Record Breaking Drug Arrests

Police in Athens are pulling so many drugs off the streets, they're breaking records. The city has seen an increase in traffic stops and drug arrests, and there's still three months to go in the year.

Chief Chuck Ziegler says there's a correlation between traffic stops and drug arrests, so when you see one go up, it's not surprising that the other one did as well.

The evidence locker at the Athens Police Department is full; jam-packed with bags and boxes of prescription pills, marijuana and other drugs. The drugs all stem from a record arrest year. So far, the department has had the largest number of drug arrests in any calendar year-- and that goes back to the 1950's. The total amount is 317.

Ziegler says officers find many of the drugs during routine traffic stops, and those are up significantly as well. So far this year officers have issued 8,585 citations. In all of last year, there were 7,520.

And the chief says, traffic stops are about more than just writing tickets and boosting revenue. Speeding accounts for just 39 percent of the total amount of citations. Seat belts were 16 percent. Insurance was 14 percent. Registration violations, running stop signs and other violations were about 10 percent apiece.