Salisbury Police Officer Graduates from DEA Clandestine Drug Lab Training Program

For Immediate Release

Friday, July 18, 2014

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

Salisbury Police Officer Graduates from DEA Clandestine Drug Lab Training Program

Salisbury and Newburyport Officers Took Course in Virginia Free of Charge

SALISBURY – Police Chief Thomas Fowler is pleased to report that Officer Michael Tullercash has successfully completed a specialized and competitively sought-after federal training on secret drug labs.

This week-long Drug Enforcement Administration Clandestine Laboratory Training program, held in Quantico, Virginia certified Officer Tullercash as a tech for clandestine labs — secret labs that are used in illegal drug development.

“I am very pleased that Officer Tullercash was chosen for and has successfully completed this rigorous and important training,” Chief Fowler said. “The DEA provides this training, the travel expenses and housing free of charge, and the officers will be issued specialized equipment for when they respond to dangerous drug lab calls.

“This is an excellent example of not only partnering with our neighbors in Newburyport but also our Federal Law Enforcement counterparts in battling illicit drugs.”

Clandestine lab training is vitally important in modern law enforcement because municipal police are often the first people to encounter these laboratories operating in communities. First responders must be trained to ensure that these labs are safely and properly investigated, dismantled, and disposed of.

Officer Tullercash was joined by Newburyport Police Officer Joshua Tierney at the class.

As part of its mission to enforce drug laws and bring drug producers to justice, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) provides training programs such as these to prepare officers and agents for what they may find in the field.

The DEA provides the training, housing, and travel expenses to municipal police departments completely free of charge.

Secret drug labs present significant dangers to communities and to the first responders who arrive to deal with them. Because of the unique circumstances involving in raiding a clandestine laboratory site, the DEA determined that there was a need for tactical, hands-on training specifically for these labs. The Clandestine Laboratory Tactical Training School was developed in 2000.

The Quantico lab that the training took place at is a 32,000 square feet facility, allowing room for training including the full use of issued equipment including air purifying respirators and self contained breathing apparatuses. This training is the most widely recognized law enforcement-sponsored clandestine laboratory training course meeting OSHA standards in the country. It is available to DEA Special Agents and state and municipal officers throughout the United States and abroad.

To learn more about this highly specialized training to to http://www.justice.gov/dea/ops/Training/Clandestine.shtml

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