Dunn County Sheriff: drug cases have doubled since 2014, quadrupled since 2012

By LeAnn R. Ralph

MENOMONIE — The number of drug cases in Dunn County has doubled since 2014 and has almost quadrupled since 2012.

Methamphetamine has spread all over West Central Wisconsin, said Dunn County Sheriff Dennis Smith at the Dunn County Board’s April 20 meeting during his annual report for 2016.

According to statistics in the annual report, there were 225 drug-related incidents in 2016, compared to 117 in 2014, which compares to only 62 in 2012.

Larry Bjork, Dunn County Board supervisor from Menomonie and representative for District 26,  wondered about the number of drug arrests and convictions from traffic stops on Interstate-94.

“We stay busy enough without going out on I-94,” Sheriff Smith said. 

Many of the drug cases in Dunn County do, however, begin with a traffic stop in which drug paraphernalia is located in the vehicle, he said.

The problem with methamphetamine is that first-time users get such a “high” from it that they keep using the drug, hoping for another high like the first one, except the nature of the drug is they can never re-create the first-time high, Sheriff Smith said.

The methamphetamine distributed in the Midwest comes from Mexico and arrives in Dunn County from Chicago or the Twin Cities, he said.

“I-94 is the pipeline for methamphetamine and cocaine,” Sheriff Smith said.

If Wisconsin State Patrol troopers stop someone and drugs are suspected, is that person turned over to Dunn County? Supervisor Bjork wondered.

“Yes,” Sheriff Smith said, explaining that state troopers are trained to deal mostly with traffic and traffic accidents.

For many of the drug cases in Dunn County, the sheriff’s department attempts to “work backwards.”

That is, when someone is picked up on drug charges, deputies and investigators try to use that person to get closer to identifying the source of the drugs, Sheriff Smith said.

The person who is charged with possession is not the person who supplied the drugs, he said. 

Dunn County will continue to have a high number of drug cases “until we can cut off the supply,” Sheriff Smith said.

Public relations 

Sheila Stori, county board supervisor from Menomonie and representative for District 18, noted that nationwide, quite a lot of negativity seems to exist concerning police officers.

Stori wondered about the Dunn County Sheriff Department’s relationship with the public.

“We are lucky here in Dunn County. There is not a lot of crime that is racially motivated, and there is not a lot of violent crime,” Sheriff Smith said. 

Over the past year, the sheriff’s department has received 20 letters of support from the public, he said.

But that’s not all the sheriff’s department has received.

People also bring in cookies, donuts, cake and other goodies, Sheriff Smith said.

The culture is different here in Dunn County than in metropolitan areas, he said.

“We try to work with everyone who lives in the county or who visits the county,” Sheriff Smith said. 

The community in Dunn County is positive toward law enforcement, he said. 

Stats

Here are some other statistics from the Dunn County Sheriff’s Department annual report for 2016:

• The total number of cases was 13,628 in 2016, compared to 12,604 in 2012 — an increase of 1,025 cases over five years.

• Assisted other agencies 738 times in 2016, compared to 443 times in 2012. The number of times assistance was provided to other agencies steadily increased through 2013, 2014 and 2015.

• Disorderly conduct cases have increased from 124 in 2012 to 172 in 2016. 

• Driving while intoxicated accounted for 167 cases in 2016, compared to 101 cases in 2012, with the number increasing to 143 in 2013; 184 in 2014; and 185 in 2015.

• Juvenile sexual assaults increased from 38 in 2012 to 43 in 2016. 

• Fraud and forgery have increased from 77 in 2012 to 106 in 2016.

• Repossessions of vehicles have increased from 17 in 2012 to 65 in 2016, with a high of 79 in 2015.

• Traffic accidents involving deer decreased from 356 in 2012 to 176 in 2016. 

• Traffic stops have increased from 3,834 in 2012 to 4,089 in 2016. 

• Violating court orders increased from 32 in 2012 to 57 in 2016. 

• Total amount of money for serving papers was $56,021 in 2012, which decreased to $37,866 in 2016. 

• Real estate foreclosure sales were 129 in 2012 but decreased to 26 in 2016.