Drugs continue to be a problem in many places around the country, the state, and even locally.
This is not shocking news to most. Police Departments continue to say “If you see something say something” but what exactly should you be looking for?
Lieutenant Dave Remiker from the Manitowoc County Metro Drug Unit was interviewed earlier this week on WOMT’s Be My Guest program about the rise in crime locally that’s tied to drugs, like Methamphetamine and Fentanyl, coming into our community.
Host Lee Douglas asked Lt. Remiker what citizens should look for in terms of illegal drug activity in their neighborhood.
“Tell tale signs of drug activities sometimes will be short-term traffic,” he explained. “People will park down the road or down the block, a passenger will get out of the car, they will run up to a house, they will be in the house for a short period of time. They will come back out, get in the car and leave.”
There is also the occasional hand-to-hand exchange through a car window, but one thing people can also report is visible intoxication.
Remiker noted that they had recently raided a home in Two Rivers, where a neighbor had noticed that exact thing.
He said, “There was video of someone struggling to just get up the steps of the house.”
And, if they see something suspicious going on, who can citizens call?
“You can call Crime Stoppers and remain anonymous,” he said. “Now there’s the P3 tip line, where you can remain anonymous. It’s an app on your phone you can download. We get a lot of tips that way.”
One thing to remember when reporting a situation, be descriptive.
Remiker said that “A lot of the tips that come in are very vague, so that’s not a lot to start with or go by.”
You can also call the local police department, but the Drug Unit leader noted, “I listen to my portal every day to the Manitowoc Police Department. They are going from call to call to call to call, so it may not be a response immediately. Those officers, I can’t say enough about them.”
