Site helps Kansas just say no
- By Nicholas Morehead
- Jul 20, 2001
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation's Special Operations Division launched
a Web site this month to supplement the bureau's anti-drug work.
The site (www.ink.org/public/drugenforcement)
offers information on how people can help Kansas law enforcement officials
fight drugs, including tips on how to report drug activity and how to identify
illegal drugs such as marijuana and methamphetamines. It also provides links
to local, state and federal anti-drug organizations and law enforcement
authorities.
Kyle Smith, a bureau spokesman, said the Web site is the next logical
step in the state's drug-fighting efforts. It will build on the success
of the bureau's toll-free number, which has been effective for a while.
"We wanted to make our efforts more interactive and expand the ways
in which we can reach people with important information about drug activity
in the state," Smith said.
To minimize costs, he said the bureau worked with Web designers from
the Kansas Information Technology Office (da.state.ks.us/kito)
and the Information Network of Kansas Inc. (www.accesskansas.org/about-ink.html).
"I think the biggest hoop we had to jump through was the anonymity question,"
Smith said. "We've always had the ability to trace phone calls when they
come in, but from our perspective, it'd be stupid of us to do so. It's that
anonymity that gets people comfortable enough to call and drop the dime
on a dealer."
To ensure the anonymity of e-mail messages sent through the site, the
Division of Information Systems and Communications agreed to receive the
e-mails. Staff members will strip all sender information from the messages,
save them to a disk and pass them on to the bureau each day.