TECHNOLOGY LINKS METRO DRUG-FIGHTING AGENCIES

LAKEWOOD -- Technology now links 12 metro-area drug enforcement agencies in
a communication network designed to unify incompatible radio systems.

The network, a nearly $300,000 program, sprang from a $22 million federal
appropriation to combat drug trafficking by providing better communications
links among law enforcement agencies.

Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., was instrumental in securing the
funding as part of the federal government's Counterdrug Technology
Assessment Center's Technology Transfer Program.

Campbell said he plans to extend the program to firefighting agencies
through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

In a demonstration of the system conducted Monday at Lakewood's Cultural
Center, members of law enforcement agencies used five incompatible
communications systems in a mock drug trafficking surveillance and arrest
operation.

The 30-minute simulation linked federal and metro-area agencies following a
simulated cocaine arrest after tracking the "suspects" with vehicles as
well as a small airplane provided by the U.S. Customs Service.

The network uses a Lakewood police communications tower and is operated by
Lakewood dispatchers.

The participating agencies are among 12 metro-area drug-fighting
organizations now using the technology.

The equipment, provided through the Office of National Drug Control Policy,
already has been used in a handful of drug cases in the Denver area.
Agencies throughout Colorado are expected to be linked to the system by summer.

The system can be used for other police and public safety purposes as well,
including coordination of school assaults such as the Columbine tragedy,
quelling disturbances and natural disasters incidents.

"When we appropriate the money . . . we don't put restrictions on how it's
used by different departments," Campbell said.