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DRUG TASK FORCE FACES FEDERAL AID CUT
Tuesday, June 7th, 2005 -- 3:22 pm
Posted by Riley Hebert-News Director
Drug investigators around the state are lobbying hard for Congress to reinstate the Byrne Grant. Nearly $180,000 of Byrne Grant money is used annually by the West Central Wisconsin Drug Task Force – which spans a 6-county region.
President Bush has proposed cutting Byrne Grant monies in half in 2006 and completely eliminating the grant in 2007. While local officials don’t claim the funding cuts would kill the Task Force, which has been active since 1988, they say it would hurt and would force local law enforcement agencies to turn to taxpayers to cover more of the cost.
"We have investigators that are assigned by different agencies for joint investigations within that territory," says Kirk Olson, drug investigator with the Task Force. "We share equipment, revenues and time."
The Task Force works cooperatively to fight the spread of drugs in the region.
"We're attempting to be as proactive as we can," Olson says of their work to prevent the spread of "meth".
Olson says the Task Force has been successful, but the increasing popularity of the drug makes this a critical time; the wrong time, Olson says, to cut funding for this relatively inexpensive program.
Eau Claire County Sheriff Ron Kraemer tells WCCN that the Byrne money has also been used to fund some DARE programs. He recently made a trip to Washington to lobby Wisconsin’s congressional delegation about the importance of the grant. A final decision on the Byrne Grant is expected sometime later this summer.
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