Pubdate: Wed, 04 Oct 2006 Source: Clarion-Ledger, The (MS) Copyright: 2006 The Clarion-Ledger Contact: http://www.clarionledger.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/805 Author: Chris Joyner 2 DRUG TASK FORCES SHUT DOWN OVER FUNDING Two drug task forces in the state will be shut down because of cuts in a federal grant program. Law enforcement representatives for the eight-county North Central Narcotics Task Force and the Metro Narcotics Unit in DeSoto County received word this week that they had lost their funding. At least six employees of the North Central Narcotics Task Force will be left without a job. "We kind of knew it was eventually going to come," said DeSoto County Sheriff's Department spokesman Chief Steve Atkinson. "We didn't know it was going to be this year." Charlie Jackson, who heads the Mississippi Department of Safety's planning division, said the federal program that funds the state's 14 narcotics task forces has cut grants to the state by more than 60 percent since 2003. Mississippi received a little more than $2 million for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 - down from $5.3 million in 2003. The funding cuts have come as more federal dollars have been shifted toward homeland security needs. A committee of law enforcement officials made decisions on the program cuts. Committee members included Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics Director Marshall Fisher, Vicksburg Police Chief Tommy Moffett, Oktibbeha County Sheriff Dolph Bryan, Lucedale Police Chief Darrell Brewer and Oxford Police Chief Steve Bramlett. The committee made its funding judgments based on a variety of measurements, including how many people were being arrested and convicted as a result of the task forces. "They did the best they could based on the information we had," said Joyce Word, DPS manager for the grant program. But Holmes County Sheriff Willie March said he does not agree with the cuts. His county is part of the North Central Narcotics Task Force, along with Claiborne, Grenada, Humphreys, Leflore, Tunica, Yazoo and Coahoma counties. March said officials representing the state's drug task forces were told they had to cut 25 percent from their budgets to survive. "We did that," he said. "I'm not happy at all about this decision." March said he doesn't buy the argument that the cuts were based on performance. "They would have to close the Bureau of Narcotics. They haven't made one case in Holmes County," he said. March said he believes the North Central Narcotics Task Force leads the state in convictions, if for no other reason than it is the largest task force in the state. March, who has protested the cuts to Sen. Thad Cochran and 2nd District Rep. Bennie Thompson, said he plans to ask for a hearing with the department to challenge the cuts. Atkinson said the Metro Narcotics Unit, a cooperative venture with the Hernando Police Department, has been around for about 14 years. It's eight undercover investigators have been largely funded with federal grant dollars. Atkinson said the county will continue its fight against narcotics trafficking, just not through the task force. "We're prepared to handle it and keep on going," he said. "By not getting the funding, we're not going to give up." Word said the state is not giving up either and will try to get more money next year. The money to fund the task forces "has been a blessing, to say the least," she said. Jackson said the state has been lucky to get the federal money for so long. The grant program, which requires local governments to match one dollar for every four federal dollars, has been funding some of the task forces for more than two decades, he said. "It was set up to be a five-year program, then the program would become self-sustaining," he said. "These kind of cuts would have happened a few years ago except a couple of task forces voluntarily withdrew." - --- MAP posted-by: Elaine