Montana Senator Jon Tester and North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp will host panels to discuss various efforts to reduce drug abuse in oil field areas.
The Senators will have other panelists at the meetings. One of the panelists will be U.S. District Attorney for North Dakota, Tim Purdon.
Purdon said with an increase in population it is common to notice an increase of crime. He said this includes street crimes such as assault, DUI, bar fights and domestic violence.
Purdon said the increase of street crimes causes law enforcement to behave in a reactive mode.
“And what that leads to is the idea that organized criminal groups, organized drug trafficking organizations, can come in and take advantage of the fact that local law enforcement is reacting to street crime and not being able to have time or resources to engage in proactive police work,” Purdon said.
Purdon said the hope of the panel is to petition for additional resources such as police officers and judges, and to also shed light on the need to avoid any reductions on federal law enforcement.
The meetings will take place Friday in both Glendive and Bismarck.
