Pubdate: Mon, 21 Feb 2005
Source: Herald, The (WA)
Copyright: 2005 The Daily Herald Co.
Contact:  http://www.heraldnet.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/190
Authors: Diana Hefley and Katherine Schiffner, Herald Writers

DRUG FIGHT AT RISK

Local police officials believe President Bush's proposed budget cuts 
threaten their effectiveness in the ongoing battle against meth and other 
drugs.

Police predict federal funding cuts will close half of the state's drug 
task forces this year and say deeper cuts proposed for 2006 could 
jeopardize public safety.

A federal grant that funds the Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force and 19 
others in the state was cut to $5.9 million from $15 million this year.

At a holding site in the Clearview area, Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force 
investigators search an impounded car. They found it filled with 
meth-making tools and ingredients. Proposed cuts in federal funding could 
force the task force and 19 others in the state to close within two years. 
The budget proposed by the Bush administration last week eliminates the 
grant in 2006.

The president also proposed deep cuts to community policing grants, which 
provided $1.8 million to police departments in Snohomish County last year.

"The message it sends is that we're not a priority, that our primary 
mission to investigate domestic violence, auto thefts, burglaries and all 
those things are not a priority," Everett Police Chief Jim Scharf said.

The cuts were part of the president's effort to reduce a record $427 
billion federal budget deficit.

Drug Fight Uncertain

Police say this year's cuts won't shut down the Snohomish Regional Drug 
Task Force. The agency could be in jeopardy if Congress approves the budget 
cuts for next year, officers say.

The 25-member task force seized more than $2 million in drugs last year and 
is one of the largest in the state. The agency and other task forces are 
funded in part by the Justice Assistance Grant.

Congress cut the grant by 40 percent in December. Lawmakers softened the 
blow by budgeting $3.5 million for the state, which will be distributed 
directly to police agencies based on size and crime rates.

The Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force received $270,000 from the justice 
grant in 2004. The money paid for four police officers, a prosecutor and a 
secretary.

Snohomish County and other larger task forces may be able to survive 
without the federal grant money for one or two years, said Paul Perz, a 
managing director of the Department of Community Trade and Economic 
Development.

If the money is eliminated and not replaced, it's likely all the state's 
task forces would be forced to shut down, he said.

"If you cut one program it would be a challenge, but we could get through 
it. When you have a cut in all programs, it's like, 'Holy smoke, where do 
we go from here?'" said Dave Rodriguez, director of the Northwest 
High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, whose agency is also facing 
deep cuts.

Even if Snohomish County's drug task force doesn't take a hit, closing down 
other task forces will make fighting drugs harder for officers here, task 
force commander Pat Slack said.

The proposed cuts would come just as the state is attempting to step up its 
efforts to fight illegal drugs, especially methamphetamine, Rodriguez said.

"This isn't a problem you can leave for a while and come back and fight 
when it suits you. This is a problem you need to meet every day," he said.

Grant Also Aids Victims And Youth

In Snohomish County, the grant also funds legal aid for domestic violence 
victims, youth crime prevention and the state's only victim advocacy 
organization.

"Funding victims services should be a priority," said Jenny Wieland, 
executive director of Everett-based Families and Friends of Violent Crime 
Victims.

Last year, Families and Friends received nearly $60,000, a quarter of the 
nonprofit agency's budget.

Cuts To COPS

Federal money for Snohomish County police departments is also on the 
chopping block.

Washington state received $80.5 million in Community Oriented Policing 
Services, or COPS, grants in 2004. Of that, $1.8 million went to police and 
other programs in Snohomish County.

COPS grants would drop to $22 million in 2006 from $449 million under the 
budget proposed by the Bush administration.

The Stillaguamish Tribal police are already feeling the impact of previous 
COPS cutbacks, Stillaguamish Police Chief Felix Moran said. His department 
received $189,000 in 2004, which the tribe matched with $21,000 of its own 
funds.

Federal money paid for the agency to hire and train two officers. It also 
paid for three new patrol cars, uniforms, gas masks, training and other needs.

"Without this kind of money for startup, there wouldn't be any uniforms or 
guns or patrol cars because we don't have the startup funds to do it," said 
Moran, who's led a six-officer department for the past four years.

Tulalip Tribes Police Chief Jay Goss says police departments shouldn't 
expect the federal government to provide COPS grant money or become 
dependent on those dollars for ongoing needs.

"The government doesn't owe us anything," he said. "We operated police 
departments in this country long before grants ever showed up on the scene. 
It's nice to get new technology and equipment from grants. Believe me, I 
have it now. But taxpayers can only take so much."

Changing Priorities

Police say much of the money is being redirected to homeland security and 
the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Keeping the state safe from terrorists is a more pressing need for federal 
money, Goss said.

"I'm thankful for the grants and what we were able to accomplish with 
them," he said. "Just as I'll be thankful for the homeland security grants 
if we prevent terrorists from attacking our families."

But lawmakers shouldn't have to choose between money for homeland security 
or police, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash, said.

"By diverting those dollars it's just robbing Peter to pay Paul," he said.

He and other Washington state lawmakers were surprised President Bush 
proposed cuts in money used to fight crime and drugs.

The proposed cuts for 2006 will likely face strong opposition in Congress, 
Larsen said.

"I do think Congress will restore some of the money if not all of it, but 
we're a long way from the finish line now," he said. "I can't find anybody 
in Congress who wants to balance the budget on the backs of local law 
enforcement."
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