hand drug transaction will never be prosecuted. "I want the drugs to stop, but I don't want to get involved." If you call, they have to have a complainant. "But that's dangerous to my family." No kidding... welcome to our world.
Next time you want to say police/deps don't care, don't do anything, stand by etc., remember we're out there everyday so you can sit at home and watch CSI.
THE LAW. Change the law; fix the problem. BULLSEYE. And yes our Officers out there everyday do deserve our thanks and respect.
Right On !
One way to change the law is to become an informed juror.
Myself as an "informed juror" I refuse to vote to convict any one charged with possesion of marijuana.
As a leo, you could refuse to charge anyone for possesion of marijuana.
DUI different story..you drive high. You should be charged accordingly...etc.
-Woton
" Odin: Myself as an "informed juror" I refuse to vote to convict any one charged with possesion of marijuana. "
You Lying to the Prosecution or Defense is wrong, improper and illegal. (but so are non-Prescription / illegal drugs).
You need to take your views to the masses, get people who support your views elected and lobby your cause in another way. Circumventing our laws mean you have no more respect than the CRIMINALS out there today (Any Crime, not just Drug Offences). Many agree, Many Disagree... But these are the LAWS that the MAJORITY of us agree to live by HERE in the United States, whether they will be changed or re-thought in the future is up to us all (including you), BUT Right Now, The LAWS ON THE BOOKS are to enforced by those(LEOs) employed to enforce them as part of their sworn duties, Protecting and Serving is part of those individual positions, and I agree there are some "ISSUES" with them remembering the "Serving" part, but they are doing what society has hired them to do. Part of that includes Drug Offences.
NOW: If You want to legalize Drugs, WHAT Would YOU be willing to give up? Sacrifice?
I would say, IF LEGALIZED by the Government (and TAXED and SOLD Exclusively by the Government or under gov’t controlled guidelines) those using the "drugs" would have SOME RESTRICTIONS such as the Following for example: You would have to use on Your OWN Property ONLY, While on Drugs: You may not LEAVE Your Property, and You shall not disturb your neighbors while on drugs with air/noise pollution or bad behavior of any kind, nor would conduct business of promoting drugs, and of course EVERYONE present on the property MUST be a legal adult. Any calls to Police, Fire or EMS would come with an additional charge, due to the higher risk behavior YOU ARE CHOOSING. ----SO Odin, Would you agree to something like that? (Would you consider this as a compromise or do you just want full use of drugs to be legal and do as you please, where you please?) --Would any others opposed to drugs even consider something like that...?
That would control the Drug Market, Taxes collected, spend less on some enforcement and Users would have to agree to not leave their own property while under influence.
Odin, -Why would we as a society want to legalize drugs, enough die already from drugs and alcohol and other bad choices, and innocent people get caught in the crossfire??
You can attack the Police and America's War on Drugs forever, but no one a come up with a better way to protect the public, a society who majority that wants nothing to do with it and make you druggies happy.
Not a lie...Informed juror is not illegal.
Check out the web-site "Fully Informed Jury Assoc. org"
[Circumventing our laws mean you have no more respect than the CRIMINALS out there today (Any Crime, not just Drug Offences)].
again; you are wrong.
from the website:
The primary function of the independent juror is not, as many think, to dispense punishment to fellow citizens accused of breaking various laws, but rather to protect fellow citizens from tyrannical abuses of power by government.
The constitution guarantees you the right to trial by jury. This means that the government must bring its case before a jury of The People if government wants to deprive any person of life liberty, or property. Jurors can say no to government tyranny by refusing to convict.
If you don't know your rights...how can you uphold and defend the rights of others.
Use them or lose them.
This has been a public service announcement from the AEsir and Vanir.
-Wodan
Bottom line...thank you all.
Maybe that is JUST THE PERCEPTION they all give off, BUT PERCEPTION is often Close to REALITY.... Nice Suck Up Jim...