More than $120,000 worth of drugs and $30,000 in cash were confiscated in Savannah over a four-day span during the last week of March.
On Monday, March 25 $1,770 worth of oxycodone was seized and four people were arrested, including one who already has been arrested 21 times in Chatham County. Eight of the previous arrests were drug related.
On Thursday, March 28 $40,000 worth of marijuana and $80,000 worth of cocaine was seized from several residences in Savannah.
Officers seized 20 pounds of marijuana from a residence on Culter Court and 28 ounces of cocaine from 1315 Golden St. and 2106 Mell St. during simultaneous searches conducted by the Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics Team, with the help of Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department, Chatham County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit.
“This all began because a concerned citizen thought to pick up the phone,” Public Information Officer, Counter Narcotics Team Agent Gene Harley.
In February an anonymous caller provided CrimeStoppers with a tip about suspicious activity occurring at all hours of the day on Golden Street. CrimeStoppers forwarded this complaint to the CNT, who discovered persons of interest connecting the house on Mell St. with the other residence on Golden Street.
Six men were charged with cocaine trafficking and officials seized instruments commonly used to convert powder cocaine into crack cocaine, multiple ounces of marijuana, a large amount of prescription pills, a small amount of ecstasy, $30,580 in cash, one shotgun, two rifles and two handguns from the residences, according to Harley.
Of those five firearms, two had previously been reported stolen in Savannah and two had a caliber high enough to pierce the standard body armor issued to law enforcement, said Harley.
“We get them off the streets and we stop other crimes, because very few times do people just commit one crime,” said Julian Miller, the Public Affairs Administrator of the SCMPD.
Community involvement is important because officers want to prevent crimes.
“The goal isn’t to arrest offenders, the goal is to prevent crime from happening,” said Captain Mike Wilkins of the downtown Savannah precinct.
The SCMPD tries to foster community involvement through several avenues. Each precinct has a Crime Prevention Officer who interacts with the community by going to neighborhood and community meetings.
They also have a 13-week program, Citizen Police Academy, designed to help residents meet local officers so they can better understand the department.
“The police department cannot do this on its own, we have to have the help of the public,” said Miller.
People may be hesitant to call the police because they do not want to bother officers if there is a possibility that something is not wrong, but officers need to receive information to be productive.
“That’s what we do. We take that information and act on that it. So if we never get the information, from the citizen or the student, that might be the crucial piece that we’re looking for to solve that crime,” said Wilkins.
People are not always aware that officers are out in their neighborhood looking for those kinds of suspicious behavior, according to Miller.
The SCMPD also encourages people keep a watchful eye and to call 911 when they see suspicious activity. Tips can also be forwarded to police by contacting CrimeStoppers or by logging on to iWatch Savannah.
“Crimes happen and people know who did it. The biggest help would be to share that with the police department so we can bring them to justice,” Miller said.
