CITY AGREES TO HELP FUND DRUG TASK FORCE

The Central Alabama Drug Task Force covers Autauga, Elmore and Chilton
counties

The Prattville City Council agreed Tuesday to help fund a three-county drug
task force.

The city will kick in $8,500 to the Central Alabama Drug Task Force during
the next budget year. The task force works the 19th Judicial Circuit --
Autauga, Chilton and Elmore counties. Police Chief Alfred Wadsworth said the
unit "is a valuable resource." The task force was formed in 1989.

"The task force is a good source of extra manpower," Wadsworth said. "We
have been able to work together to make some big arrests. The task force
also helps law enforcement agencies from the different counties work
together. Crime doesn't stop at the county line or the city limits sign. We
have to work together."

There are eight participating members of the task force, each sheriff's
department, the district attorney's office and police departments in
Prattville, Wetumpka, Millbrook and Clanton. Each member was asked to pay
$8,500 during the upcoming year, said District Attorney Randall Houston.
That amount is down from this year's funding of about $12,500 per agency.

"We have made some very good cases this year, where property and cash were
seized," Houston said. Along with providing manpower, the task force also
helps different agencies share information, the prosecutor said.

"The better we work together, the better progress we can make," Houston
said. "The war on drugs is a war we can't win, but we must fight. It's too
easy now for our young people to get drugs. If we stopped our enforcement
efforts, we would be turning our communities over to the drug dealers."