ALLIES AGAINST DRUGS SOUGHT

WEBB CITY, Mo. - The Webb City Police Department is pursuing
authorization to join an area drug task force, Chief Carl Francis
said. Francis has proposed that the department join the Jasper County
Drug Task Force, a partnership that has been in place since 1986 among
the Joplin and Carthage police departments, the Jasper County
Sheriff's Department, the Jasper County prosecutor's office, and the
Missouri State Highway Patrol. "Webb City officers would have access
to the tools that are necessary in narcotics," Francis said. "Webb
City has no officers as members of the drug task force, and we're not
participating in any narcotics investigations. Of course (drug crimes)
are happening within our city limits. It only makes sense that Webb
City would participate in those investigations." Francis said
membership would allow Webb City to benefit from money from the
Missouri Department of Public Safety and the U.S. High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Areas program. He said the HIDTA program affords $75,000 a
year to the task force.

Francis, who serves as treasurer of the task force dating to his days
with the Joplin Police Department, said funding could provide for
resources such as officers' overtime, the purchase of narcotics in an
undercover capacity and equipment to be used to fight drug
trafficking. The funding would far exceed the expected cost to Webb
City, he said.

To join the task force, Francis said, the department would have to pay
only a share of the match portion of Department of Public Safety
grants the task force receives. He said member agencies match 25
percent of grants awarded. Joplin now pays 50 percent of the match
portion, and Carthage and Jasper County each pays 25 percent. Francis
is proposing that if Webb City joins the task force, Joplin would pay
40 percent, and Carthage, Jasper County and Webb City would each pay
20 percent.

The amount would vary each year depending on the grant funding the
task force receives, Francis said. An estimate of the 20 percent cut
Webb City would have to pay on the 2007-08 Department of Public Safety
grant would be about $3,440.

The Police Department is seeking $2,100 from the Jasper County
law-enforcement sales tax to cover Webb City's prorated costs of the
match for this fiscal year, Francis said.

Jasper County Sheriff Archie Dunn, chairman of the task force's board
of directors, said the task force serves all communities in the county
regardless of membership. He said Webb City's participation would be
welcomed because of the financial assistance and additional personnel
the department could provide.

"We've wanted Webb City to come on board for quite some time, and they
just never have done it," Dunn said. "We'll welcome them with open
arms." Francis said initial participation in the task force can be
accomplished without hiring additional personnel. He said the
department likely will have to hire additional personnel in the
future, but it's too early to say whether new employees would be
assigned to duties with the task force. "Right now, I'm looking at the
possibility of taking a current person and assigning them to a partial
duty with the task force to basically learn the ropes and to
familiarize (the task force) with cases in the city limits," Francis
said. "Until we really know what the cases are within our city, we
really don't know what additional personnel will be needed."

The plan The City Council on Monday night adopted a resolution
authorizing the mayor to enroll the Webb City Police Department in the
Jasper County Drug Task Force. Police Chief Carl Francis said he will
present a plan for Webb City's involvement in the task force to its
board of directors Feb. 8.