Pubdate: Tue, 27 Aug 2002 Source: Chattanooga Times Free Press (TN) Copyright: 2002 Chattanooga Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.timesfreepress.com/index.html Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/992 Author: Nikki Middlebrooks FEWER AGENTS FIGHT GROWING DRUG PROBLEM Region task force also operating with less funding LAFAYETTE, Ga. - As the drug problem in Northwest Georgia continues to grow, the number of agents with the drug task force serving the area is at an all-time low, a task force commander said. "We used to be proactive against drugs in this area," Chris Hill, co mmander with the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force, said. "Drugs have become such a problem that all we're doing now is reacting." One North Georgia sheriff said funding and policy changes were reasons he pulled his officers out of the force. "We still have a relationship with them and help them when they need it," Dade County Sheriff Philip Street said. "It was more practical for our county to pull out." The Drug Task Force originally included agents from Dade, Walker, Catoosa and Chattooga counties, which comprise the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit. Other agents on the force were from cities within each county and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Mr. Hill said. In the 1990s, eight to nine agents served on the force each year, he said. As many as 14 agents have served at one time, Mr. Hill said. Now there are five agents and one administrative assistant, he said. Catoosa and Dade counties, the Fort Oglethorpe Police Department and the GBI have all pulled their agents and resources from the force. The force investigates an average of 250 to 300 drug-related cases each year, Mr. Hill said. Three years ago, the amount would have included those in which the force assisted in county cases. Now, the task force handles that many by itself, he said. Sheriff Street pulled out of the task force a little more than a year ago. He said his was the latest department to leave. A new policy required agents to meet at the headquarters in LaFayette each day. Sheriff Street said he was having to pay for the officers' drive time from Trenton to LaFayette. Items seized during drug busts, though collected in Dade County, would become property of the task force. Seized property can be auctioned and the money added to the agency's budget. Last year, Dade County was able to put about $60,000 in its coffers from the sale of seized property, Sheriff Street said. The money was used to buy a drug dog and a new car for detectives. Despite reduced manpower, Mr. Hill said task force agents are making more drug busts. "We've cleaned up 18 (methamphetamine) labs in four weeks," Mr. Hill said. "A meth lab used to be a big deal. Now it's so common." The federal government funds 75 percent of the task force's budget and the local agencies pay the remaining 25 percent. This year, the task force received the federal Edward Bryne Memorial Drug Control Grant for $231,500. Last year, the grant was $258,000, Mr. Hill said. If the federal money decreases, the local match increases. But the money stays the same regardless. "It makes it hard to afford a cost-of-living raise for employees," Mr. Hill said. - --- MAP posted-by: Tom