OREGON AGENCIES MUST COOPERATE ON DRUG FIGHT

Umatilla Sheriff John Trumbo Was Right To Put A Deputy Back On The Blue
Mountain Enforcement Narcotics Team.

Drugs, especially methamphetamine, are a persistent problem in our region -
and law enforcement should work together to keep it in check. The
multi-agency drug-fighting task force has been making some headway. In
2000, the team was recognized by the Western States Information Network as
the top drug task force in the Northwest. In Oregon, its 670 arrests that
year were second only to the task force in the state's most populous
Multnomah County.

Faced with budget problems and deputy turnover last year, Trumbo found his
patrol staff short-handed and withdrew his agency's narcotics team
representative.

Last month, Hermiston Police Chief Dan Coulombe, facing similar budget
difficulties, made the same decision. He believed he needed his narcotics
team officer, who was working out of Pendleton, back working within
Hermiston city limits.

The decision was controversial, particularly because so many - as much as
80 percent - of the narcotics team's drug cases originate in the Hermiston
area, said Mike Davis, an Oregon State Police investigator on the task
force. Davis said without Hermiston's participation, the team would have to
focus its energies on the other jurisdictions that do participate.

The narcotics team comprises the OSP, Morrow County Sheriff's Department,
the Pendleton and Milton-Freewater police departments and, now with
Trumbo's reconsideration, the Umatilla County Sheriff's Department.

With a flagging economy and cuts in state and federal budget allocations,
local law enforcement agencies are being squeezed along with other agencies
and departments.

That leaves law enforcement administrators such as Trumbo and Coulombe with
the tough job of doing more with less. And that challenge is exacerbated by
the growing prevalence of illicit methamphetamine production.

Trumbo has decided his agency needs to be part of the Blue Mountain
Enforcement Narcotics Team. So far, Hermiston officials appear to be
committed to their decision not to be.

Still, Hermiston police officials and the narcotics team members should be
innovative in finding ways to continue to collaborate toward the goal of
curbing the drug problem in Northeastern Oregon.

It's not likely to go away, especially without concerted and vigilant
attention from law enforcement.