Greitens pushes for coordinated law enforcement effort to tackle drug problem

Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens vowed Wednesday his administration and law enforcement at all levels will work together to tackle the opioid epidemic and take drug traffickers off the streets.

Speaking before hundreds of federal, state and local law-enforcement officers standing in the hot sun on the tarmac of the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, Greitens said, "For too long in Missouri, we lacked a strong, coordinated effort across the state to stop these traffickers before they hit Missouri towns."

The governor said that has now changed.

"We are now working on the same page. Everybody is sharing intelligence together," he said.

Greitens added, "For us to put a dent in this problem, we have to be able to share intelligence across agencies and across departments."

Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, left, and Drew Juden, Director of the Missouri Department of Public Safety, walk across the tarmac Wednesday at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.Laura Simon

The governor said state troopers, K-9 dog officers and "air assets" now are focused on keeping Missouri's borders secure.

Greitens said he wants to increase the pace of law-enforcement operations and use "new technology" to combat the drug problem.

The Republican governor, who has made stops around the state this week to champion his war on drugs and efforts to combat the opioid epidemic, said he is "ready to save lives."

Opioid overdoses killed 900 people in Missouri last year, said Greitens, who lost a cousin to a heroin overdose.

The epidemic is driving the crime problem in many communities, he said, standing in front of Sikeston, Missouri, public-safety officers in tactical gear.

In his speech, Greitens offered few details about the law-enforcement effort.

Speaking later to reporters in an airport hangar, the governor offered one detail. He said the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Department of Public Safety are working with a task force of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI which focuses on getting "the most violent felons" off the streets.

"It has gotten fantastic results" in other states, Greitens said.

Missouri is participating in the task force for the first time in decades, he told reporters.

Greitens signed an executive order Monday to implement a prescription drug monitoring program to analyze prescriptions and dispensing data statewide regarding controlled substances and investigate cases in which controlled substances are being inappropriately prescribed, dispensed or obtained.

Local lawmakers said the governor's program won't address doctor shopping, because doctors won't be able to look at a person's prescription history.

State Rep. Holly Rehder, R-Sikeston, said Monday the governor's action won't replace the need for a comprehensive, prescription-drug monitoring program like the one she has championed.

Her proposal calls for establishing a statewide, online database where doctors could check a patient's prescription-narcotics history.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Greitens said he is willing to work with the Legislature and others who want to develop such a program.

"Anyone who is willing to help us to solve this problem, we welcome them to work with us and follow our lead in this important initiative," the governor said.

Drew Juden, the state's public-safety director and former chief of the Sikeston Department of Public Safety, introduced Greitens.

Juden said the governor has been leading the effort "to make us a safer and better state."

mbliss@semissourian.com

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