by Meta Machulis

A “very elaborate” marijuana garden was found in a Dwight home July 3, according to Dwight Police Chief Tim Henson.

At approximately 2 p.m. that day, Dwight Police were called to a house in the 400 block of East Waupansie due to a report of the “possibility that there was marijuana located in that house,” Henson said. He said the landlord had been trying to reach the home’s renters for quite some time with no luck.

Henson said Dwight police verified “that there was in fact an issue at that house,” so they contacted the Livingston County State’s Attorney’s office and obtained a warrant at approximatley 8 p.m. that evening to search the house.

Dwight Police were as-sisted by the Livingston County Pro-Active Unit at the Livingston County Sheriff’s Department, and “Upon gaining entry into the house, (police) located several marijuana plants; a very elaborate grow at the house to where there was chemicals, lights, along with a special watering system; and everything that is needed to produce mass quantities of marijuana,” Henson said.

All of the cannabis and growing equipment were collected as evidence, and “there was enough stuff, between the drug equipment and the drugs that were taken from the house, to where a U-Haul truck had to be retrieved in order to carry all those items,” Henson said.

As of July 9, no arrests had been made, but arrests were pending, he said, adding that Dwight Police are working with the Livingston County State’s Attorney’s office to secure search warrants for two people.

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Fighting the Drug Problem

Chief Henson said Dwight Police recognize there is a drug problem in Dwight and are working to combat it.

“We have people in our community who are making daily trips to Chicago to buy heroin. We have people who are manufacturing and selling marijuana, and we have individuals who are addicted to crack cocaine,” he said.

“These same individuals not only cause a problem in the community because of the drugs themselves, but a lot of these are the same individuals who are out stealing your iPod, your GPS system, your stereos, your purses – committing many of the other crimes that we have in the community. And so, if we can eradicate or at least get a better control of the drug problem, then hopefully some of the other crimes that we have being committed will also be reduced.”

Henson added that the Dwight EMS department has “brought back several individuals in our community from drug overdoses from heroin” with a drug called Narcan.

“If we did not have that drug … we would be minus many citizens in our community,” he said. “It is a serious problem, and we’re taking a serious approach to try to rectify this problem.”

So what’s being done about Dwight’s drug issue?

For starters, Henson said one man from the Dwight Police Department is “dedicated 100 percent of the time” to the Livingston County Pro-Active Unit, whose “primary function is to make a major impact on gangs and drug trafficking in Livingston County,” according to the Livingston County Sheriff’s Department. A Dwight officer is undercover in that unit, Henson said.

“Dwight Police Depart-ment continues to funnel, on a daily basis, information of drug activity from our community to the Livingston County Pro-Active Unit,” including driver’s license and vehicle information, names, dates of birth, addresses, etc., Henson said.

The Pro-Active Unit was formed, Henson said, because “We realized that no one community can conquer this problem by itself.”

Another possible avenue of help in Dwight is a K-9 unit – a drug-sniffing police dog. In a Dwight Services Committee meeting July 6, taking into consideration the Village’s financial situation, Henson asked the committee for permission to ask the public for financial support of a drug dog for Dwight.

“I feel that with the amount of incidents that we’ve had in our community, along with the fact that we have narcotics that are driving through our community via routes 47, 17, 66 and Interstate 55, that a drug dog would be a tool and an intregal part of the Dwight Police Department,” he said.

A dog would also help keep Dwight from being a haven for drug dealers and users, since other area town already have drug dogs. Henson noted that Fairbury, Gibson City, Braidwood, Pontiac and the Grundy County Sheriff’s Depart-ment are some of the towns that have “a successful K-9 program established.”

The request for a drug dog was discussed further at the July 12 Dwight Village Board meeting; details will follow in next week’s issue of The Paper.

Citizens of Dwight can also help combat the drug problem, Henson said. The number one thing they can do?

“Call the police,” Henson said. People often see suspicious activity but wait until later to call police, he said – it’s important to call police right away whenever something seems unusual. If callers wish to remain anonymous, they can call the crime tip hotline at 815-584-1975.

Another thing people can do is lock up their valuables and keep them out of sight.

The Dwight Police Department is also more than willing to give presentations to any civic organization or group that would like to know more about keeping Dwight safe, Henson said.

Dwight’s drug problem “is not only going to take the police department’s help, but it’s going to take every citizen in the village of Dwight’s help and our partnering together in order to accomplish this monumental task,” he said.

Henson added, “We have an awesome community. We have a lot of great people that live here, and we just want to make sure that we’re doing everything that we possibly can do to continue to make our community a better, safer place to live.”