JOHNSTOWN, PA - The National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) hosted 30 Police Officials and Narcotics Investigators from various Borough, Township and County departments within Cambria and Somerset Counties including the Pennsylvania State Police. The conference, held on Wednesday, January 16, 2008 was to promote information sharing of drug intelligence among law enforcement agencies in the two counties. NDIC briefed the attendees on drug trends and patterns as recently reported in the National Drug Threat Assessment.

Cambria County Sheriff Bob Kolar said he thought the conference was very productive and expressed his appreciation to NDIC for taking the initiative to facilitate this collaborative effort.

Conemaugh Township Police Detective Bill Richards stated that he welcomed the opportunity to exchange ideas and intelligence with fellow officers from the surrounding communities and suggested similar meetings should be scheduled on a regular basis. Detective Richards reported that he recently received support from NDIC in an active criminal investigation and believes it is beneficial for other departments to learn of the resources available from NDIC. Det. Richards also serves as the Director of the Johnstown Regional Police Academy and acknowledged that NDIC has also provided training to recruits attending classes in the academy.

NDIC's Chief of Staff, Steven Frank, a 30 year veteran law enforcement officer, stated that NDIC believes it is part of their duty to try and promote information sharing. "Effective law enforcement requires networking," Frank said.

Frank added this has been a very good week for NDIC. In addition to hosting the Information Sharing conference, NDIC had also been requested to provide a briefing to the White House's National Security Council on their recently published National Drug Threat Assessment. NDIC was also awarded the National Marijuana Eradication Award from the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) for their recent production of a comprehensive nationallevel, strategic assessment of cannabis cultivation and marijuana production in the United States, entitled Domestic Cannabis Cultivation Assessment 2007 presented by ONDCP Director John Walters.