Today, The DAILY LEADER continues a series of Question andAnswer sessions with candidates for Lincoln County sheriff. All sixcandidates participated in the survey.

Interstate interdiction efforts by the sheriff’sdepartment have resulted in the seizure of drugs, money andvehicles. Those efforts have led to funding and other means toassist in the war on drugs. However, instead of dedicating anofficer to stopping drugs bound for somewhere else, it could beargued the officer’s time could be better spent trying to combatdrug problems on the local level. Do you agree? Why or whynot?

Robert Berry:

I both agree and disagree. An officer’s time is better spenttrying to combat drug problems on the local level by undercoverwork, informant information and neighbors getting involved in thefight against drugs and other criminal activity.

But, just at these drugs are passing through the county,they are entering the county at some point, so interstateinterdiction is also a priority. I believe that when anyinformation comes to the department that drugs are crossing throughLincoln County, and the department has an opportunity to apprehendthose individuals and the illegal drugs that they are transportingthrough the county, then it is our obligation as law enforcementofficers to apprehend, detain, arrest and seize any drugs, moneyand vehicles as a duty to the citizens of Lincoln County.

Lynn Boyte:

I do not agree. These are two separate positions just likethe DARE program. You cannot fight the drug problem from just oneangle. These positions (DARE, Interstate Interdiction, and StreetLevel Narcotics) are still very important and you cannot take oneof them away without hurting the other two. Drug interdiction orInterstate interdiction is very effective. It takes largequantities of drugs off the street and provides money to fight thewar on drugs without having to use taxpayer dollars to do this. Itprovides money to buy patrol cars, bullet proof vest, firearms andother equipment used for local narcotic enforcement. This frees upthe taxpayers money to pay for more deputies which means morecounty patrol and protection. Our interdiction officer also wasresponsible for a number of large narcotics arrest in the county.This officer also did surveillance for narcotics activity in thecounty and this officer was a K9 handler. We have seized more drugsin Lincoln County with our Interdiction Program than any otheradministration has with its programs. We are not talking ounces weare talking thousands of pounds! We had one traffic stop thatseized over 650 pounds of drugs. You cannot fight the war on drugstaking an ounce at a time off of some kid that has been paid tosell drugs on the street corner. You have to take it from the maindealer. I can assure you when you can say you have taken over amillion dollars worth of drugs off the street in just one stop, youcan say you have made a dent in the war on drugs.

As far as stopping drugs bound for somewhere else, drugslike crime are mobile. Numerous cases were made involving drugsgoing to Jackson and surrounding areas. Most of the illegal drugsin Lincoln County at this time came from the Jackson area. Sostopping drugs on the interstate can in fact help Lincoln County.Not to mention the other criminals that were stopped on I-55. Somepeople would say the drugs being taking off the interstate are notgoing to Lincoln County and we should not waste our time fightingsomeone else’s drug problem. For those who believe this, I wouldask you to consider the following. What if the people in Louisianaand Texas felt this way and took their officers off of I-12, I-10,I-55 and HWY 84. This would open the flow of drugs to LincolnCounty along with a lot of criminals.

What about the money we are saving the taxpayer. Thisprogram provides us a lot of money to put back into Lincoln Countyto fight our drug problem. This is using drug pushers money insteadof tax payers to fight the drug problem. What about the extradeputies it allows us to hire. Before we started this DrugInterdiction Program we could not afford enough deputies orequipment to work a night shift. Less than four months after westarted this program we were able to put deputies on patrol after11 p.m.

What about all the other non drug related arrests thisprogram has made. We have apprehended numerous felons and provideda good barrier for outsiders coming into Lincoln County. It is likehaving a gatekeeper watching over your county keeping felons out.When a wanted person or drug dealer enters our county and sees orgets stopped by interdiction officers it lets him know that LincolnCounty is tough on crime and this is not a place they want tobe!

I could go on and on about the great things this program hasdone for our county but the most important thing is we are not justsitting around answering calls of distress when they come in. Wecould easily do just what we are required to do and go home notworrying about what is going to happen to the future of ourchildren and our county or we can work above what is required toand build programs like these that can truly make adifference.

Highway Interdiction is a program used throughout thecountry and is a very effective tool to combat both drugs andcriminal activity.

Terry Harper:

The Interstate Interdiction Program does work if it is, donethe right way. We need to join the Pearl River Interdiction Agencyand get back involved with the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. Wehad an officer assigned through them that worked hand-in-hand withthe sheriff’s department. The department has gotten away from that.The funding is there “why not use it”. The officer used his/hertime to combat drugs in our neighborhoods. It was a great asset tothe department and needs to be again.

B. W. Pitts:

Interstate Interdiction would have great results if we hadthe manpower to effectively work the highways. However, after manyyears of working interdiction, I can tell you that a majority ofthe drug money and vehicle seizures were on the roads of thecounty. I believe we need to focus on ridding the drugs from ourcommunities by citizens and law enforcement working together and byeducating our youth.

Steve Rushing:

I believe that to fight the war on drugs it should beaddressed on all levels of enforcement. A strong narcotics unitneeds to be able to handle traffickers, dealers, and users ofdrugs. While Interstate Interdiction has been used in the past andis a good tool in drug enforcement, I believe that drugs on a locallevel need to be addressed first. Working to keep drugs out of thecommunity and especially out of our schools should take priority inthe war on drugs. The same type of seizures can be obtained fromlocal enforcement which give funds to help in the fight and at thesame time the community can see a difference in the drug traffic intheir neighborhoods.

Gene “Bub” Simmons, Jr.:

I would have to agree that our deputies’ time would bebetter spent at the local level. The mission and training of theMississippi Highway Patrol is much different than our sheriff’sdepartment. Our first priority is to the citizens of Lincoln Countyand I intend to lead this department in that direction. Ourdeputies’ personal safety is also a major factor in my decision.Interstate traffic is just that, people going somewhere else, andfor the most part they don’t respect the Highway Patrol much less alocal sheriff’s deputy. I say let’s get Lincoln County on the righttrack and let the Mississippi Highway Patrol do their job.