Week 5 of the Garland Citizens Police Academy included descriptions of the work of the Intelligence Unit as well as Narcotics Enforcement.
An undercover officer of the Garland Police Department talked about some of the functions of the Intelligence Unit. They gather intelligence and investigate many of the types of crimes that many folks believe happen only on television detective shows – hate crimes, sex crimes, international and domestic terrorism and more.
A couple of the high-profile cases GPD’s Intelligence Unit has helped with include the Darlie Routier case, a Rowlett mother who, in 1996, was convicted of murdering her children and the 2013 murders of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McClelland and his wife, Cynthia.
Particularly disturbing was the subject of domestic terrorism, as several of these perpetrators have close ties to Garland. A couple of those include Nadir Soofi, one of the domestic terrorists involved in the 2015 Curtis Culwell Center incident and David Koresh, who gained infamy as the leader of the cult that was involved in the 1993 Waco domestic terror incident. Koresh was a Garland High School graduate.
An undercover officer from the Narcotics Enforcement Unit also talked to the class. He has many years’ experience in a variety of departments and has been placed with the FBI, ATF and DEA during his career.
The officer talked about the numerous kinds of drugs and the physical effects they have on the user. There are depressants, stimulants, inhalants, hallucinogens and more. There are even less expensive options for those with limited resources, like DNT, made from the bark of trees found in South America. He called it the “cheap man’s LSD.”
He added that meth is even being made in colors to attract children. Also disturbing is that there are people who strain their urine and extract the meth back out of it.
The nature of this week’s topics required discretion so that specific procedures and practices of undercover personnel remained confidential.
The topics were thought-provoking but also frightening. I think that Garland residents are often fooled by the small town feel of our city. In reality, Garland is home to more than a quarter million people and has the same problems as other large cities.
We are very fortunate, though, to have a police department staffed with dedicated, experienced officers who are willing to risk everything to keep residents safe.