BUSH PROPOSALS COULD HANDCUFF LOCAL POLICE

A proposal by the Bush administration to cut several policing programs
could have a devastating impact on some Tri-State law enforcement agencies,
authorities say.

Without federal help, several local agencies say high-tech equipment would
not be purchased, drug task forces would be drastically reduced or
dismantled and some officers could lose their jobs.

These grants are a huge part of our department," Huntington Police Chief
Gordon Ramey II said. "It would be a major blow if we lost this money."

Two very popularJustice Department programs are now in the bull's-eye --
the Community Oriented Policing Services and the Byrne grant program. The
federal programs have put more than 110,000 new police officers on the
street, helped create dozens of crime labs and police task forces,
purchased computers and other modern crime-fighting equipment for
under-funded police departments and upgraded aging fleets of squad cars.
But the crime-fighting programs former President Clinton created were
threatened when Bush proposed dramatic cuts in the programs as he drew up
his first budget last year. Congress ignored the president and restored the
money.

This year, Bush's proposed cuts are deeper.

In Bush's proposal, the budget for the COPS and Byrne grants would be
slashed from about $3.5 billion to $2 billion. Another favorite in police
circles, local law enforcement block grants financed at $400 million last
year, would be eliminated and another $230 million in Justice Department
counterterrorism money that went to the states would be shifted to the
Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Bush has proposed creating a new $800 million Justice Assistant Grant
program instead.

In financially-strapped Huntington, law enforcement officials say they rely
heavily on federal grants that are on the chopping block.

Since 1996, the HPD has received more than $500,000 in local law
enforcement block grants to purchase computers, squad cars and
communication equipment, said administrative bureau Sgt. Hank Dial.

"It allows us to go above and beyond what we would normally be able to do,"
he said.

In addition, the HPD receives Byrne grant money for overtime pay for two
officers who are members of the Huntington Violent Crime and Drug Task
Force, a multi-agency squad consisting of the FBI, West Virginia State
Police, Cabell County Sheriff's and Barboursville Police departments.

The Cabell County Sheriff's Department receives $56,000 annually in Byrne
grants to cover two deputies' salaries. The federal dollars gave the county
leeway to move two other deputies to the task force, Chief Deputy Jim
Scheidler said.

"At least one of the officers whose salary is covered by the grants would
be out of a job, unless retirement or attrition makes room for them or the
Cabell County Commission fills the void," he said.

As for the task force, "It wouldn't go out of business, but manpower would
be reduced considerably," FBI Senior Agent Joe Cicarelli said.

"Most of the recent success we've had is due to more officers, and the
Byrne Grant is directly related to that," he said.

Reductions to the federal programs would result in much harsher
consequences for the Lawrence Drug Task Force, Lawrence County, Ohio,
Sheriff Tim Sexton said.

"The Byrne grant covers $54,000 of the task force's $72,000 annual budget,"
he said. "There isn't funding anywhere else to support it."

The sheriff also said Lawrence County has received a $375,000, three-year
COPS grant to pay for five deputies' salaries.

"This is something the public needs to get behind," Sexton said. "We're
like any jurisdiction. We all have our drug problems that need to be taken
care of."

West Virginia received $4 million in Byrne grant money last year to operate
14 drug task forces, five community crime prevention programs and four
treatment facilities, among other things, said Mike Cutlip, deputy director
for the state Division of Criminal Justice Services. The state was
allocated $128,000 less this year.

"We can only speculate that the cuts occurred as a result of more money
being allocated to fight terrorism," he said. "My personal crystal ball is
telling me that these programs are going to continue to suffer in the next
few years."

Sheriff Tommy Ferrell of Adams County, Miss., came to Washington in March
to testify at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing against the proposed
changes. He said the proposal to cut the state and local law enforcement
money runs counter to Bush's goal of giving local police the money they
need to fight terrorism.

"This is a time when the American people need continuity and coordination,
not the disruption of unnecessary reorganization," said Ferrell, who will
take over as National Sheriffs Association chief in June.

Attorney General John Ashcroft has given several reasons for the proposed
cutbacks in the grant programs, including the need to redirect federal
crime-fighting money to counterterrorism efforts.

Ashcroft also has said that the Justice Department doesn't need to help put
any more police officers on the street because COPS has already surpassed
Clinton's goal of putting 100,000 new officers on local beats.

Under grilling from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee in February,
Ashcroft said the program met its goal of showing local law enforcement the
benefit of having more police on the street -- but from now on, the Bush
administration wants localities to spend their own money to hire them.

Wayne County Sheriff Dave Pennington said that is just not possible. Last
month, the Wayne County Commission gave the sheriff money to hire eight
deputies, bringing the total to 23.

But in order to cover the large county full time, Pennington said he needs
two more deputies. He is in the process of applying for Byrne grant money
to cover those salaries.

"I seriously doubt the county is going to pay for two more deputies when
they just gave me eight," he said. "The well is dry."

Democrats have jumped on the proposed cuts to portray the GOP as soft on crime.

"Right now, towns and cities across the nation are stretched to the
breaking point, federal resources are focused more on homeland security and
terrorism, and the administration is virtually eliminating the very thing
credited for bringing down crime on the streets," said Sen. Joseph Biden,
D-Del.

Biden and 29 other Senate Democrats sent a letter to key members of the
Senate Appropriations Committee last month demanding a $1.15 billion
increase to the president's proposed COPS budget.

"Criminologists have recognized that COPS works," the letter said, citing a
study from the University of Nebraska.

Bush vowed to be tough about his budget priorities this year. But the
threat of losing support from law enforcement, traditionally a
Republican-leaning constituency, and the fact that the Senate is in
Democratic hands may save the grants again this year.

"We see our role as keeping the heat on the administration," said Jim
Pasco, chief lobbyist for the 300,000-member National Fraternal Order of Police.