ABERDEEN, Ohio — Aberdeen police could gain the authority to stop and investigate potential drug activity as it happens if village council members approve a proposal from the police chief.

The ordinance is expected to be introduced by the Aberdeen Police Department during the next village council meeting. According to Chief David Benjamin, the ordinance will give officers more authority to stop and investigate suspected drug activity.

“We’re just looking at every tool we can to combat our drug problem,” Benjamin said.

Under the proposal, officers could approach and even detain individuals who are known to have a history with drugs, and who appear to be loitering for either a drug deal or some other drug-related activity.

“A police officer who observes a person loitering under circumstances which provide the officer with a reasonable basis to believe that the person intends to engage in unlawful drug-related activity may detain the individual for the purpose of investigating whether the person is in violation of (b),” according to the proposal, with “(b)” indicating it is unlawful for any person to loiter in a public place with the intention of engaging in unlawful drug-related activity.

Under this proposal there are also a myriad of factors that have to be met for a police officer to be able to detain an individual. Some of these factors include whether the person in question attempts to conceal suspicious objects to the person loitering in an area that it notorious for unlawful drug-related activity.

The proposal goes on to indicate once a person is detained, if the police officer develops probable cause for unlawful drug activity, the officer can order the individual to immediately leave the location where they are loitering and to remain 500 feet from the location for five hours.

Should the individual refuse to comply with the order, the police officer could arrest the person and charge them with a misdemeanor fourth-degree loitering with the intent of engaging in unlawful drug related activity.

When it comes to ordinances and proposals such as this one, Benjamin said this is not his first during his career in law enforcement.

“It’s an ordinance I’ve used in the past in other communities,” he said

To view the ordinance proposal in its entirety, you can visit the Aberdeen Police Department’s Facebook page where it is posted in the comments of the related post.

The next Aberdeen Village Council meeting, where the proposal will be held, is on Dec. 1.

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Jonathan Wright

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