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ST. LOUIS COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE NEWS RELEASE

Sheriff's Office • 100 North Fifth Avenue West • Duluth, MN 55802
Phone: (218) 726-2340 • www.stlouiscountymn.gov

Ross Litman
Sheriff

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: February 16, 2017

Media Contact: Sheriff Ross Litman
(218) 726-2341

Two Northland drug and violent crimes task forces merge

They do similar work in adjoining regions and already are frequently sharing information between agencies. Now the Lake Superior Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force and the Boundary Waters Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force have merged and will share the LSDVCTF name. It will be headquartered within the Duluth Police Department, with satellite offices in Virginia and Hibbing.

"We know that drug dealers pay no attention to crossing boundaries between cities,counties and states. That's why these task forces were formed in the first place," said Sheriff Ross Litman, whose office previously had deputies working in both task forces. "To combine the two task forces now increases the information sharing between departments and the resources we're able to direct to stop the distribution of drugs and criminal elements in our region."

The new Lake Superior Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force will include representatives from 13 police departments, three sheriff's offices and four state or federal agencies. The task force covers a region that spans more than 12,000 square miles, making it the largest in the state, geographically.

By working together, the task force will be able to better share intelligence information gathered by their respective members, share investigatory resources and equipment, and increase their eligibility for federal funding sources. 

"We have found in our experience that many of the crimes our communities are experiencing have a drug correlation," said Jeff Kazel, LSDVCTF Commander. "Working together, we can better stop the heroin and opioids, methamphetamine and other drugs, and the crimes that accompany their distribution and use, that are hurting our citizens and our communities."

The LSDVCTF now includes representatives from the Duluth, Superior, Cloquet, Hermantown, Virginia, Hibbing, Eveleth, Babbitt, Ely, East Range, Breitung, Chisholm and Gilbert police departments; the St. Louis, Lake and Carlton County Sheriff's Offices, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; United States Border Patrol; Department of Homeland Security; and Minnesota National Guard Counter Drug Program.

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Representatives from the various agencies contributing to the Lake Superior Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force stand at a news conference Thursday announcing their new partnership. Shown L-R are LSDVCTF Commander Jeff Kazel, Lake County Sheriff Carey Johnson, St. Louis County Sheriff Ross Litman, Duluth Police Chief Mike Tusken, Duluth Police Deputy Chief Laura Marquardt, St. Louis County Attorney Mark Rubin, Superior Police Chief Nick Alexander, Hibbing Police Chief Mary Ann Hooper, Virginia Police Chief Nicole Young-Mattson, Brent Everson and Brent Schwerdtfeger of the U.S. Border Patrol, and Darren Nemeron and Kirk Howard of the Bureau of Alcolhol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.