It's made up of patrol officers and deputies, detectives and investigators, who answer to two qualified sheriffs, an equally qualified police chief and a district attorney willing to prosecute should arrests be made.

From there the task force spreads to law enforcement in neighboring towns and counties and then stretches to other states.

We have a task force.

This task force may not be officially designated as such. To us it's implied and the two sheriffs and police chief early on enlisted the help of the SBI and FBI to assist them in trying to solve the cases of missing people in the Roanoke Valley as well as unsolved murders. They did so without being asked, they did so because they know as has been said, particularly in Halifax County, countless times — working together works.

Time has lagged on and now Jack Smith, the sheriff of Northampton County, is taking heat for things which happened before his appointment and eventual election, things which happened under the watch of a different commander. Where was the outrage then?

Smith already took unfair criticism and blame for the fiasco which came to be called the police corruption case Operation Rockfish, hounded by big city TV stations which leave after the story's excitement ends.

Smith did what he had to do, fired the ones involved in Rockfish who were still under his employ. He didn't deserve the heat then and he doesn't deserve the heat now.

To a lesser extent, Halifax County Sheriff Wes Tripp has taken some heat for the missing.

It's our opinion both are doing the best they can, following up on dwindling leads when they come in, taking proactive measures like putting the names and faces of the missing on signs and in national criminal databases.

It's not an easy thing to do. You can't violate the rights of suspects, can't bully them, can't threaten them, you can only ask questions and assign your best people to the cases. There has to be evidence, evidence which sticks. You start in a small circle and build outward. Anything less would be irresponsible law enforcement.

It is especially difficult in this day and age where the mantra of the streets is snitches get stitches, where it's uncool to cooperate, where cooperating can lead to witness intimidation or worse.

We know this to be true in many private conversations with our sources — witnesses who know something, who saw something but don't want to come forward. It's a cowardly way out of helping these family members find some closure and possibly peace.

We watched Friday at the Journey for Justice rally as Kim Wallace, a close friend of one of the missing, stood up for Tripp, saying he returns her calls and talks to her.

The problem is, we wonder who's talking to law enforcement to share intimate details of what they know. It seems like no one wants to and even the enticement of reward money doesn't overcome the sorry street mantra. There are people out there who know. It's the mantra of the streets which have tied their tongues, we believe.

To put this blame squarely on the shoulders of law enforcement, particularly Sheriff Smith, is wrong, doesn't feel right and seems to us something which seemingly has ulterior motives when the man wasn't there when the people who are the topic of these cold cases went missing, yet has solved more than 30 of the missing person cases under his watch.

We watched this spring as Tripp's detectives doggedly worked to find a missing man who unfortunately met his demise.

We understand the frustration of the families, at least to the point we can without having experienced it ourselves. Unfortunately, time has erased so much evidence and the passing of one of the greatest advocates for the missing, Lola Robinson, hasn't helped.

We agree with the advocates for the missing that perhaps the local law enforcement agencies should retrace steps. Does it mean throwing dollars at the problem when the Halifax County Sheriff's Office can't even get raises to keep their deputies from going elsewhere? We think the answer is no because we already have a task force. We know as gospel anytime Roanoke Rapids police get a lead, they investigate

We listened Friday to the few barbs thrown to law enforcement, hearsay, he said-she said, and wondered how this anger could be directed to better serve the plight of the missing and finally bring closure for the families.

Communication is the key, trying somehow to entice the ones with information who live in the philosophy of the streets to come clean with what they know, man up, and face the consequences.

There is a task force already in action, already assembled and throwing vitriol their way doesn't help matters when a break in these cases is what they need — Editor