This week’s Chickasaw Journal contains news about a major drug sweep on the regional level that reached into Chickasaw County. It is the first major, regional, significant bust in this community in several years.
There is a new Sheriff in town and while he was not directly involved in this investigation, he knew they were here and stepped aside to let them do their work. We hope the word is getting out that illegal weapons, dope and alcohol are not tolerated in Chickasaw County.
This newspaper also supports the decision of our school board to allow sweeps by law enforcement and their animals of local schools. Some say headlines of drug busts at local school are bad news. We think anything that is done to keep drugs out of our school is positive. Sweeps with the drug dogs is just a tool that keeps drugs out of our schools.
We would like to point out whatever is found in our community will be found in our schools, our factories and even in our churches.
But let’s not just pick on schools. Industry should allow drug sweeps of their property. Local retail store parking lots should allow the drug dogs to sniff around.
And with that this newspaper hopes it is the threat of such searches and subsequent punishment for law-breakers that will keep drugs, guns and illegal alcohol out of our community.
We do have a newly elected Sheriff and we hope voters will press him to take a hard line on drug use and trafficking in our community. In two years Houston will have city elections and we will vote on a police chief. City voters need to voice their concerns and city fathers need to back up the chief and officers when they make a bust.
It’s here, it’s tolerated to some extent by many and it needs to be stamped out. We believe drug roundups need to be a regular event for this county and community.
Your Chickasaw Journal does not like running the names of people arrested for drug crimes. We would like to point out we usually run crime news on inside pages and try to put positive and influential stories on Page One.
We hope the good people of this community will take the opportunity to talk to their children, neighbors and family members about the negative ramifications of the recent sweep. Lives have been changed. We hope they will get the message across to their children, family and friends that illegal drugs, guns and crime will be swept out of our community.
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