Pubdate: Sun, 12 May 2002 Source: Daily Independent, The (KY) Copyright: 2002 The Daily Independent, Inc. Contact: http://www.dailyindependent.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1573 Author: Ben Fields SHERIFF PROUD OF DRUG WORK; OPPONENTS SAY OTHER AREAS NEED TO BE ADDRESSED IN GREENUP GREENUP - It's easy to see where Greenup Sheriff Keith Cooper stands on the issues. All you have to do is take a look at his department's arrest record. According to the sheriff, his department has arrested more than 260 on drug-related charges during the past four years. But some, namely Cooper's opponents in the Democratic primary - the winner of which will be the next sheriff - think Cooper's administration has focused too much on drug busts and not enough on other county problems. "(Cooper) is damn good at what he does. I just feel there are other areas that need to be addressed," said Lou Bentley, South Shore's water and sewer superintendent and one of Cooper's opponents. That sentiment was echoed by another candidate, Flatwoods Police Sgt. Kevin Diedrich. Diedrich said other agencies could focus on that problem to free up the sheriff's department for other work. "We have FADE (FIVCO Area Drug Enforcement), and they're allowed to work in Greenup County," Diedrich said. "I think we should work more with them to combat drugs." Doing so would free more time for crime-prevention programs sponsored through the sheriff's department, like getting neighborhood watches set up in communities or starting educational programs like DARE (Drug and Alcohol Resistance Education) in county school districts, Diedrich said. Bentley said he thinks it's easy for a department to fall in a trap of spending too much time on drug cases. "If you don't get the source, you're not going to eliminate drugs," Bentley said. "Taking a limb off the tree doesn't mean anything. You have to get the tree." But Cooper, who makes many undercover drug buys himself, said he thinks drug enforcement is still a major area of concern for the county. Other problems in the county "trickle down" from drugs, he said. "Rarely do we go to a domestic disturbance where drugs or alcohol isn't a factor," Cooper said. "When we see a burglary, usually it's someone stealing stuff to sell so they can buy drugs." Cooper said getting control of the drug situation is like "getting my hands on the throat" of a body of crime. "Once you cut off the drugs, a great portion of other crime will disappear," he said. Greenup has a good deal of drugs circulated through it, Cooper said, ranging from marijuana to cocaine and methamphetamines. But the big problem, in Cooper's opinion, is prescription-drug misuse. The county is plagued by drug peddlers who get prescriptions out of state or from other counties, and then sell their medication on the street, he said. The problem is especially bad in the western end of the county; places like South Shore, where pharmacies are repeatedly broken into, he said. "We sent some deputies down to that end of the county," he said. "Over a five-week period we made 43 drug arrests, and not one of them was from Greenup County. If people from West Virginia and Ohio or other counties in Kentucky are traveling here to do this (sell prescriptions), that shows me we have a problem." As for getting the "tree," as Bentley put it, Cooper says the department is working on that. "Most of the people we get are low on the totem pole," he said. "We're starting to get other agencies involved, like the Federal Bureau of Investigation, so we can get some of these unethical doctors or pharmacists (who are writing or filling the prescriptions)." While Cooper's opponents agree drugs are a problem, they think other areas need attention, too. Ironically, a lot of the challengers' focus is on the small town of South Shore, where Cooper lives. Diedrich said he wants to set up a substation in South Shore, so those western areas could be patrolled more frequently. The idea is not only feasible, but supported, he said. "I've talked with business people there who have said they would make a place for us to set up shop," Diedrich said. He said he has received several complaints from residents concerned about slow response times, or deputies not showing up at all. Bentley, who also lives in South Shore, echoed Diedrich's comments and called South Shore and the unincorporated areas beyond in the western part of the county the "lost children" of Greenup. "You have to enforce the law, but you also have to be responsive to the people who elected you," Bentley said. "Even if there's nothing you can do about a situation, you need to listen to people. Any time someone calls the sheriff, they have a problem, and that problem is extremely important to them." Cooper said he thinks he and his deputies are responsive. He also said his department has responded to just as many calls for other crimes as it has for drug-related incidents, in addition to serving papers, collecting taxes each year and doing all the transporting work for the Greenup County Detention Center. As for its presence in places like South Shore, Cooper said he thinks the sheriff's department has done well in that respect. Particularly when the city was down to one police officer at one point last year. "When that happened, my guys were there," Cooper said. He said the department might not have a presence in some areas because of the amount of crime someplace else or the type of area involved. "If we're in one place more than we're somewhere else, it's because of the volume of calls, not because I like that place more," Cooper said. "And a lot of the cities have their own police forces. They're still entitled to county protection because they pay county taxes. But you won't see us as much in a larger city, because I don't want to centralize my guys where there's already adequate police protection if someone out in the county needs our help." - --- MAP posted-by: Alex