Two years ago, this reporter watched a documentary on MSNBC, called ‘Here comes the Horse’ and it dealt with heroin in small town America. One of the three towns it focused on was Lewistown, just 50 miles from here.
Two years later, Heroin is the top story in The Daily Herald for 2002.
Tyrone Police Chief Joe Beachem said heroin is behind most of the crime in Tyrone this past year.
“We can trace 40 percent of all crimes to people who are stealing to get money for drugs,” said Beachem. “Another 30 to 40 percent we don’t have solid proof that the crimes occurred because of drugs, but we have a strong feeling.”
If those numbers add up, 70 to 80 percent of all crimes in the Borough of Tyrone can be attributed to drugs in one form or another.
In 2002, 17 residents of Tyrone Borough were arrested for distribution of a controlled substance (heroin, crack or marijuana). There were 10 arrests of people from either Logan Township or Altoona who were supplying the Tyrone dealers.
One bust that started out harmless, a man urinating beside the post office in broad daylight, produced a bust of 17 grams of crack cocaine.
Other major crimes in Tyrone that were attributed to drugs were the robbery of the Dollar General Store on February 19, the robbery at Puff-N-Snuff on March 10 and the stolen gun case in October were all drug related.
Tyrone Borough Police estimate that several thousands of drugs have been taken off the street by local police and amounts from the State Attorney General’s Drug Task Force office will be released after the first of the year.
“Over 60 percent of the drug cases in Blair County included heroin,” said Blair County District Attorney David Gorman. “There were 200 cases in 2001 and 375 through the beginning of December of 2002. With thefts and burglaries that in one form or another dealt with drugs.”
The efforts to stop the drug problem in Tyrone is coming from many directions, law enforcement, the school and the community.
“We are proud of the efforts of our department,” said Beachem. “We are sending a message that we have eyes and ears everywhere and if you are going to sell drugs in Tyrone, we are going to find you and arrest you. There will be no let up on our part.”
The Tyrone Police Department has entered the Narcotics and Residual Crime (NARC) task force to help stamp out the problem.
“We’re going to keep throwing the NARC team out,” said Beachem. “So far we’ve been pretty successful. We are also continuing our relationship with the Blair County Drug Task Force and the district attorney’s office.”
When asked if the problem will get worse before it gets better, Beachem said he doesn’t believe so.
“People are starting to realize that selling drugs in Tyrone will not be tolerated,” said Beachem. “We are trying to make it as uncomfortable as possible to deal drugs in Tyrone. If the message isn’t clear yet, it will be… you will be caught.”
The big undercover buys are becoming a thing of the past.
“The bigger dealers are staying clear,” said Beachem. “The undercover purchases have been from people who have been dealing to support their own habits.”
The Tyrone Area School District became of the part of the fight against drugs. In an unanimous vote during their August meeting passed a random drug testing policy for students involved in extracurricular activities. That includes everything from athletics to driving your car to school.
“This policy started out with Becky (Erb), Tony (Yaniello) and I with the research of the policy,” said Tyrone Superintendent of Schools Dr. William Miller. “We received copies of Altoona’s and Johnsonburg’s policies and when the Supreme Court made their decision upholding testing on extracurricular activities, it opened the door for even more. We have revised the policy with intensive involvement from the board of directors to make it a fair policy with some teeth.”
The policy has four phases and includes suspension from extracurricular activities and admission to the Student Assistance Program (SAP) for a first offense to expulsion of one year of extra extracurricular activities for a third offense.
“The policy is punitive, but rehabilitative,” said Miller. “Everyone will be treated equally. We have even gone to the point that if a student is on school grounds for an activity, they are subject to the testing. We will do a lot of work with staff, students and parents. There is a drug problem here and we have to deal with it.”
There are almost 800 students in the Tyrone Middle and High Schools who participate in extracurricular activities and are eligible for the random testing.
Since the policy went into place, the Tyrone School District has tested 60 students and have had three positive tests.
The Tyrone community started a Drug Task Force over the summer. They held several functions over the summer. Their efforts have been quiet of recent months.
Editor’s note: The drug problem is priority number one for the Tyrone Police Department and hopefully the Tyrone community. Part of the way we as a community can solve this is to be vigilant.
If you see people who are using drugs or know of people using drugs, call the police department. We are part of the solution to this problem.
