DRUG TASK FORCE FUNDING DWINDLING

HEROIN: Lake County may soon feel financial woes of Porter County unit.

The funding for the Lake County Drug Task Force is 12 times that of
the Porter County Drug Task Force, but those dollars are expected to
be gone by 2008.

Commander Zon Haralovich, who heads the Lake County group, said the
problems the task forces are addressing are different. Lake County's
biggest drug problems come from marijuana and cocaine, while Porter
County is seeing a deadly problem with heroin and other opiates.
Still, Haralovich said he is concerned about his counterpart in
Porter County, Robert Taylor, who is trying to tackle the problem
with scarce resources.

"I feel for the guy, because his hands are really tied," Haralovich said.

Compared to the Porter County Drug Task Force -- which has an annual
budget of just $44,000, has never applied for federal grant
assistance and has a staff of four -- Haralovich's six-officer staff
has a budget of $543,000, paid for almost exclusively by a grant from
the U.S. Department of Justice.

But those funds are being shifted to homeland security efforts at the
federal level, and Haralovich said he fears he'll soon be feeling
Taylor's funding pains.

As of Oct. 1, the task force's share will be reduced to $293,000. By
April 1, 2007, the funding will take another hit, down to $157,000.

By 2008, the federal funds are expected to be gone all together,
leaving the task force with just $10,000 from the county, which is
what they have now to use for drug buys.

The Lake County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area and the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration work on the larger busts, Haralovich
said, but when the money is gone for the street-level enforcement,
he's not sure what will happen.

Haralovich said some people wrongly think the drug problems in the
county don't affect them and don't support the need for more funding
for the various agencies.

"With the heroin guy, once they're high, they're a little passed out
laying there doing their thing, but eventually, the itch starts and
they get that craving, like a vampire, and they have to eat again," he said.

"Whatever they can get their hands on that has any value, they'll
trade it off to get their fix.

"That's when you get the smash-and-grabs, retail thefts, residential
thefts from people who are going to trade the items they get for
dope," Haralovich said.

"The violent crimes start coming in, too, just to get the money to
feed their habit.

"Who do you think it is knocking down Grandma at the grocery store
and stealing her purse or busting the windows out on your car at the
mall to get your change? Trust me, it hits home real quick when it
happens to you."