Pubdate: Fri, 06 Aug 2004 Source: Charleston Daily Mail (WV) Copyright: 2004 Charleston Daily Mail Contact: http://www.dailymail.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/76 Author: George Gannon Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) DRUG UNIT UNVEILS COMMAND CENTER Overhauled Ambulance Carries Evidence Gathering Equipment, Protective Gear To help cope with the increasing number of methamphetamine labs in the Kanawha Valley, the Metro Drug Enforcement Network Team now has a mobile command center it can transport to the scene of a lab takedown. The overhauled ambulance, which was donated by the Kanawha Valley Ambulance Authority, will be used to carry evidence gathering equipment and protective gear. Cpl. Tony Payne, a detective with the drug unit, said officers were given about $2,500 from the Metro Drug unit's budget to outfit the truck The vehicle, which was used for critical care patients, will give officers who have to collect evidence from a lab a place to suit up and properly store what they find. "That's the main benefit," Payne said during the vehicle's unveiling earlier this week. "We've needed something like this for the past few years." Payne said whenever they are called to a lab -- which happens at all hours of the day and night -- they would have the gear they need in one location. Detectives who break down the lab don't haul chemical waste; they just collect material needed to mount a prosecution. Federal mandates dictate that cleanups be done by a certified agency. The vehicle also gives detectives a command post if they encounter something they didn't expect and a decontamination unit will keep the officers from carrying off any hazardous material Lt. Steve Neddo, the drug unit's commander, said the vehicle allows his officers more of a presence when they are on a bust. "It let's the public know, yes, we are here," he said. Even though the drug unit consists of undercover officers, Neddo said cleaning a drug lab is never a clandestine operation. Because most of the labs they bust come from tips, Neddo said when someone sees that vehicle, they know information they provided was put to use. Stressing the importance of getting the right stuff to make a conviction, Neddo said the vehicle will give them a better place to store what they collect. "If there is going to be a case made, we have to sample chemicals and collect evidence," Neddo said. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin