LAKE OFFICIALS HOPE TO SAVE DRUG WAR PROGRAM

CROWN POINT - Lake County Sheriff Rogelio "Roy" Dominguez said the
federal government is threatening to curtail -- if not close down --
its 11-year-old drug war program in Northwest Indiana.

The sheriff said Wednesday the Office of National Drug Control Policy
in Washington, D.C., has ordered the High Intensity Drug Trafficking
Area task force, or HIDTA, which conducts investigations of street
gangs and other organized drug dealers, to move from its county-owned
headquarters.

The federal office did not return phone calls from The Times
Wednesday inquiring about the reasoning behind the orders to vacate
the county-owned office space.

The HIDTA office is on two floors of the aging Westwind building, a
former county-run nursing home north of the Lake County Government
Complex. The sheriff sits on HIDTA's board of directors.

A possible new location has yet to be designated but would require
enough space to house the HIDTA staff on one floor and provide
adequate parking, the federal government has ordered. The relocation
cost is estimated at about $400,000.

The sheriff said HIDTA also plans to end its practice of paying 85
percent of the salaries of local police officers assigned to work
with federal HIDTA investigators as part of the program. Dominguez
said some communities facing state tax cutbacks are balking at the proposal.

A source close to HIDTA said Wednesday Lake County is the only HIDTA
in the country that still pays local officers.

The sheriff said he fears if local communities opt out of HIDTA, the
federal government will close its Northwest Indiana offices entirely.

U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., led the effort to have Lake County
designated the only single-county HIDTA in the country. He said
Wednesday he too is working to retain the program and predicts it
will remain in the area.

"Although the crime situation in Lake County has improved ... there
are still drugs on our streets and gangs in our communities, and we
still need the HIDTA," Visclosky said. "I do hope that all involved
can coalesce around the HIDTA's collaborative crime fighting mission
to resolve their current concerns."

The sheriff said HIDTA isn't likely to move its headquarters until
later this year and will continue paying local police officers until April.

Visclosky said his office will continue to provide HIDTA with $3
million annually "so that it can continue to keep our communities
safe. The money for the HIDTA is not going away and I will see to it
that the HIDTA continues to operate until our communities have been
fully rid of drugs and gangs."

HIDTA was formed in 1977 after drug-related violence from street
gangs pushed the homicide levels in Gary to record heights. Homicides
have decreased since HIDTA-led efforts resulted in convictions and
long prison sentences for street gang members. HIDTA has seized drugs
and firearms worth a combined street value of more than $245 million
over the years.