Los Lunas starts highway drug watch

October 09, 2009

The Los Lunas Police Department has established a new patrol for drugs passing through village highways, part of a new grant the department received.

“One of the things I’ve learned in my first seven months as police chief is that the crime rate’s too high, the violent crime rate’s too high and our traffic accidents are too high,” Police Chief Roy Melnick said. “Based on our population, I think we can do better.”

The chief is concentrating the new anti-drug program on Highway 6, Highway 314 and Interstate 25.

“If it’s drug’s coming north or money going south, that’s basically the route,” Melnick said. “There’s only one main route to get to Mexico from here.”

Officers will be present during intermittent hours, making legal traffic stops and determining if the driver is hauling drugs.

The department is receiving a $10,000 grant for the two-man drug patrols. The village will have 45 shifts through December looking for drugs.

“Who knows. Maybe we’ll get lucky and grab a couple of tractor trailers full of money or marijuana, or get a major seizure,” Melnick said. “If nothing else, there’s more presence in the community that we didn’t pay for.”

He has been working through a reorganization of his department, now focusing on drugs coming into and passing through the village.

The village is also adding a K-9 unit to the force in January 2010. The department is searching for a dog appropriate to the task.

“The most desirable canine attributes that we’ll be looking for will include cross-training for drug searches, building searches, tracking for lost persons, suspect tracking, a friendly disposition for community events, supporting both the patrol operations and criminal investigations divisions,” he said.

An officer who lives in the village has been selected to form the unit.

“This will be the first K-9 in the village that I’m aware of,” Melnick said.

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