January 20, 2010

With the close of 2009 I want to bring our stakeholders and the citizens we serve up to date on what transpired this year.

The biggest change was the addition of 3 officers to the team, 1 each from Arenac County , Ogemaw County and the Saginaw/Chippewa Tribal Police

We are the beneficiary of 2 Federal Stimulus grants, which pay for a deputy from Arenac and Ogemaw Counties .  The Tribal Officer comes to us from the BAYANET Team, as an enhancement for the growing Tribal presence in Arenac County .  The 2 deputies are paid 100% by their grants and the Tribal Officer by his home agency, with minimal expenses to the team.

It has been a busy year for the officers at STING, with over 200 investigations.  Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be slowing down, continuing the trends of the past few years.  One very chilling statistic that we confirmed via the Department of Community Health is the growing presence of heroin in our area.  Treatment admissions show heroin replacing cocaine as the 3^rd most abused drug, behind marijuana and opiates (prescription narcotics). 

The officers remain committed to aggressively targeting individuals who bring illegal narcotics to our communities.  We also continue to support local law enforcement agencies with other criminal investigations.

I encourage everyone to remain vigilant, especially regarding their own prescriptions.  The 2009 National Prescription Drug Threat Assessment is clear that 50% of our children indicate they acquired their prescription drugs from friends or family members, usually by theft. 

Please contact me at the STING office if you have questions or comments. 

D/Lt. Jeff Keister

Unit Commander