Monday, January 25, 2010

2009 meth labs

Among other things, Sgt. Mike Basset supervises our clandestine lab team. He sent me a summary of the meth labs located in Lancaster County last year:

For 2009, the Lincoln Metro Clandestine Laboratory Team responded to
and processed six (6) meth lab incidents. Below are the labs worked:

  • A9-017650 Feb 26th, 2009 400 block of N. 44th St. & Wyuka Cemetery; dumpsite with equipment
  • A9-19239 March 3, 2009 900 block of S. 44th St.;equipment with residue
  • A9002144 March 26, 2009 5500 block of Claire Ave.; dumpsite
  • A9-067881 July 14, 2009 West O St. & NW 90th St.; lab in progress
  • A9-117754 November 27-28, 2009 4600 block of Baldwin Ave.; lab in progress
  • A9-124184 December 17th, 2009 2200 block of S. 9th St.; dumpsite glassware with pills

Five persons were arrested in connection with these six lab incidents which is unusual. Meth labs have fallen precipitously in Nebraska since 2004, when we had around 60 in Lancaster County. Although they are encountered less often today, it is still important to have a group of properly trained and equipped personnel who can safely deal with the hazards that labs can present, and can both the collection of evidence and the proper disposal of chemicals. I certainly appreciate the work of the officers and deputies who have volunteered to serve in this capacity.

On a related note, like many police chiefs and sheriffs, I have a small collection of photos of meth addicts taken at two different time intervals, showing the devastating impact the chronic abuse of this drug has upon some addicts. The Partnership for a Drug Free America maintains a website devoted to this phenomenon. Yesterday, a friend who has seen my collection sent me a link to this NPR program that ran on Sunday. I had the same idea a few years ago, but it looks like Mendocino County (CA) Sheriff Tom Allman actually acted upon it, and found a company to produce the software.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Off topic, or somewhat on I guess.
It is not often we read about drugs and accidents. Is meth tested for on drivers? I have been busy. But having fun and learning too. This is my best yet. Enjoy.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__-G74098tAo/S12hKrwFz0I/AAAAAAAAAho/IdXBKo72HlU/s1600-h/sweed.jpg
Many more are on my blog.

Anonymous said...

Who compiles the mountains of paperwork that is required when purchasing pseudoephedrine by legitimate people?

Is it possible for a meth cook to run from store to store buying small quantities of the stuff?

Is there any kind of check and balance system in place to prevent this from occurring?

ARRRRG!!!! said...

I wrote my own image-altering software.

Before......After.

Anonymous said...

Is most of the meth in Lincoln still manufactured in Mexico?

Anonymous said...

8:17 - You can go from different chains, but don't go to walgreens (any walgreens across the country) and try to buy your allergy medicine a day early because they'll treat you like a criminal. But at least it is better than when the law first went into effect at that time I could only get a five day supply now I can get 15 days at one time.

tspuckhead said...

The "Faces of Meth" site is just frightening. So sad...

Anonymous said...

Chief,

Did B0-007984 get geo-coded 4 miles from where it occurred, or did they drive 4 miles (with no back window, and on a fairly cold night) before reporting it?

That whole scenario smells a bit past its sell-by date anyway. If you try and picture it happening exactly as the newsies wrote it, it's just a little off.

Anonymous said...

Chief,

This is completely off topic, but I'm going to ask anyway...

JournalStar.com is reporting that the car robbery in which the back window was broken out took place "in the North Bottoms Neighborhood". 1011now.com is a bit more specific in their article, which mentions "14th and Military Streets."

My morning email message from CrimeMapping.com, however, reports that this (or a very similar) incident took place at "700 BLOCK OF LAKESIDE DR" (Case #B0-007984), which happens to be very close to where I live. Are these two separate incidents, or did someone get the address wrong?

Regardless of the location, it seems that there is more to this story than the media is reporting. Are the victims suspected of criminal activity?

Tom Casady said...

9:24-

Yes.

11:43, 2:01-

The Incident Report incorrectly listed the location of occurrence as the location from which the victims reported the offense. It actually occurred, as reported in the news, near N. 14th & Military.

Anonymous said...

So they did drive 4 miles before reporting it, on a cold night, with no back window. Interesting. I can understand getting out of the immediate area and wanting to get to a safe location, report the CCs as stolen, etc - but they probably went within a few blocks of the main cop shop halfway through the journey. Now, if you wanted to stash some contraband, or drink up and say you only imbibed after you got home, then going home first would make sense.

Hey, if you were going noisily shatter a window to prevent the driver from fleeing, wouldn't you instead shatter the driver's window and try to haul the driver out of that portal? Maybe I'm cynically reading too much into this, but it's very odd, the way they wrote it.

Steve said...

So, according to Arrrrg, some people look better in their "after" photos? :)

Anonymous said...

2:01

I think this is very similar to a story that was in the LJS a month ago that someone said they were robbed at gunpoint while going to the ATM. It was later found they were full of beans. Something tells me there is more to it than is being reported.

I am in agreement with Chief on most of this. I live in an area that is supposed to be a "bad" part of Lincoln. However, I have never had one incident in five years here. Not even my car stolen out of or a home invasion, robbery, or burglary.

This is mainly because the company I keep is decent law abiding citizens and I am a law abiding citizen.

Makes me wonder how dumb you have to be to report a home invasion or a robbery when there are drugs involved and you know you are going to be in deep doo doo when the whole truth comes out.

Anonymous said...

A bit off-topic, but why are some mugshots available to the public, but others are not? We saw the Bus Thief/vandal's mugshot last week, but not Kelly Grim, who was operating a hazardous and potentially explosive clandestine lab.

Think of it as a bit of "crowd-sourcing": show everyone a convicted meth producer, some folks with more information about meth dealings in the area can provide it, then LPD/DEA/whoever can follow the investigation up the money tree.