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Why Sheriff’s Office Staff will not
take reports of stolen narcotic medications?
By; Major John Perry, Chief Deputy
During the fall of 2004, the Gallia
County Sheriff’s Office recognized an alarming trend as it relates to the
reporting of stolen narcotic medications by individuals. After studying the
issue, it appeared that deputies were documenting a sharp increase in the
number of stolen reports of narcotic medications by persons alleging that
person(s) known and unknown had stolen their medications.
The alleged victims needed a police
report in order for their physician to re-fill the prescription before the
refill date to replace the medication allegedly stolen. More often than
not, no other tangible items were alleged stolen from the victims other than
the medication.
As the Sheriff’s Office Administration
and Investigative Staff further looked at this trend, several common themes
started to appear. Most of the reports were suspect due to the alleged
victims in these alleged thefts were known to be suspected drug abusers or
traffickers of narcotic medications; furthermore, as the word started to
spread on the streets that you could get your narcotic medications refilled
by a physician by merely having a police report prior to the refill date,
the numbers of individuals wanting a report increased dramatically. This
trend also was problematic in that valuable investigative resources were
being used in attempts to investigate these thefts that were suspect from
the beginning.
In reaching out to other law
enforcement agencies not only in Gallia County, but also in other
jurisdictions in Ohio as well as other states about this problem, they too
were seeing the same trends taking place.
Law enforcement professionals around
the nation concluded: in supplying police reports for stolen prescription
narcotics it was in effect making the law enforcement agencies taking and
supplying reports one of the major sources of illicit prescription narcotic
sales within their communities and facilitating the ultimate abuse of these
narcotics by persons addicted.
To combat this problem, the Sheriff’s
Office learned that a high number of law enforcement agencies across the
nation were changing their policies to remedy this problem. The idea
emerged that it was only by refusing to take or supply reports on stolen
narcotic medications would the problem truly be solved.
In January of 2005
the Gallia County Sheriff’s Office changed its policy in keeping with this
trend. It is believed that this single act has prevented a large amount of
illicit prescription narcotics from being sold on the streets or getting
into the hands of those addicted.
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