"I've many times said you can't stop chasing the bad guy
at the county line," McClelland said Tuesday. "We have to
work together to drive this type of crime out of Northeast
Ohio."
Geauga County commissioners recently approved $38,866 to
fund the six-member undercover task force charged with
handling regional narcotics and other serious criminal
investigations.
The total task force budget for 2004 is $466,392, with 75
percent of the funds provided by a grant from the state's
Office of Criminal Justice Services.
The grant is renewed annually by the state, McClelland said, and the three counties split the 25 percent contribution evenly.
The team is specially trained in hazardous materials, which is especially important in meth lab raids, the sheriff said.
"When we take a meth lab, oftentimes those are very dangerous environments, and we need officers who can safely secure the scene," he said.
TAG's training and tools also could be used in the event
of a terrorist attack.
"If we had a dirty bomb, we would have to have law
enforcement officers to go on scene before cleanup crews" to
apprehend any suspects, McClelland said. The idea for
TAG, which is in its third year, came about after a
coincidence. "The idea came about a few years ago when I was
a chief deputy and was having a discussion with other chiefs
concerning recent intelligence about meth labs in western
Ashtabula County," McClelland said.
"That night, we had two incidents where people were tossed
out of cars at a local hospital and fire station after
overdosing."
McClelland said groups that operate meth labs often function as networks, creating more of a need for inter-agency cooperation.
"Regionalization is important, and having resources that cover larger areas when you're doing criminal investigations is very important," he said.
McClelland said although Geauga County hasn't had as much of a problem with meth labs as Ashtabula County, the effect of area drug production and trafficking cannot be ignored.
"Having the meth labs in Ashtabula County, we can't hide our heads in the sand and act like it doesn't affect us as well," he said.