NARC TRAINING

One Academy Needed

A recent legislative audit committee report was highly critical of the
Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics for creating its own, separate
training academy for agents when the state already operates the Law
Enforcement Training Academy in Rankin County.

New MBN Director Don Strange says the training academy, created by his
predecessor, is needed because of security and specialized needs.

Narcotics agents do need specialized training. But there is no reason
why specialized training cannot be added to existing programs.

The Performance Evaluation Expenditure and Review Committee found that
the separate MBN academy at Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg costs the state
$70,058 more than the state academy. Three 50-day sessions cost
$220,808 compared to $150,750. The report recommended using the state
academy for general training and limiting the MBN academy to
specialized training.

That would be a logical approach.

Strange is doing an excellent job getting this essential law
enforcement agency back on track after mistakes by the past
administration. However, the PEER report is on target concerning use
of funds. Even a $70,000 difference in training costs can mean another
agent to get drug pushers off the street.

MBN should utilize the state training academy and pare back its
programs to specialized drug enforcement.