No Drugs In My Neighborhood Project

This project is designed to increase the identification and investigation of methamphetamine labs and drug houses and dealers in Sacramento County. In addition, a component of this effort will increase community eyes on drug labs and sales operations throughout the County on a regular basis.


Reason: In 1999, approximately 59 drug labs were investigated and dealt with in Sacramento County. In 2000, approximately 30 labs were seized, and 14 labs were identified and closed in the first half of 2001.

County Alcohol and Drug Services statistics indicated that for the first time methamphetamines involvement (as drug of first choice) equals alcohol for those seeking publicly funded treatment. ADAM (Arrestee and Drug Abuse Monitoring) statistics indicate that Sacramento has one of the highest incidents of methamphetamine involved offenders in the nation.

Law enforcement has limited personnel to spot labs, and drug houses/dealers as they are shut down move and open up elsewhere.

Finally, the community is often confused about who to call (DEA, Sheriff, Police, etc.), are afraid to call, or don’t know what the identifiable signs are for such a facility in their midst. This project seeks to strengthen the neighborhoods’ ability to recognize, report and track interventions and expand the number of eyes on the problem.


Project: Develop a "No Drugs In My Neighborhood Project." This effort would have three primary components and would be developed in concert with local law enforcement to ensure its effective implementation.

• A Hotline for reporting suspicious sites: An easy access number that would be accessible 24 hours a day, collect the information and ensure that law enforcement could begin to act on the public’s information. The CalMETT Hotline is tracked by a collaboration of law enforcement agencies focusing on “Meth Labs” and other illegal substances.
  
• Posters and wallet cards with the hotline number: These printed items would have a list of Signs of a Drug House in your Neighborhood and would be developed, printed and distributed throughout the County. This would be part of a social marketing campaign to advertise the existence of the hotline service. It would seek to increase press coverage and generate donated billboard to help with the campaign.
  
• Eyes on our Neighborhoods Service Worker Education: The final component will provide community service workers with videos on the identification of potential meth labs and drug houses, so they would be additional eyes on our community. These knowledgeable workers could then report their observations through the hotline. This would expand the efforts to reduce the problem sites in the community and send, over time, the message that Sacramento neighborhoods will not tolerate drug labs/sales in our midst.

Needs:

• Help getting donated billboards, TV, radio, and press coverage and support for distributing the posters and wallet cards
• Ideas on expanding the "Eyes On Our Neighborhoods" effort by implementing a training program for neighborhood service workers
• Funding support to continue printing the wallet cards, and posters, as well as cost for billboards and other social marketing efforts
• Any other input and suggestions for tackling this problem