Column: SLTPD and EDSO saves woman's life with arrest

After a six-month investigation into drug transactions in the Lake Tahoe Basin, the El Dorado Sheriff's Department Narcotics Task Force executed search warrants at two locations in South Lake Tahoe on August 23, 2017. Large amounts of heroin, methamphetamine and approximately 12 firearms were seized in the search. Lynwood Towle, Shawn German, Melissa Griffis, Paul Ryan, and Krystal Long were all arrested, charged, and eventually pleaded guilty to various charges stemming from those searches.

“I am one of those who was arrested. I was sentenced to 180 days in county jail. My name is Melissa Griffis and this is my truth. The truth of how the South Lake Tahoe Police Department and the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office saved my life.”

Griffis was arrested and charged for felony possession of sales. She was named as a co-defendant in the drug trafficking case where the others arrested that day were named as her co-defendants. During the six-month-long joint task force investigation that apprehended all five of them, Lynwood was identified as a major drug trafficker in South Lake Tahoe. He was sentenced to 13 years and 4 months in state prison. After serving her jail time, Griffis was given three years of probation. Ryan was sentenced to 3 years, 6 months of community supervision, and had to serve 8 months in jail. Long and Sherman were sentenced similarly to Griffis with 180 days in jail and 3 years of probation.

“What brought me to stand in court in an orange jumpsuit and cuffs can be traced back to when I was 13-years-old and began taking drugs and drinking to drown out the pain of the sexual abuse I incurred at the hands of people that were supposed to love me,” said Griffis. “There’s a story behind every addict. There’s a reason behind what leads us into the criminal justice system. Don’t judge us for our past.”

She sat down to tell her story because there is a happier ending.

“I want to thank the South Lake Tahoe Police Department and El Dorado County Sheriff's Office for arresting me that day because they gave me the means and the reason to change my life for the better,” said Griffis.

This is just one story in a sea of stories of people that have tangled with law enforcement and ended up the better for it. Although incarceration has changed the lives of many people suffering from addictions they are no longer offered the same opportunity for rehabilitation due to the California reform laws. Before the reforms, people like Griffis were given the opportunity to get clean while in jail. However, since then people that suffer from drug addiction-such as heroin addiction or methamphetamine addiction- will be given the equivalency of a citation and sent on their way, according to law enforcement officials.

“The person that’s taking heroin is most likely going to be the one that is going to be stealing your car or worse. Most addicts say that it takes them reaching rock bottom before they get help and for most rock bottom is jail,” said South Lake Tahoe Police Department Detective Justin Brock. Brock was an officer on the South Lake El Dorado Narcotics Enforcement Team (SLEDNET) before it was disbanded due to changes in California law. SLEDNET was a crucial task force in our county because they would target their efforts towards eliminating high-profile drug traffickers, according to Brock. Since its disbandment as well as the changes in California law, law enforcement officials report that they have seen a direct correlation in the increase of property crimes as well as a sundry of other crimes.

We have to ask ourselves: Are we going to allow our mothers, fathers, sisters, friends, and brothers fall victim or die of drug addiction?

Despite changes in California law and the growth of anti-law enforcement mentalities, law enforcement officers remain focused on helping people.

“I grew up in a family that centered itself around the ethics and morals that it takes to become a police officer. That’s why I decided to become an officer at the South Lake Tahoe Police Department. Being a detective is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done because I get to see my cases all of the way to the end and I get to help people,” said Brock.

In his line of work, Brock comes across people like Griffis every day. Sometimes he sees them just once, others are repeat offenders and their cases often come across his desk. Brock is one among many brave men and women in South Lake Tahoe that have chosen to serve, protect, and sometimes aid in the rehabilitation of some more vulnerable and lost members of our population.

Not everyone who has fallen victim to drugs and alcohol has had a success story like Griffis. Some are so lost that they are wandering in the cold, right now, looking for hope that life will be better. Happier. Safer. Others, someone's parent and or child, have been laid to rest due to an addiction they couldn’t beat.

The writer Blue Marie Balcita is a contributor to South Tahoe Now and covers a myriad of subjects. Blue, a 19-year-old student at Lake Tahoe Community College, is the author of five books, a contributor to three more and recently started the college's new newspaper, 1974.