Pubdate: Wed, 05 Dec 2001
Source: Kentucky New Era (KY)
Copyright: 2001 Kentucky New Era
Website: www.kentuckynewera.com
Contact:  P.O. Box 729, Hopkinsville, KY 42241
Phone: 270-886-4444
Fax: 270-887-3222
Author: Jennifer P Brown

METH TRAINING PROVIDES FOUNDATION FOR LOCAL ANTITERRORISM CLASSES

It sounds like an unlikely parallel -- fighting terrorism and hunting down 
the people who make methamphetamine. But there are key similarities in the 
two crime-fighting techniques for law enforcement officers because both 
require special training in ways to deal with hazardous materials, 
according to Cheyenne Albro, director of the Pennyrile Narcotics Task Force.

"When the anthrax threats started it was just natural to use those people 
we had already trained for methamphetamine," Albro said Tuesday at the 
start of a three-day antiterrorism class.

Approximately 40 local, state and federal officers are participating in the 
session at the Regional Training Center off Russellville Road. They will 
learn about the medical dangers associated with chemical and biological 
threats and receive lessons related to the Patriot Act recently passed by 
Congress that gives law enforcement officers broader powers to investigate 
suspected terrorists.

Albro said the session is the first of its kind in Kentucky, and perhaps 
the country.

"I don't know of anybody else who is doing this," he said. "As far as I 
know this is the only one."

Prior to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, the Pennyrile 
Narcotics Task Force had already provided specialized methamphetamine 
classes for about 140 officers in western Kentucky. The classes have been 
funded through a pair of $1 million federal grant, which was secured 
through lobbying efforts of Rep. Ed Whitfield, a Hopkinsville Republican, 
according to Albro.

Methamphetamine is manufactured, or "cooked," in crude laboratories 
typically hidden in secluded areas. The illegal labs produce toxic 
materials that require police and emergency workers to use protective 
clothing and other equipment that is similar to the techniques that would 
be needed to handle chemical and biological attacks, according to Albro.

"We are going to cover the majority of the chemical weapons," which 
includes sarin, mustard and tear gases, he said, outlining the 
antiterrorism classes.

The three-day session is a cooperative effort of the task force, the U.S. 
Attorney's Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Stephen Pence, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, told the 
officers attending the training that the public is depending on them to 
protect Americans from foreign and domestic attacks.

"It is a literal war on terrorism," Pence said.

The United States has adopted a wartime attitude and the U.S. Attorney's 
Office has made antiterrorism its No. 1 priority, he said.

"The citizens are counting on you to fight the fight," he said.
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