Drug and Gang Task Force
"The mission of the Washington County Area Task Force, through the combined efforts of local, state, and federal agencies, is to protect the citizens of Washington County Utah from, and educate them about, individuals involved in gang, drug, and other clandestine crimes. Washington County Area Task Force will do this by identifying, developing intelligence on, investigating, arresting, sharing information about, and aiding in the prosecution of individuals involved in such crime."
A Task Force is a group of people brought together and assigned to address problems in a certain area. This group of people are considered specialist in have expertise that they can contribute to solve whatever problem the Task Force is assigned to address. The Washington County Area Task Force is made up of individuals from multiple agencies assigned to address the problems of drugs and gangs in Washington County.
The Task Force Board of Directors is made up of representatives (usually the Agency head) of each agency involved in and contributing to the Task Force with the Chairman of the board being the Washington County Attorney.
The supervisors of the Task Force are approved by the board. The Commander of the Task Force is Lieutenant David Moss from St. George Police Department. Lt. Moss supervises two sergeants: Sergeant Heidi Palmer from St. George Police Department and Sergeant Jeff Bailey from Washington County Sheriff's Office.
Sgt. Palmer supervises 9 detectives whose main case load deals with illegal drug trafficking in Washington County. These detectives are assigned from St. George PD, Washington County SO, Washington City PD, Ivins PD, Hurricane PD, and AP&P. Some of the detectives specialize in certain areas; for example, we have one detective assigned as our K-9 handler, one assigned as a DEA Task Force Officer to handle federal drug charges, and another assigned specifically to illegal prescription trafficking and fraud.
Sgt. Bailey supervises 8 detectives whose main case load deals with gang crime in Washington County. These detectives are assigned from St. George PD, Washington County SO, Hurricane PD, AP&P, and ICE/HSI. Some of the detectives specialize in certain areas; for example, we have one detective assigned as an ATF Task Force Officer to handle federal firearms investigations, and two detectives assigned as Fraudulent Identity and Security Threat investigators.
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