Shifting focus in Shelby

When Lt. Clay Hammac was appointed commander of the Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force, he brought along the perspective of a white-collar crimes investigator.

“What we’ve done over the past 12 months, close to it, is we’ve taken a different approach [to narcotics investigations],” Hammac said. “Investigating an organized crime ring or a financial structuring organization, really I’ve learned, is no different than investigating an organized drug enterprise.”

Hammac was appointed as commander in September 2015, after working in patrol, criminal investigations, the U.S. Secret Service Task Force, crisis negotiations, Project Lifesaver and administration and media relations in his 11 years with the Sheriff’s Office.

“When the opportunity [rose] to come into the narcotics world, especially in a command position, there was a little bit of intimidation,” Hammac said. “But I decided to lean on these investigators, who are experienced narcotics investigators, who are great at their job, great at what they do, and I decided to take my strength of financial investigations and their strengths as narcotics investigators and marry the two together.”

Merging the two worlds of investigation has led investigators with the Drug Enforcement Task Force to focus more on the big picture, Hammac said, including suppliers and distribution channels, rather than street-level users.

“Whenever we move our attention from the street-level dealers and users and focus more on the suppliers and larger dealers, we’re able to go after the larger volume of drugs,” he said. “And our mentality is that this is a force multiplier effect. We can rely on our uniformed deputies and police officers to help us enforce the street-level crime as we go after the more organized crime.”

These strategies also lead toward investigations involving bank structuring, subpoenas for bank records and investigation into money laundering.

“Things that you typically wouldn’t expect on a narcotics level, but we’re trying to embrace a multifaceted skill set to really hurt the drug dealers by going after their pockets,” Hammac said.

In the first three quarters of fiscal year 2016, which started in October 2015, the task force worked 749 cases, served 928 arrest warrants and made 505 arrests. They also have seized 77 pounds of drugs and 50 firearms and disposed of 435 pounds of drugs, according to statistics from the Sheriff’s Office.

“I want our drug dealers to say, ‘Shelby County is not a nice place to do business,’” Hammac said. “We’ve been very aggressive in pursuing our drug dealers.”

Education, awareness

The task force is not only focused on the supply of drugs in Shelby County. Half of the battle is against the demand and cultural perception, Hammac said.

 “I’ve been really surprised how casual the idea of narcotics use and experimentation has been with our young adults and students,” he said. “The challenge that I have seen firsthand is us battling the cultural perception. There seems to be an increase in cultural perception that casual use of marijuana and/or other prescription vices is not going to hurt anyone.”

One of the strongest tools for battling this perception is education, Hammac said, and as commander of the task force, he frequently visits schools, parent and teacher groups, churches and other community organizations.

“He’s in our speaker’s bureau, and he is probably the No. 1 requested presenter throughout Shelby County,” said Jan Corbett, coordinator of the Shelby County Drug Free Coalition. 

A key to his presentations is not watering down the message, Hammac said. He shows real photographs, shares real stories and gives real statistics so audience members can get an accurate idea of the drug problem in Shelby County, Hammac said.

This approach is an effective one, Corbett added.

“He’s great because he’s not only knowledgeable about the drug situation in Shelby County, but he’s also a great presenter,” Corbett said. “He makes it very interesting. He really tells parents exactly what they need to know. He doesn’t sugarcoat things. He really wants them to know the honest to goodness truth.”

Another stance Hammac takes is one against marijuana, which he says is a deadly drug. While there have not been any marijuana overdose cases in his law enforcement career, Hammac said the deadly quality of marijuana comes from it acting as a gateway drug.

“What I’ve seen is those who experiment and justify recreational marijuana use have a greater propensity to experiment and try something else,” he said. “So, in that sense, I do say that it becomes deadly.”

This stance has led to negative feedback and harassing emails and phone calls, Hammac said, but it is one by which he stands.

Over the last year, Hammac said, he has worked to open up communication and build up outreach to the community, even though it brings in some negative feedback. The task force uses social media to share information on cases and drug busts to keep Shelby County informed, Hammac said.

“I don’t want drug use to be an issue of ‘out of sight, out of mind’ for Shelby County,” he said.

A holistic approach

Shelby County also has worked to make sure drugs do not become an “out of sight, out of mind” issue. The county, along with law enforcement agencies and municipalities, has developed COMPACT 2020 as an effort to battle drug use.

COMPACT 2020 launched in July and approaches drug use from multiple angles, including prevention and education, pre-justice involvement and compliance.

“I think this is going to be a model for the rest of the country for what we can do because I’m going to speak very candidly… our drug scene is not going away,” Hammac said. “Drugs are not going to disappear permanently.”

By taking a holistic approach against drugs, COMPACT 2020 is able to stop some drug use before it happens, help those battling addiction and hopefully lower the demand for drugs, Hammac said.

“We are genuinely concerned about what happens after the arrest process,” he said. “I’m one of those people who preaches until I’m blue in the face — recovery is possible. No one has to be enslaved to addiction for the rest of their life.”

Even if only 20 to 30 percent of individuals going through the program recover from addiction, Hammac said, that is worth any effort it takes.

“You think, ‘Well that’s not very good. If you were a private business, you would be failing,’” he said. “No, we’re talking about humans here. We’re talking about human lives. If 20 to 30 percent are able to take control of their addiction and enter a state of recovery, then it’s succeeding.”

Looking forward to next year, Hammac said he hopes to increase communication and share more information with neighboring agencies, something he said would act as a force multiplier on drug cases.

Hammac said although they cannot eliminate drugs altogether, he hopes at least a few individuals hear the message and make the right choice as community outreach continues.

“What I’m hopeful for is that we’re going to continue our community outreach efforts and educating our community … and what I’m hopeful for is that those efforts will prove to be successful,” he said. “That a young student, when offered a marijuana cigarette sometime in high school, they’re going to remember, ‘I remember some guy coming and talking to our class, and this could lead to other stuff.’”