Pubdate: Tue, 19 Dec 2006
Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Copyright: 2006 The Commercial Appeal
Contact:  http://www.commercialappeal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/95
Author: Wayne Risher

COUNTY RESCUES NARCOTICS TASK FORCE

DeSoto County officials bailed out an  endangered drug enforcement 
squad that roots out  dealers and traffickers in Hernando and rural areas.

The Board of Supervisors OK'd $150,386 Monday to offset  a loss of 
federal funds that threatened to shut down  the Metro Narcotics Task 
Force after Jan. 1. The  funding will keep the team going through 
Sept. 30,  2007.

The action came after Dist. Atty. John Champion and  Sheriff James 
Albert Riley made strong pitches for  county taxpayers to pick up a 
tab left unpaid by a  federal grant.

Champion said because of Interstate 55 and U.S. 78,  "We're a major 
corridor for drugs coming through this  county, in my opinion."

"You're beginning to see that our drug business has not  gone down; 
it's continuing to increase," Champion said.  "We're beginning to see 
more weight -- larger amounts  of narcotics being seized."

Riley said, "Our people are making good cases; they're  stopping a 
lot of drugs."

Riley bristled at what he said were suggestions that  his department 
was to blame. He and other officials  said it's a continuation of a 
trend in which federal  grants start programs and are gradually 
eliminated,  forcing more costs on local government.

"I sit over here and do the best I can," Riley said.  "I've done more 
than any other sheriff in the state of  Mississippi to fight drugs."

Champion and Riley pointed to breakups of 25-30  methamphetamine 
operations last year and busts that  netted hundreds of pounds of marijuana.

Champion said the task force will present about 50  cases to a grand 
jury that convenes in January. The  county grand jury met five times this year.

The county was notified shortly before the fiscal year  began Oct. 1 
that the state Department of Public Safety  didn't approve a federal 
grant to continue the task  force. Supervisors had previously 
approved $106,000 in  local matching funds.

The sheriff's department provides three officers for  the unit, and 
Hernando supplies the fourth.

Unit commander Charles Lanphere said forfeitures --  cash and 
proceeds from guns and vehicles seized from  drug dealers -- were 
keeping the unit going.

Champion said ideally, the unit should spend forfeiture  money on 
equipment of ever-increasing sophistication.  Pricey cameras and 
recording devices are needed to stay  ahead of drug dealers, Champion said.

The prosecutor said a state law giving sheriff's  departments 
authority to use radar would be a boon for  drug enforcement.

Local officials have sought such a law unsuccessfully  for years. 
Riley said lawmakers have opposed radar for  sheriffs for fear it 
could lead to revenue-producing  speed traps.

Supervisor Gene Thach lamented that Southaven and Horn  Lake pulled 
out of the task force years ago.

"Common sense would tell you they'd do a better job if  all were 
working together," he said.

Champion said city police departments cooperate well  with the metro 
unit when investigations cross  jurisdictional lines.

Supervisors designated a committee of board members  Thach and Bill 
Russell to meet with state officials in  Jackson about why the 
funding was cut. About half the  state's comparable task forces 
didn't get grants.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine