Menu
Skelton visits with soldiers, law enforcement officials
Congressman Ike Skelton visited Nevada and met with two groups, National Guard members and members of area law enforcement Saturday. His message was essentially the same to both groups, what can I do to help?
Skelton met with the groups separately, first with the guard at the armory on West Cherry where he presented the unit with a flag flown over the capitol.
"I had this flag flown over the capitol especially for you," Skelton said.
Skelton said he wasn't in Nevada to campaign, he was looking for answers.
"I'm not here to campaign, I want to know how I can help you," Skelton asked. "Is there anything you need, anything you don't have?"
Skelton said he was proud of the Missouri National Guard and said they were a valuable resource for neighbors, the state and country.
"I'm very, very proud of this group," Skelton said. "They're important to their Missouri neighbors and the whole country. They bring a certain something important to the military."
During his visit the unit demonstrated the BeamHit laser marksmanship training system. The system is computer controlled and targets are tied into the computer and placed at varying distances so the guardsman can practice their shooting skills without wasting ammunition.
"This is for the ones that can't shoot well," 1st Sgt. James Forst said. "They can shoot all day without wasting ammo, and we have better places to send that."
Skelton told of a visit to Afghanistan with his assistant Kyle Wilkens where the reception was much warmer than his accommodations.
"They have these hooches there and when I went into mine the heater was on. Kyle turned it off and I went to bed, but he hadn't just turned the heat off, he turned on the air conditioning," Skelton said. "I got into bed and during the night I realized that the air was blowing straight down on me and I was freezing the whole night."
During his visit with area law enforcement at a local restaurant for lunch Skelton asked the group what the biggest problem facing them was and the universal answer was drugs.
"If it wasn't for drugs, I'd probably be unemployed," said Lamar police chief Ron Hager.
Methamphetamine seems to be the area's number one problem with home cooked meth vying with so-called Mexican Ice, meth that is produced in Mexico and shipped in. Marijuana, and even a little bit of heroin are a problem but prescription drugs are taking a larger and larger slice of the illicit drug trade.
"Some of it is doctors over-prescribing drugs because they don't want to be accused of not treating a patient," Hager said. "Some of it is that people doctor shop, they look for a doctor to prescribe a drug for them and they will go to different doctors in different areas to find them."
Skelton asked how the different federal agencies were to work with and for the most part the answers were positive, however, the FBI came in for some criticism.
"With the FBI, it is mainly a one-way street," Jason Hill, Vernon County Sheriff's Office, said. "The DEA, the marshalls, ATF -- they're all pretty good to work with but it can be a problem getting anything out of the FBI."
Skelton asked the same type of question he asked at his previous stop; what did area law enforcement need, what could he do at the federal level to help?
Several mentioned the need for better surveillance equipment.
Training was a big need also, both for better utilization of resources but also because it impacted officer safety.
"The lack of training gets people hurt, just like the lack of equipment," Bates County Sheriff Chad Anderson said.
Anderson recounted the details of a raid that resulted in injuries to several in his department.
"We went into a residence and the guy ran into the basement trying to get rid of some chemicals," Anderson said.
"I went into the basement and was overcome by the fumes. One-third of our force was hospitalized over that one raid. We all suffer from restricted airway disease. If I get around smoke or chemicals I stop breathing, which is kind of important if you want to keep living."
After the lunch meeting Skelton took a quick tour of the new Vernon County Jail before continuing his tour of the 4th Congressional district with a visit to Lamar.