COLUMBUS COUNTY, NC (WECT) – Columbus County Sheriff Jody Greene is working to curb the number of overdoses the county sees each year. As the number of drug deaths rises this year, Greene and his staff have begun to work with the community and other law enforcement agencies to tackle drugs and crime.
“Overdoses in our county are going through the roof,” Greene said. “145 last year. At the moment, as of today, we are 80. That is a problem and we are concentrating on that. “
The Columbus County Sheriff’s Office is working with the county’s owners and the Brunswick Sheriff’s Office to increase patrol in the open air drug areas. The current zone monitored by Greene’s office is along Clyde Norris Road. In a Facebook post announcing the start of this operation in May, the sheriff’s office said they have permission from the property owner to enforce all laws on the private property.
Greene started patrolling the area after less than two months and is already seeing results.
“We made several trespassing arrests, five or six for drugs. Right now we’re focusing more on the open drug markets, ”said Greene. “Back to basic economics, supply and demand.”
Greene says his office is now cracking down on the demand for drugs because it can lead to other crimes and problems in the community.
“In my opinion, drugs are the basis for all of this,” Greene said. “Money drives, it’s a business, and we have a plan and we are going to stick to our plan, just change a little bit like I said, we are just focusing on the demand portion.” ”
While trying to extend this increase in patrols to other parts of the area where drug activity is frequent, Greene says more agreements with property owners could be reached soon.
“Now we only have one, but we’re negotiating two more and what we’re focusing on is your open space markets,” said Greene. “There they stand at the corners at any time of the day or night and that was a big problem area for us at the southern end of the district.”
Another way the sheriff’s office has tried to fight crime in the community is through the new app. Greene says they have already received numerous reports, but he urges residents to be patient.
“We act accordingly,” said Greene. “But that takes time. I can’t tell you how many we are getting a day and some people see that we are in their churches and have to go to different places. We cannot be everywhere at the same time. “
Greene says efforts to reduce the number of deaths from overdose will continue as they pursue more opportunities to connect with property owners in the described “outdoor drug areas”.
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