Timeline of news articles relating to Sheriff Charles Reader's war on the drug epidemic in Pike County, Ohio
http://www.newswatchman.com/article_57ddaaa5-8896-5c9a-8f47-d7e1f8592314.html
In 2015,
Sheriff Reader secured a grant of $16,800 to "fund a county-wide drug blitz." The money went towards providing "hours of overtime for deputies to work drug interdictions and saturations through the county, enforcing laws, and searching for illegal drugs, in addition to equipment purchases that are necessary to utilize when working to remove drugs from the street."
--------------------------------
June, 2015
http://www.newswatchman.com/news/article_c469babe-dcfa-58a7-b7e6-628705b31a5d.html
-------------------------------
http://www.newswatchman.com/news/article_3b1b14cf-ebc7-504c-b7e1-c1061bf6ffae.html
June 2015
--------------------------------
July 2015
http://www.newswatchman.com/news/article_54ec00dd-208d-58bc-8921-6f5f68ebea47.html
Reader stated that he believes the recent drug arrest is sending a clear message to drug dealers in the area: “Deal drugs in Pike County, and you will go to jail.”
Reader encourages anyone struggling with an addiction to contact him, and he will get them in contact with someone who can help them. However, Reader stated, “If you don’t seek help, you will end up going to jail.”
---------------------------------
http://www.newswatchman.com/news/article_b695f018-a29a-55f1-ac27-7de5066569d0.html
July 2015
“I knew there were many problems with drug trafficking in this county, but I never thought we would come to the point where we’d be finding possible explosives. We took every precaution to make sure the environment was safe,” said Sheriff Reader. “Thankfully, the combined effort of various law enforcement agencies combined with tips from the public allowed us to make a safe entry without incident. As long as we continue to work together with other agencies and the community continues to work with us to give us information that we may be lacking, it all comes together and ends up with a group effort to clean up drugs off the streets, get stolen property back, and make areas safer again for people who do not want to live alongside those trafficking in drugs.
-----------------------------
http://www.newswatchman.com/news/article_c96400a0-b588-5334-9a82-6579ed0f27c4.html
July 2015
----------------------------
http://www.newswatchman.com/news/article_a03fe839-3ea5-5822-90f1-b9d3e8ae638f.html
August 2015
-----------------------------
http://www.newswatchman.com/news/article_4ecb9ef3-363e-53ec-ad2b-b7895a36ddc6.html
October 2015
-------------------------------
http://www.newswatchman.com/news/article_10dcce40-9c6b-5796-a119-c7ef753a4074.html
October 2015
--------------------------------
http://www.newswatchman.com/news/article_cd9f257a-f7e1-58c3-bef0-dc1f51d1725c.html
October 2015
---------------------------------
November, 2015
http://www.newswatchman.com/news/article_900cc104-1a66-54de-84c9-93921fdf449b.html
--------------------------------
http://www.newswatchman.com/news/article_d13158a3-7dae-5c0b-9e63-bf59deae82b7.html
December 2015
---------------------------------
http://www.timesjournal.com/governm...cle_888b6341-1198-595e-bc09-8d7b70221b82.html
January, 2016
There was an emergency meeting in January of 2016 attended by:
-Bishop Donald Washington (Mount Hermon Baptist Church)
-Jonathan Fulkerson (Ohio Attorney General’s Office)
-Cameron McNamee (State of Ohio Board of Pharmac
-Melvin House (executive director of ODPS Division of EMS Services)
-Chief Richard Biehl (Dayton Police Department)
-Jim Dennis (executive director of Correction Center of Northwest Ohio)
-Tracy Plouck (director of Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services)
-Andrew Laubenthal (jail administrator at Lorain County Sheriff’s Office)
-Hancock County Sheriff Michael Heldman
-Special Agent Dan Winterich
-Special Agent Justin Root (Bureau of Criminal Investigation)
-Association of the United States Army Michael Hunter (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Ohio)
-Major Michael Black (Ohio State Highway Patrol), and Assistant SAC Timothy Plancon (DEA)
-Jackson County Sheriff Tedd Frazier
-Pickaway County Sheriff Rob Radcliff
-Ross County Sheriff George Lavender
-Pike County Sheriff Reader
to address the drug epidemic in Ohio. Said by
Sheriff Reader, “I have been proactive in aggressively fighting the heroin epidemic, and I’m proud to be working with other area sheriff’s offices to continue public education. I’m also working with the area drug task force in apprehension techniques.”
The meeting, which had a major focus on heroin, was attended by more than 800 people.
-----------------------------
http://www.newswatchman.com/news/article_e719297a-af6e-5c25-aa5e-a56f5033497b.html
January 2016
-----------------------------
http://www.newswatchman.com/news/article_2b29ce0c-27a4-5f3b-9c28-ff921fe53003.html
February 2016
(I know we've discussed this specific incident, ad nauseam) a major grow op including a shatter lab in Piketon was discovered when a postal worker alerted authorities to a large package that smelled of marijuana. This prompted an investigation that led to Pike County Sheriff's office discovering the grow op. While there's no evidence that any arrests have been made in the case, it could be inferred that his led to a spiderweb of other, larger investigations, based on the assertion that, "At this time, I don’t know if these individuals will be witnesses or suspects."
------------
http://www.newswatchman.com/news/article_e8fe6c9f-184a-506c-a410-b705c0fd0672.html
March 2016
Operation Clean Sweep
“The eight-hour effort yielded ... arrests, along with the seizure of marijuana, the seizure of several vehicles, and money involved in drug trafficking,” said Chief Blair. “Collaborating in this effort with the Piketon Police Department were Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader, several Pike County Sheriff’s deputies, Waverly Police Chief Larry Roe, several Waverly Police officers, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the Jackson County Canine Unite, and the Pike County Drug Task Force Unit. This successful effort is due to the cooperation of numerous law enforcement agencies working together toward a common goal. We had a huge turnout, and it was a huge success.”