Well, it's a beautiful rainy day in the neighborhood and I, for one, am looking forward to the cooler weather. I am so looking forward to dove season and the first real cold front. Well, that is until I'm standing on the side of the road somewhere shivering to death and wishing for warmer weather. Man, what a vicious cycle.

We have been really gearing up for school and hope to be busy on all three campuses within the end of the month. I still believe that working in the schools is the best offence that we have in the war on drugs and bonding with the community. The closer law enforcement and students get, the stronger the bond of trust can be. I have had the privilege of working in our schools since I worked for John Benner and Les Dawson, and have learned more about being a cop from the kids than from anything else. You must be kind and fun and a lot of cool things that kids like, but then there is the other side. You must never let them think that you will not deal with them if they step out of line. The youth in this county deserve law enforcement that cares enough to stay on them and encourage them to make the right choices. They also deserve law enforcement that will crack down on them when they make the wrong ones as well. It's easy to be in law enforcement and drive around and look the other way on the small things. It's easy to always be the good guy and do only what is necessary and draw no heat, yet I guess that's why I'm always gonna be in the thick of it because I am not going to do the easy thing or take the path of least resistance. We tell our kids, if it's worth having, it's worth working for. Yet, do we live by those words? Do we set the example in the way we do our jobs as adults? I for one believe that we can and must do more to help our youth succeed in this turbulent world.

Drugs are a cancer on our community, our state and our nation. Drugs lead to just about every crime that you can think of and then some. Yet, we always want to associate drugs with cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana and leave out the most deadly one of all - alcohol. Alcohol kills more people and wrecks more lives than all of the illegal narcotics put together. There are more sexual assaults, aggravated assaults, murders, and crimes against children and the elderly committed under the influence of alcohol than any other substance. Now, don't get me wrong, you know by now how I feel about these other substances and have no use for them, but it all starts with alcohol. Alcohol is the stepping stone into a world of chaos and confusion and danger and uncertainty. Alcohol is the number one problem in our community and what's worse is we are not doing everything to address the real size of the problem. It is important for us to measure ourselves and our community by the way we deal with problems facing our community and the stand we make.

I had a very interesting conversation with a young lady this week and she had a very important question. Her question was, if you have a medical emergency, what should you do if you are the one transporting the victim. Well, I think that's a very good question and here is the best answer I could come up with: I would make sure that the medical emergency did not require an individual's attention to be distracted too much from the road while driving, turn on your flashers and then contact the 911 operator while en-route. I would give location, destination and route of travel to that location. This will possibly keep you from being detained by law enforcement for speeding or other offences. If you do these things then the 911 operator can alert law enforcement to your situation and can contact the closest ER as to your emergency. Now, this is not to say that you can not still be stopped, but it will assist the officers in making those decisions. You must always make sure that you can handle the emergency that you are dealing with and that you can get there in a safe manner. I hope this answers the question.

Please keep all law enforcement in your prayers this week and in the weeks ahead.

The numbers to reach us are 325-372-5551 or 325-372-3277 and the Crime Stoppers number is 325-372-5432.

Please let us know how we can best serve you and our community better and as always thank you for your prayers, support and tips.