Pubdate: Wed, 06 Jul 2005 Source: Statesman Journal (Salem, OR) Copyright: 2005 Statesman Journal Contact: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/427 Author: Timothy A. Akimoff Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) VIDEO TRAINS CITY EMPLOYEES TO SPOT, REPORT METH ACTIVITY When Sgt. Russ Isham of the Salem Police Department's Community Response Team was challenged to come up with new ways to combat the city's growing methamphetamine problem, he decided to become a movie producer. Isham took action last year after City Manager Bob Wells asked city staff members to brainstorm ways to combat the spread of meth use. "Drug houses are the biggest problem facing the city," Isham said. "And the crimes associated with drug houses were something that we wanted to find out if we could reduce." Wells' challenge has prompted calls for increased anti-drug efforts by the city's 1,500 employees. Isham and Angie Hedrick, the neighborhood-services analyst for the city's Department of Community Services, coordinated a video project to train city employees. The video features a group of South Salem neighbors who say they rid their neighborhood of drug dealing, as well as city employees who talk about how to recognize, spot and report illegal activity. "We were looking for a way that we could get out the message to the broadest range of citizens, and the video is really a great way to do that," Wells said. "We realized that as a city employee, you're going to see things during the course of your workday," Isham said. "We asked, 'What can you do as a city employee to reduce the impact of drug-related crimes?'" "When we go home at night, we're still citizens of our community," Hedrick said. The idea of building close-knit communities that could be potent anti-drug task forces appealed to Isham and Hedrick, and they quickly realized that the model they helped build for training city employees could be extended to the rest of the city. Isham and Hedrick want to get the message out beyond the nearly 1,400 city employees they already have trained and into the neighborhoods where meth dealers and manufacturers are setting up shop. "Obviously, meth is having a huge impact in our community, and that's something everybody's paying attention to right now," Isham said. "We want to show how Neighborhood Watch groups not only take care of neighbors but could actually reduce crime in Salem." The campaign seems to be working, many say. "I was talking to someone from West Salem Lion's Club," Hedrick said. "She was very excited to see the video at their organization. She said she appreciated that everyone is talking about meth and drug houses, but that nobody is telling people what they can do. And that is really the purpose of the video." Hedrick and Isham also hope to see an increase in reports of suspected drug houses as well as strong and sustained efforts to improve neighborhoods. "We don't want to encourage people to do this by throwing out some horrible statistics to scare people into participation," Isham said. "As people get to know each other, know their kids and their neighbors' cars, that's what will help them become more aware of what doesn't belong in their neighborhood," Hedrick said. "That's how you build community." - --- MAP posted-by: Beth