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Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office shares information for concerned citizens

 

LANDRUM—At the Landrum City Council meeting held on Tuesday, December 12, the council discussed drug issues in the area. Captain Cooper, Lieutenant Paris and Sergeant Mathis of the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office attended the meeting, along with Landrum Police Chief Jason Coffin, to answer questions about drug concerns and encourage citizens to utilize the Spartanburg Sheriff’s Office Narcotic Tip Line.

“Just be as detailed as possible, you can be anonymous,” Sergeant Mathis said, regarding citizens using the tip line. “If you don’t want to leave your name, you don’t have to. If you don’t want to leave a callback number, you don’t have to.”

Sergeant Mathis added that in the past year, they’ve made arrests on five of the seven investigations they were involved with in Landrum. 

A study conducted by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division showed the drug offense rate increased by 3.3% from 2020 to 2021, with 21.38% of drug arrests due to stimulants, and 19.31% due to narcotics. Some Landrum residents are concerned that these numbers will continue to grow. 

Some citizens expressed frustration due to drug dealers not being arrested, saying they want their voices heard and that they felt not enough is being done about the crisis. Other’s spoke in favor of the efforts of the sheriff’s office

Mathis explained “the majority of the drugs that enter Spartanburg County come up I-85 from Atlanta. It’s coming across the [Mexican] border up to Atlanta. So the majority of the narcotics that we see on our streets come up that avenue.” 

One concerned resident encouraged other Landrum citizens to stay vigilant, saying “We’ve got to keep calling, we’ve got to keep giving them tips. And keep pushing [the sheriff] to go to these [drug] houses. We’re going to lose more kids, we’re going to lose innocent kids, and that’s sad.”    

To share tips or information regarding drugs in Landrum and the Upstate, call the Spartanburg County Narcotic Tip Line at 864-595-5403.