Effort leads to 24 arrests

A collaborative effort between several departments led to two dozen arrests in a four-day period last week.
Operation Interdiction involved the help of Jay County Sheriff’s Office, Indiana State Police, Drug Task Force, Adams County Sheriff’s Office, Decatur Police Department, Randolph County Sheriff’s Office and several K-9 units.
Altogether, the departments from Dec. 7 to Dec. 10 made 128 traffic stops throughout the county.
“You’re going to see a lot more of this,” said Portland Police Chief Nathan Springer. “Maybe not here, but around the county.”
One of the major reasons for the stops was getting drugs off the street, Springer noted.
During Operation Interdiction, Portland police alone made 56 traffic stops, issued 17 tickets, gave 39 warnings, jailed 24 people and had one juvenile case. Some of the cases were drug-related.
“It’s no secret we have a drug problem,” said Springer, whose letter to the editor about the recent string of arrests ran in Monday’s edition of The Commercial Review. “And it’s not just here in Portland or Jay County, it’s everywhere.”
The idea for the operation grew out of police department meetings to find ways to combat the area’s drug problem, with Drug Task Force investigator Jamie Baughman selected to lead the operation.

Officers expected a negative reaction to the frequent traffic stops based on their previous experience with Operation Pullover, efforts to prevent DUIs and seat belt violations. But, Springer said, the positive outweighed the negative.
“We expected complaints from the public for making stops,” said Baughman. “Any time you have an operation going on you’re going to have someone complain about it — it’s just human nature. I got more positive results than I did negative just from the general public ...”
Most of Drug Task Force’s investigations this year have involved methamphetamine and heroin.
This year, Baughman reported 46 dealing methamphetamine cases, 81 dealing heroin cases, 10 methamphetamine lab investigations and 70 arrests. During the week of the stops, the police intercepted a few drug buys.
Almost everyone feels the effects of drug addiction, Springer said, whether personally or through family or friends. And in his letter to the editor he noted that more arrests are coming and encouraged those who are dealing with addiction to get help.
“Recognizing that they have an addiction would be the first step and utilizing a facility to try to get the addiction stopped would be a gift to a family because addiction does stuff to people that they normally wouldn’t do,” said Baughman. “No one wants to see someone die from it or spend a long time in prison. If you can get the help you need, that would be the best gift to loved ones.”