War on Drugs in Geneva County

GENEVA, Ala. (WTVY) - “Every community has a drug problem,” said Chief Pepper Mock with Geneva Police Department. “Not just here, not just Geneva County. Anywhere you go in the country, you have a drug problem. That’s just the world we live in now.”

According to Chief Mock, 230 drug related arrests were made by Geneva PD alone in 2022.

“Drug crimes don’t just stop at a drug crime,” said Mock. “They spread out to other crimes, especially here in Geneva. Thefts, assaults, public intoxications, DUIs, a lot of that is drug related.”

While arrests do get some people off the street, drugs continue to circulate around communities.

“We have a group of recovering drug addicts we take to different youth groups. They basically explain what the drug lifestyle is like,” said Mock. “We have a junior police academy, so we incorporate that group in there. That’s been pretty successful.”

Just outside Downtown Geneva, a recovering addict hosts a ministry that takes care of those addicts ready to change.

At Bunkhouse Ministries, those going through the program live together and are helped to find a new way of life through faith and hard work.

“You’ve got to really want to change to be here,” said Greg McDonald, a member of Bunkhouse Ministries who has been clean for more than a year. “Brother Tony is not a pushover. He tells you the truth and sometimes the truth hurts, but if you are wanting to change, this is the place to be.”

The bottom line is, to say drugs will ever disappear is asinine, but it can be limited.

Chief Mock believes it all comes back to accountability.

“Whether it is drug addicts, law enforcement, all the way to prosecutors and law makers, we are making sure we are all doing our part and doing the best job we can to fight that war,“ said Mock.

Mock says meth is the biggest drug concern in Geneva County as of 2023.

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