Pubdate: Mon, 05 Dec 2005
Source: Valley City Times Record (ND)
Copyright: 2005 Valley City Times Record
Contact:  http://www.times-online.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3718
Author: Scott Webster, T-R Staff Writer

FEDERAL BUDGET CUTS AFFECT LOCAL TASK FORCE AND BARNES COUNTY

Barnes County will feel the effect of federal budget cuts come 
January when one officer on the Stutsman-Barnes Narcotics Task Force 
will be eliminated.

This is the certain outcome of the latest legislative session in 
which federal funds were redirected from the Edward Byrne Memorial 
Justice Assistance Grant program. Funding from this program enabled 
task forces in all states to maintain officers specific to drug enforcement.

"That person's job is focused on drug enforcement," said Valley City 
Police Chief Dean Ross. "He could follow through without other things 
getting in the way, such as traffic stops, deaths, assaults, and 
accident reports. It keeps the drug agent doing what he does best." 
"It is frustrating that we can get funds to buy equipment, but 
nothing is available to maintain officers ..." VC Police Chief Dean 
Ross Ross indicated the supporting funds for the program have been 
declining over the past years. "It started at a 72 / 28 match, then 
65 / 35. Now it's a zero match."

"So far this year, no funding has been approved," said Ross. "If it 
were reinstated the way it is, all the funds would go to areas with 
higher crime."

Barnes County will be directly affected by the position cut. "Most of 
our major trouble in the last couple of years has all been domestic 
and drug related," he said. "It is frustrating that we can get funds 
to buy equipment, but nothing is available to maintain officers." 
According to Ross, methamphetamine use is a real problem in Barnes 
County but it does not stay in the county alone. "This is a mobile 
society," he adds. "They (meth users) are very mobile. Our problem is 
Stutsman County's problem and even Fargo's."

Ross suggests if the funding is not reinstated, the city and county 
should go together and actually hire a drug agent for Barnes County. 
"Hopefully Stutsman and Jamestown could do the same and then the two 
of them could work together."

The drug problem will not go away alone, and the task force is making 
a difference in the community, Ross said. "The grant was the critical 
part of all the task forces in the state," he added. "There's no 
doubt that this will affect everyone."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman