Friday, March 7, 2008 10:09 PM CST
War on meth may suffer setback
Drug task force leaders worried about possible 67 percent cut in federal funding
By KARTIKAY MEHROTRA, JG/T-C Springfield Bureau
SPRINGFIELD — Every year, 20 Illinois drug task force units split about $2.8 million in federal grants to fund their fight against drug dealers and drug manufacturers statewide.
In 2006, those federal funds helped the drug enforcement officers — patrolling 69 of Illinois’ 102 counties — reduce the number of labs producing methamphetamine and increased the number of undercover marijuana and cocaine busts.
Those initiatives could come to a screeching halt for 12 of those 20 units in the next year if the Bush administration’s proposed 2009 budget is approved.
Their plans would cut the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant’s funding by 67 percent, forcing the Illinois’ 12 agencies sharing $2.8 million to just eight agencies splitting $900,000
“This is a president who’s so focused on this war and so focused on everything else that if it’s Iraq we’ve got the money, but if it’s for the U.S we don’t,” said Democrat U.S. Rep. Phil Hare of Moline. “I don’t know why he’s proposing these kinds of cuts.“
Local task force leaders are wondering the same thing, while they figure out how to run their units with a fraction of the resources.
Sergeant Mark Peyton leads the East Central Illinois Task Force in Coles, Moultrie, Shelby and Douglas counties. His agency will not only suffer operational cuts, but will have to release a pair of experienced officers to keep costs under budget.
“Our overall operating budget varies somewhere around $300,000; cutting $100,000 out of that is going to be rough,” said Peyton, who worries that the man-hours already spent on keeping streets safe could go to waste if lawmakers don’t realize the impact of the proposed budget. “I think everything that impacts us will ultimately impact the community. Those are the real losers, unfortunately.“
Hare has proposed legislation to add $490 million to the grant if the budget cuts are approved. Other sponsors include Republican U.S. Rep Tim Johnson of Urbana.
“We have the money, it’s a matter of if we have the will,” said Hare. “We’re going to hope that the president doesn’t veto this, but if he does, we have the votes to override him.“
There’s no doubt that the resources are working, according to Hare and the task force leaders.
Between 1997 and 2004, the Byrne grant never dipped below $3.8 million in Illinois funding, and reached as high as 6.5 million. It’s that money that would allow some of these agencies to keep afloat for at least a year if their funding is cut.
“But eventually, we would just run out of money,” said Master Sergeant John Biffany, leader of the Blackhawk Area Task Force, which serves counties east of the Quad-Cities as far as Ogle County. “I don’t understand what the logic is in cutting drug funding. In the area that we serve there really are no other dedicated drug units.“
Biffany and other task force leaders predict the impact of dissolving drug task forces will have an impact on the overall statewide crime rate, not just drug use in Illinois.
“The communities that we serve would deteriorate if there weren’t drug enforcement,” he said. “When law enforcement has a grasp on narcotics enforcement, all other crimes go down.“
To avoid losing the protection residents enjoy against cocaine sales and meth labs in their neighborhoods, area law enforcement officials are urging residents to contact their lawmakers, like Hare, to push the supplemental funding legislation.
“Without the support of the community and the legislature, this will prove to be very difficult,” Peyton said.
Kartikay Mehrotra may be reached at 789-0865 or Kartikay.Mehrotra@lee.net.
The following Illinois drug task forces could dissolve if President Bush’s budget proposal is adopted:
n Blackhawk Area Task Force: Jo Daviess, Carroll, Whiteside, Henry and Lee counties
- Central Illinois Enforcement Group – Mason, Logan, Sangamon, Morgan and Christian counties
- Southern Illinois Drug Task Force – Alexander, Massac, Hardin, Gallatin, Saline, Franklin, Hamilton, White, Wayne and Wabash counties
- Task Force Six – McLean and DeWitt counties
- Joliet Metropolitan Area Narcotics Squad
- North Central Task Force – McHenry, DeKalb and Kane counties
- State Line Area Task Force – Stevenson, Winnebago and Boone counties
- South Central Illinois Task Force – Greene, Macoupin and Montgomery counties
- Southeast Illinois Task Force — Marion, Cumberland and Clark counties
- West Central Illinois Task Force – Adams, Pike, Brown, Schuyler, Cass and Fulton counties
- LaSalle Task Force –LaSalle Putnam and Bureau counties
- DuPage Metropolitan Enforcement Group
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br549 wrote on Mar 8, 2008 11:00 AM:
Yes, the task force is needed, but it seems that the money is more important to them than the drug on the street. I can't believe what they make now !!!! A lot of citizens would stop this for nothing, just to make this a better and safer place to live. But nooooo here we have the drug Task Force whining about losing some of their drinking and partying money. I don't think they need they need their money for drugs...wonder why ???
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