Investigator Harmon Duncan of the Carter County Sheriff’s Department recently received the prestigious “Meth Man of the Year Award” from the Tennessee Dangerous Drug Task Force at the Tennessee Narcotics Officers Association convention in Chattanooga.
“Harmon has the energy of a 20-year-old and works extremely hard, and when you do that consistently, it shows,” said Sheriff Dexter Lunceford. “This award was the culmination of that, and we’re very proud of him. I wish we had 10 of him.”
The award recognized his dedication and commitment in methamphetamine investigations, dismantling meth laboratories and disrupting the distribution of pseudoephedrine within the state.
Duncan said that the award should not recognize his efforts alone, but should recognize those of Sheriff’s Department and surrounding sheriff and police departments.
“We all share the county’s future and fortune,” he said. “We work together.”
Cases often originate in surrounding counties and get busted here, or vice versa, said Duncan, so communication between all law enforcement is critical. He commended the work of officers in the narcotics department at the Elizabethton Police Department and said they work with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation as well as the Drug Enforcement Administration.
“As of October 1, we were number one for drug busts in the state, and that is because our department and surrounding counties take a proactive approach,” said Duncan.
He said the state was seeing about 2,000 lab busts per year and in 2015, there have been just over 500. Of that, he said Carter County has had about 30.
“We’ve had about half the busts that we normally have,” Duncan said.
One factor that he said may have contributed to their recognition was because Carter County has led the state in the last three of five years at busting labs.
He believes that part of the decrease in busts may be the use of other drugs like prescription pain medicines and heroin or the increase in use of crystal meth, which is commercially manufactured and imported.
“Everybody in the state is fighting the same battle,” said Duncan.
He believes the success of Sheriff’s Department is a direct result of their approach.
“If you just sit and wait, it’s not as effective,” said Duncan. “By assembling case models and actively investigating in the field and elsewhere, we have helped to isolate the problem and to build the community’s trust.”
Lunceford said the use of technology, increased tech personnel, taking tips from the community, and monitoring pseudoephedrine purchases (an ingredient used to make meth) all contribute to combating the drug. According to Lunceford, Duncan places in the top in the state for actively using the database to track pseudoephedrine purchases.
“His dedication is what makes Carter County so successful at busting labs,” said Lunceford. “I think the citizens trust us and call us, so we are finding these things. Gathering intelligence is an important part.”
About 80 percent of criminal activity in this area is drug-related, Duncan said, adding that bothers him because of its affect on children and the workforce.
“It’s unsafe for children to be around a lab,” said Duncan.
He also said that babies are born addicted to meth and that it is very difficult to get them off.
That’s not the only reason he is passionate about putting an end to meth production and use.
“The economy of our city and county is disrupted by drug use,” he said. “If everybody’s on drugs, it doesn’t matter how many jobs you have because their focus is on drugs.”
Almost all of the people involved in busts or arrested for use or distribution are between the ages of 18 and 30, he said, but quite a few in 40s and 50s too he added
“It disrupts households,” Duncan said. “People get caught and get a record, and life after that is difficult.”
Perhaps it is Duncan’s passion for the community and ending the prevalence of meth that earned him the award.
“He likes it,” said Lunceford. “That’s what you have to do. To be good at fighting meth, you have to be committed to it, and any time of day, he’s very committed.”
Duncan is 72-years-old and has been out in every kind of weather, at all hours of the night, trying to put an end to the production of meth in this county. He said that after retiring after 30 years working with General Motors, he became bored, so he entered the police academy at age 64.
“I want to live in Carter County, and to see the drug issue that we see everywhere come to an end,” Duncan said.