Editor’s note: This is the second part in an ongoing series highlighting methamphetamine use in Brookings County.

BROOKINGS – The use of methamphetamine is rising in Brookings County, and it affects many organizations and areas of society. One of the first groups to come in contact with meth users is law enforcement. Three of them sat down with The Register to explain the impact of meth use and how it affects how they do their jobs.

Dave Erickson is the assistant police chief with the Brookings Police Department. Bart Sweebe is jail administrator. Charles Umberger is an investigator with the Brookings County Sheriff’s Office.

Arrests up

Officers are seeing a steady increase in the amount of arrests being made, Sweebe said.

He backed that up with some Brookings County statistics on people arrested on controlled drug charges.

In 2010, four females and six males were arrested for a total of 10. The numbers were the same in 2011. In 2012, just one male was arrested. In 2013, one female and six males were arrested for a total of seven.

In 2014, the numbers jump dramatically: 27 females and 37 males were arrested for a total of 64. In 2015, the total number jumped to 190 with 67 females and 123 males arrested. In 2016, the total was 259, with 82 females and 177 males arrested.

Sweebe pointed out this is for total drug arrests; he didn’t have specific statistics for just meth. The chart showed any drug charge that goes into a felony type of crime.

But they all said there’s a connection to meth in that big jump.

“Meth was starting to be seen more by law enforcement about that time period,” Sweebe said, adding it comes up in tests after an arrest.

“It’s the drug that’s being found in investigations and arrests. A drug test will point out what specific chemicals are in a person’s system,” Umberger said.

And officers are better trained in detecting drugs in people, resulting in more arrests, Umberger added.

“It’s become easier for patrol officers to detect because they have more training than officers 10 years ago,” he said.

Meth’s on the rise again

“I think there’s always some ebb and flow in the drug use, with regard to drugs other than marijuana,” said Erickson. “Sometimes we’ll see a rise in the popularity of ecstasy, or cocaine or heroin, but I think the issue with meth is more of a long-term problem and not just a fad.”

Erickson thinks meth is becoming the drug of choice because of the availability and the fact it doesn’t cost as much as other drugs.

“The drug problem has gotten to the point where it’s affecting everybody. All walks of life, it’s not specific to any group of people,” Sweebe said.

“It’s anywhere from early teens, possibly pre-teens, all the way up to late middle age,” Umberger said. “Teens to early 20s is probably always the biggest (group), just like with alcohol abuse.”

“In the last couple of years, we’ve seen guys in their 50s and 60s that have come in under arrest for methamphetamine use,” Sweebe said.

Methamphetamine is being found in almost any incident, even armed robbery because people will do anything to fund their next high.

“Traffic stops and contacts, domestic situations, you name it. Officers are getting called to locations; we’re finding things on our own,” Erickson said.

Addiction can make people do a lot of things that they wouldn’t normally do, Erickson said. “(Meth) alters the chemical in your brain; you never know what’s gonna happen.”

And that means law enforcement is in more danger.

“If they’re dealing with somebody who’s actually under the influence of methamphetamine, one of the symptoms is paranoia. That increased paranoia becomes the possibility of danger for the officer dealing with that person,” he said.

That includes the possibility of becoming violent, which is a greater danger to all officers of the law, Erickson said.

After the arrest

It doesn’t get any easier after the handcuffs are clicked, because drug users are still high when they’re brought to the jail.

“They can be violent. It’s tough sometimes when they come in. We’ve got to especially watch them,” Sweebe said.

“We can’t have them in with the rest of the jail population because we need to make sure that they stay safe and don’t cause any harm to themselves or somebody else.

“It’s send them off in a cell by themselves, which we have two of. And sometimes that’s not enough,” Sweebe said.

Unlike sleeping off a drunk overnight, drug users will probably be long-term guests of the county.

“They’re gonna probably be staying with us for a while. Especially with controlled substances, those are felony charges,” Sweebe said. “A lot of time with the felony charge, you’re probably gonna have a cash bond to get out. People don’t have the money to post bond to get out. Their money all goes to their drug addiction.”

The jail isn’t the best place for them, but there really is no other place, the trio said.

“You’re really into a medical situation when somebody’s detoxing off of drugs,” Sweebe said.

“Brookings has no detox or treatment center here in town, which would be helpful,” Umberger said. “Our correctional staff are not equipped or trained to deal with detox.”

Treatment centers are few and far between, and the ones that exist are full.

“If you get sentenced to treatment through the court system, until you can get an open slot in the treatment center, you end up in jail,” Umberger said.

“We’ve held people for weeks sometimes waiting for a bed to get into a treatment center,” Sweebe said.

With few options for treatment, many people remain in the cycle of drug abuse, descending further into bad health and crime.

“It’s the recurring people over and over and over again,” Sweebe said. “You see the people where they start out with the marijuana and get into the harder drugs. ... You see ‘em come in and out of the jail like that and their addiction is just getting worse.”

“It has become a priority for law enforcement in the Brookings community. Just last year, (we) established a task force that includes members of the Department of Criminal Investigation, Brookings Police Department, (and) Brookings County Sheriff’s Office; all of us recognize the problem and the need,” Erickson said.

Their goal is to be proactive, not reactive, he said. “Be aware that it’s here. Don’t have blinders on to it. It is here; it is in our community. I want people to also look at these numbers and say ‘hey, our law enforcement is doing its job. They are doing what they need to do to make our community safe.’

“And we do encourage the community’s involvement in helping us,” Erickson said.

Help stop meth

If anybody has information about users, dealers or anything pertaining to drugs, you can report it to Crimestoppers anonymously, Erickson said.

To help stop meth, contact the Brookings Police at 605-692-2113; the Brookings County Sheriff’s Office at 605-696-8300; or contact Crimestoppers anonymously by visiting www.brookingsareacrimestoppers.com or by calling 605-692-STOP (7867).

Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.