Support for city-county drug squad evaporates

Whatever chances there may have been for the establishment of a joint drug squad between the Grady County Sheriff’s Office and the police departments of both the cities of Cairo and Whigham appeared to evaporate Tuesday.
On the heels of doubts expressed about the governance of a city-county drug unit by District Attorney Joe Mulholland last week, both the Cairo City Council and the Grady County Commission appeared to be backing away from a joint effort.
Monday night during the Cairo city council meeting city officials expressed doubts that a new drug squad would be any more successful than the squad formed by the city and county over 20 years ago.
The city council seems to be leaning toward an in-house effort within the city police department to fight drugs locally.
Then on Tuesday night, Grady County Sheriff Harry Young appeared before the county commission soliciting its support for his hiring of two special investigators to combat illegal drugs in Grady County.
Neither the council or the commission took action, but it appears the support for a joint city-county drug squad is gone.
See Wednesday’s edition of The Cairo Messenger for a complete report.