Small town, big city problems

“In the short time I’ve worked here, I’ve had over 25 drug arrests. I don’t know how many shifts that is (but) I average one a night, some nights I average two drug arrests.”

Less than two months after joining the Saratoga Police Department, new officer Justin Brown had sobering news for the Saratoga Town Council on August 3. With a background in both military and paramilitary, Brown was hired by the governing body following months of private and public discussions with Chief Ken Lehr about the increasing drug presence in Saratoga.

Big City Problems

Brown, who previously worked in Trinidad, Colorado, informed the council on Tuesday night he was averaging nearly the same number of arrests—one to three—in Saratoga as he had in Trinidad. While Trinidad has a population of more than 8,000, Saratoga has less than 1,700 people living within town limits.

“I’ve pulled fentanyl, cocaine, LSD, MDMA, ecstasy, psychedelic mushrooms,” said Brown. “You have all the hard drugs. Over the weekend, we had two felony drug arrests with fentanyl, cocaine, LSD, MDMA. Felony amounts as well as hand guns and guns with those drugs.”

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid similar to morphine but is 50 to 100 times more potent. While it is a prescription drug typically used to treat patients with severe pain, it is also made and used illegally. When used illegally, fentanyl is sold as a powder, dropped onto blotter paper, put in eye droppers or nasal sprays, or made into pills which look like other prescription opioids.

In a seven year period, opioid-related deaths involving fentanyl increased from 14.3 percent in 2010 to 59 percent in 2017. In some cases, fentanyl is being mixed with other drugs such as heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA.

“Fentanyl is here and we’re starting to use narcan to save people’s lives,” said Lehr. “We’ve got a problem.”

The same day as the Saratoga Town Council meeting, the Wyoming Highway Patrol announced it had seized approximately 24 pounds of the synthetic opioid during a traffic stop on Interstate 80, east of Cheyenne. The estimated street value of the drug was $150 million. According to Brown, a recent arrest at the hobo hot pools in Saratoga resulted in one individual overdosing and the officer reviving him.

“When you’re on narcotics heavy—we’re talking about fentanyl and that—you have valleys and peaks. Well, thank goodness I caught them at the valley because they were all coming down off their high,” Brown said. “One actually died in the car, we brought him back.”

Calling for help

Brown informed the governing body he called for backup when he found the fentanyl as well as calling for an ambulance. The need for both backup and an ambulance highlighted the ongoing issue of staffing with Saratoga Police Department and the South Central Wyoming Emergency Medical Services (SCWEMS).

During the time of the arrest, Brown and Lehr were the only ones working as Sergeant Tyler Christen was not available and Kyle Murphy had officially resigned from the department. Additionally, without a driver for an ambulance in Saratoga, one had to respond from Rawlins.

“We’re having a huge issue, we’re running on a skeleton crew. Chief’s some kind of robot because I’m falling apart,” said Brown. “I can’t hardly keep up with him.”

While the Saratoga Police Department has been actively searching for new officers—and has budgeted for seven total officers—the lack of housing in the area has impacted the department. According to Lehr, another K9 unit from El Paso County, Colorado was interested in moving to Saratoga but a lack of housing was preventing the officer from relocating. The same went for an officer in Laramie. Lehr put much of the blame for lack of housing on Brush Creek Ranch, a luxury ranch resort approximately 10 miles south of Saratoga.

“The housing’s a problem,” said Lehr. “We’ve got an officer right now that would come up here if there was a place to live. Brush Creek’s come in and they buy up every rental, all the housing, stuff like that.”

As if the lack of housing, and therefore officers, wasn’t enough, the department is also dealing with an issue of failing equipment. Though the department has purchased two new vehicles within the past year, the vehicle used by Brown was literally cobbled together.

“I can literally say, with my transmission, I’m using Gorilla Glue and duct tape to shift it right now,” Brown said. “My shifter link popped and broken out and I put Gorilla Glue and duct tape to get it back on.”

Later in the meeting, the governing body unanimously approved the purchase of a used Ford Interceptor for $22,000. The vehicle, which has 51,000 miles on it, was located in Kansas and already outfitted for a K9 unit.

Where’s it coming from?

With the increased amount of drug arrests, and drug overdoses, the big question was where are the drugs coming from. According to Brown, there wasn’t just one source.

“We’re looking at parties, individuals in town that we know are dealing the drugs, which we can’t speak of, obviously, here out in the open as well as parties coming through,” said Brown.

The parties coming through, according to Brown, were coming from southern Colorado. The officer stated contacts he had on the Colorado border had seen increases in drug trafficking.

“This is their only stop coming up from Fort Collins. They’re going to stop at the Kum & Go, might see the hot pools (because) they’re an easy target. We don’t have the force, we’re trying to watch everything. When I get something, I have to call out chief and another officer that’s part-time,” Brown said. “I almost need an officer to tail me all night long because we’re getting those kinds of arrests.”

Two nights later, during a workshop held by the Town of Saratoga, Brown underscored his point about the increase in drugs in the Valley. The officer presented the council with a photo of a large rock of methamphetamine, an evidence bag with approximately six needles and a spoon, and fentanyl pills which had been triple bagged. According to Brown, they had come from a bust made after the August 3 meeting.

“We’re a small town with big city problems right now with the type of arrests we’ve been getting,” said Lehr on August 3. “I don’t want people to feel unsafe. We’re doing everything we can.”

The next meeting of the Saratoga Town Council will be at 6 p.m. on August 17 at Saratoga Town Hall.