COOS VOTERS ASKED TO JOIN DRUG BATTLE

Crime doesn't pay, but neither, apparently, does crime fighting.

That's why the South Coast Interagency Narcotics Team will ask Coos County
voters in November to approve a one-of-a-kind tax measure to fund its
operations, which target big dealers in Coos, Curry and West Douglas counties.

Drug cops in Oregon have historically used the ill-gotten gains of drug
dealers -- seized during investigations -- to fund these long- term and
time-consuming undercover operations. But a statewide measure approved in
2000 limited police use of a drug dealer's assets.

Although several Oregon law enforcement agencies fund their general
operations through voter-approved levies, none ever has gone to voters
asking for a tax specifically to fight illegal drugs. Task force commanders
across the country said they've never heard of such a thing and are
intrigued by the idea.

The proposed tax sheds light on a simmering funding problem faced by drug
task forces around Oregon and further highlights the ongoing rancor in
state and local government about how to pay for essential services during
the sluggish economy and seemingly continual budget cuts.

John Griffith, a Coos County commis sioner, said current economic trends
have hit the region particularly hard given that it was already depressed.
The area relies on tourism to supplement an economy built mostly on timber
and agriculture, he said.

"It always goes back to community safety and how much people are willing to
pay for it," Griffith said. "Taxes are high now, so it's going to be a
tough sell."

The proposed tax, approved for the ballot by the county commission Tuesday,
would add 14 cents per $1,000 in assessed value. The average Coos County
home, valued at $87,000, would pay $12.18 a year, raising about $250,000 a
year for the drug squad. The squad will spend $319,000 during the current
fiscal year.

Griffith said methamphetamine is the "horror drug" in the area, much like
it is throughout the rural West. In the last several years, the county has
seen increases in drug-related property crimes and offenses associated with
violent crimes such as rape and murder, he said.

"The citizens are going to have to decide if they can afford to pay more to
maintain an anti-drug team that has proven its worth in the past," Griffith
said.

The South Coast Interagency Narcotics Team may have to cut back or shut
down as early as spring if voters don't approve the measure, said Sgt., Dan
Looney, a Coos County sheriff's deputy and the team's coordinator.

Police around the state say they are struggling to pay for the more than
two dozen multiagency investigative teams that target methamphetamine
manufacturers, midlevel drug dealers and large-scale, multidrug importers,
including the highly effective Mexican drug cartels that have reshaped the
nation's illegal drug trade.

In narcotics enforcement, people are needed with expertise to write search
warrants and investigate complicated cases that can last up two years or
longer, Looney said. Patrol and detective staffs are usually not capable of
these efforts because they're focused on many other things at once, he said.

Task forces, whose members often include the Oregon State Police, the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration or the FBI, allow small local agencies to
pool their resources and go after bigger problems. Team surveillance and
undercover work take many bodies, said Larry Welty, who heads the Oregon
State Police Drug Enforcement Section.

"The only way we can do this is to work together in task forces, because no
one agency can supply the number of people that it takes," he said. "You've
got to buy drugs to make arrests and you need a lot of cash. You've got to
work the upper level guys to be effective, and they aren't out selling
quarter grams."

Until 2000, money wasn't a problem.

The 1989 civil asset forfeiture law allowed police to spend the cash and
sell cars, boats, houses and other property seized from drug dealers. The
money paid for overtime, specialized equipment and safety gear used in
cleaning up methamphetamine labs.

But in 2000, voters approved Measure 3, which limited the police take. The
measure struck a blow for constitutional rights by requiring a criminal
conviction before the money and property could be spent by the government.
But it redirected much of the money to drug treatment programs. The
Legislature approved a fix that took effect in January, giving 40 percent
of the seizure money to police, but they must share it with prosecutors who
see oversee the legal proceedings through the court system.

The result for drug cops, Welty said, is that police drug units are
receiving a fraction of the money they were getting before.

"When they were getting 100 percent of the money, they were just managing
to keep their heads above water," Welty said.

Oregon is not alone. Federal drug-fighting grants are tightening as well.
Task forces across the country are facing similar issues.

"There's a lot of states out there where asset forfeiture money is being
put into general funds and taken out of the hands of law enforcement," said
Dick Sloan, executive director of the National Narcotic Officers'
Associations' Coalition.

As local governments continue to reduce budgets because of the shrinking
economy, police around Oregon are finding themselves hard pressed to fund
these expensive efforts. Portland's Regional Organized Crime Narcotics
Agency, the state's largest task force, is not immune. Agency managers said
they will be discussing the issue in coming months and will be looking at
ways to pay for the operation after next summer.

"We'll be operating at full speed until June 2003," said Michael Schrunk,
Multnomah County district attorney. "The grants have slowly stopped and the
forfeiture provision took our main stream of funding. We can operate at
full strength for this year and then we're going to have to make some tough
management decisions."

Task force proponents argue that shutting these groups down will increase
drug availability and use and result in greater social problems.

"If you don't put your finger in the dike, you're going to have a flood and
that flood is going to destroy this country," Welty said.