DAPHNE — Sen. Jeff Sessions shared more than breakfast Wednesday morning with Baldwin County law enforcement representatives.

He also shared his thoughts on problems facing area communities and how area agencies are successfully responding.

The breakfast attracted about 100 municipal, county, state and federal representatives.

Part of the morning’s program gave area law enforcement representatives a chance to profile what’s happening in their respective jurisdictions.

Baldwin County Sheriff Huey “Hoss” Mack, whose office helped coordinate the event, said the breakfast serves a couple of purposes.

“Chiefs of police, by law, are required to have continuing education credits. So this helps them get those,” Mack said.

“But we also took it one step further by inviting our federal, state and county law enforcement officials — from Baldwin as well as surrounding counties — so that we can share information,” he said.

Sharing information with lawmakers — at both the state and national level — is also vital, Mack said.

“For example, I’m interested in the issue of immigration at all levels. Right now we feel that we probably have about 20,000 Hispanics who have moved into Baldwin County in the last five to 10 years,” he said.

“Since we know that some of those are illegal, local law enforcement is trying to partner with federal law enforcement to address that issue,” Mack said.

Daphne police Chief David Carpenter echoed other speakers when he said that dealing with growth is a continuing concern.

“It’s no secret that we’re in an area that has had a lot of growth,” Carpenter said.

“And growth can sometimes bring about its own problems. “We’re trying to keep crime down so that the citizens can enjoy a nice place to live.”

During a presentation that was interrupted with applause at various times, Sessions congratulated audience members for their work.

“It’s good to see that our communities are safer today than they were 20 years ago. We’ve got a great team working together here,” Sessions said.

He also acknowledged the problems law enforcement faces.

“There is a definite bottleneck when it comes to forensic science and that’s a problem because you definitely have to have fingerprints when you go to trial,” Sessions said.

Sessions said he is also concerned with prescription drugs being obtained over the Internet.

“Someone can send in a forged prescription and not even see a physician,” he said.

“Is it any wonder when you have a 15-year-old who can submit false information to get drugs?

Taking criminals off the streets remains an important goal, Sessions said.

“Targeting serious felons and making sure they serve time a good thing,” he said.