Rural Community Dealing With Drug Issues
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The Rutherford Police Department is working on several prescription drug-related cases right now, and they said such problems are not going away anytime soon. Chief Mike Hensley told 7 Eyewitness News prescription drug abuse is not just a problem in Rutherford, but across other rural areas in West Tennessee. And he said it makes it harder to crack down on the problem with such small police departments. Chief Hensley said they have had an increase in prescription drug arrests in the past year, about 10, which he said is a lot for their small town. That total matches the numbers of other illegal drug arrests. “Especially considering that we’re small enough that we don’t have a dedicated narcotics unit as larger departments do,” Hensley said. “It’s pretty well an officer-by-officer case.” Hensley said this problem worries his police department. With only three full time officers, the drugs seem to have a domino effect on crime. “One thing leads to another thing, which also leads to more burglaries and thefts.” Officers said the Drug Task Force often helps, but they are not always available, and that is a problem. “Even if we have a situation where we need help, they will come as soon as they can, but they may be tied up on something that they’re right in the middle of and can’t really let go,” Hensley said. According to Hensley, the best his officers can do now is to work with neighboring police departments, until more officers can be hired. “Your people that are involved in the narcotics business – whether it’s prescription drugs or illegal street drugs – know that if they come out into the rural areas that there’s less law enforcement out here and a lot of times you see an influx from Jackson or Memphis or Nashville coming here.” Officers said the most popular drug they are seeing right now is hydrocodone. They said pseudoephedrine sales have slowed down a bit, thanks to new state laws.
