WASHINGTON –聽A聽high school student’s homicide聽near his school last fall聽was the catalyst for a聽full-scale narcotics operation in Prince WIlliam County focusing on youth drug use. 聽
Shortly after 16-year-old Woodbridge High School senior Brenden Wilson in an attempt to buy marijuana last November, police in Prince William County launched聽Growing Pains.
“We started to take a look at the younger demographic and try to focus in and seeing how big of a problem this is in the county,” said聽Officer Jonathan Perok with Prince William County Police.
During the four-month operation, 26 arrest warrants were issued. So far, 19 people are in custody, two of which are minors.
“We sent a message this was not going to be tolerated in our community. We also wanted to send a message out to parents, ‘Hey, this is going on,'” Perok said.
Of those arrested or wanted, six are students at Gar-Field, Osbourn and Patriot high schools. He says the arrests often come as a surprise to parents.
“Parents really do need to take an active role to combat this before this becomes a problem,” Perok says.
