Roughnecks Rough Behavior and Law Enforcement

Monday, July 30, 2007

An influx of young, transient energy industry workers to Mesa and Garfield counties has compounded the stress on law enforcement agencies and criminal justice services, according to local officials.

“There’s no doubt it has had an effect,” Mesa County Sheriff Stan Hilkey said. “Whatever the industry is, if it’s causing growth here, growth is causing more demands and putting more pressure on us.”

Hilkey cautioned it is difficult to quantify the direct effects of energy industry employees on Mesa County crime, because the county does not track that information.

Nonetheless, the growth of the industry’s “transient population” of workers has had some effect, he said.

Mesa County Chief Deputy District Attorney Dan Rubinstein said the nature of energy field workers can lead them to methamphetamine use: young, single men with large amounts of cash and long work days.

“The energy industry attracts the type of person who I think is (at) high risk to be a user,” Rubinstein said.

Although there is no proven cause and effect between energy development and methamphetamine use, the risk factors are there, he said.

Rubinstein said in light of these factors, energy companies have expressed openness to addressing potential problems among their workers to head off the “confluence of dynamics” that might lead to meth use among roughnecks.

Beyond law enforcement, the energy boom’s accompanying population growth has quickly filled jails and other programs that cannot keep pace with booming demand

Grand Junction Sentinel