Large crowd comes out as Butler seeks to form Neighborhood Drug Watch
A call to action against illegal drugs was issued Wednesday night in Butler.
About 60 people attended a meeting at the Butler fire station aimed at making the city the first Neighborhood Drug Watch community in Butler County.
Former city Councilwoman Kathy Kline organized the meeting and is leading the effort.
She opened the meeting by citing the recently-released, grim statistic that there were a record 92 drug overdose deaths in the county last year.
“We have to own the problem,” Kline said. “I want us to start working together toward a solution for the city.”
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The drug watch program encourages residents to call police or 911 to report crime they see.City police Lt. Chad Rensel, who works with the city's Neighborhood Crime Watch program, said the police department has set up an email account — communtyrelations@butlercitypd.com — where residents who aren't comfortable calling 911 can leave information about drug dealing and other crimes.He urged residents to call 911 as many times as they want, or send emails to report crime or suspicious activity.In addition, reports of drug activity can be made to the Butler County Drug Task Force by calling 1-800-END-DRUGS.A full story appears in Thursday's Butler Eagle.
