The Madison County Drug Task Force is a combined effort between the Anderson Police Department and the Madison County Sheriff’s Department. Both agencies contribute manpower and financial resources towards this joint effort.

Madison County Prosecutors Office
The Madison County Prosecutors Office has assigned the chief deputy prosecutor to review all Drug Task Force cases referred to their office for prosecution. The prosecutor is readily available to consult with officers who are seeking information about a legal issue.

The joining of our two agencies and this commitment by the prosecutor brings an innumerable amount of benefits to both participating police agencies.

Most significant, however, is the benefit for the citizens of Anderson, Madison County, Indiana. This effort demonstrates to the public that law enforcement is serious about investigating drug-related crime in our community.

Goal of the Task Force
The goal of the Drug Task Force is to identify and prosecute high-level drug traffickers operating in our community. Accomplishing this task requires a high level of dedication and commitment by each officer that is assigned to the unit.

Task Force Officers
Each officer and supervisor is required to wear a pager and be on call 24 hours a day. In addition, hours are seldom fixed. Each officer adjusts his or her hours to be available when it is necessary to work an investigation.

Prosecution of Offenders
The Madison County Drug Task Force uses many different methods to identify and prosecute drug offenders. The use of confidential informants and undercover officers are used to purchase illegal drugs and develop information that will lead to the execution of a search warrant.

Interdiction
In addition to the use of undercover officers and confidential informants, we have found interdiction to be an effective tool to stop drugs from coming into our community. We are working closely with various mail and parcel carriers such as the U.S. Mail Service, United Parcel Service, and Federal Express.

We continue to work closely with other agencies including the Drug Enforcement Administration, United States Marshals, The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, United States Postal Inspectors, and the Indiana State Police.

Joining Forces
We anticipate joining with Delaware County to make a two-county task force that will utilize the resources from each area in 2005. The results from this project can be seen immediately. Due to the commitment of both departments to engage in a joint effort to fight the drug problem, each department’s resources are maximized.

Benefiting the Community
A direct benefit to the community is the net result. We can be more responsive to a citizen’s complaint and have a greater awareness of what is taking place on a larger scale. Many offenders are beneficiaries of the project.

Drug Offenders
The Madison County Drug Task Force makes recommendations to the prosecutor’s office about offenders who are known to be addicts. These offenders are referred to a drug court where they can receive treatment in lieu of prosecution.

Drug offenders who are in the business of drug trafficking are prosecuted and removed from the community. This is possible due to the collaborative effort between the prosecutor’s office and the project.