West Richland Police Likely to Join Metro Drug Task Force

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By Chelsea Kopta

Summary

Back in the game: West Richland police spent years as the only local law enforcement agency who wasn't part of the Tri-City Metro Drug Task Force. Now, the acting chief said he is ready to be part of the team again.

Story Published: Feb 16, 2010 at 6:57 PM PST

WEST RICHLAND -- It's the latest change to the West Richland police department. A shake-up on West Richland mayor Donna Noski's first day in office ousted police chief Layne Erdman, and now the acting police chief, Rick Morrell, wants to get back in sync with local law enforcment.

"I believe this agency needs to go forward which was one of the first big steps I wanted to do was get back with the task force," Morrell said.

Morrell told Action News he had a contract ready to be signed to re-join the Tri-City Metro Drug Task Force. It's an undercover unit that targets mid to upper-level drug dealers. In the past, West Richland police was part of the task force. But six ago, the chief at the time, Mark Panther, pulled out.

"Nobody in this department was sure why we were pulled out," Morrell said.

That left West Richland as the only department not privy to special intelligence on drugs, gangs, and guns which was shared by the rest of the community.

"The four cities are so intertwined that we don't know who they contact and we don't know who we contact," Morrell said. "When we were pulled out, we were pulled on an island out here. We didn't have any contact with other agencies basically and we want to get back involved."

Indeed, West Richland police want back in on the key information-sharing between departments. Several homeowners told Action News that they liked the plan.

"We think it's a great idea so police can share their information in case criminals move from city to city and be more aware of the problems that are out here," West Richland homeowner Kelly Nicholson said.

Despite the eagerness to join an anti-drug agency, Action News found just a handful of drug reports in West Richland. They involved mostly street level crimes that dealt with methamphetamine and marijuana.

"Thirteen cases in the last year," Morrell said, double-checking the reports.

"I think it's very low and we like to keep it that way," the acting chief said. "That's another reason for getting involved with Metro. If there's something going on out here we'd like to know about it. We like the citizens to know we're safe out here."

Approving the detective won't cost tax payers a dime since they're already paying for his salary and just redistributing his services.

Morrell also said the task force gives officers an opportunity at specialized training they wouldn't otherwise get in West Richland. If approved Tuesday, Morrell plans to set up the detective with Metro as soon as possible.