FINANCIAL SHORTAGES MAY SNUFF OUT DRUG TASK FORCE

Local, State Funds Dwindling

SUMMIT COUNTY - Financial shortages could cause the Summit County
Drug Task Force to be terminated within a year.

"It's terribly disappointing. It's something that many of us have put
a lot of time and effort into," said Derek Woodman, Summit County
undersheriff and task force director. "It's just one of those
phenomenons that take place - cuts got to go somewhere."

The task force runs on about $200,000 per year, which comes mostly
from state and local governments. It functions as a "central,
concerted effort" for countywide drug enforcement, developing about
60 of its own cases per year.

The budget includes two full-time agents, a half-time administrative
person and expenses for equipment, undercover buy money and payments
for confidential information, Woodman said.

Lance Clem, spokesman for the Colorado Department of Public Safety,
said drug task forces no longer appear to be high enough a priority
for the advisory board distributing Justice Assistance Grants.

"It's likely funding for task forces throughout the state - for this
program, anyway - is going to disappear," Clem said. "So what you're
seeing in Summit County is indicative of what's going on through the
rest of the state."

He said priorities for the state grants include drug treatment for
inmates, prevention programs, drug courts and management information
systems for law enforcement agencies.

Locally, officials with both Breckenridge and Frisco have said the
grants the towns use to fund the task force appear to be drying up,
and the economic recession has further limited their options.

"When you do have limited funds, you have to ultimately make a
decision at the end of the day," Frisco town manager Michael Penny
said, adding that he'd prefer to preserve funding for "life safety
response" services such as SWAT team rather than the drug task force.

He said any decision regarding the funding will be made by Frisco Town Council.

Woodman said the Sheriff's Office, Dillon and Silverthorne appear to
be figuring the $30,000 allocations into their 2010 budgets. And the
state has already committed $75,000 for October.

"We anticipate we'll be out of money maybe in June. Beyond that, we
don't know. We certainly cannot fund it at the existing staffing
level with local contributions alone," he said.

Alternatives to the task force, such as having one person
coordinating drug-enforcement efforts, are being considered.

Clem said the funding Colorado receives from the federal government
for JAG grants was at one point nearly $7.5 million, but it has
dwindled over the past several years to about $4.7 million. It went
from funding 15 drug task forces across the state to three in the
most recent funding cycle.

In addition, two such task forces in metro-Denver have "essentially
gone out of business," and the same is expected in other parts of the state.

"I think that drug task forces have really shown an innovative way
for law enforcement agencies to work together," Clem said, adding
that they've led to success for other inter-jurisdictional efforts,
such as automobile theft.

Drugs in Summit County The local drug task force, which has been in
the county for about 11 years, focuses primarily on illegal
distribution of drugs and prescription drug fraud.

"Our goal is just to elevate quality of life for citizens of Summit
County," Woodman said. "I would hate to see what would happen were we
not there to have the impact we've had."

The Summit Daily recently compiled a map depicting drug seizures
across the county over the past year, including seizures by all local
law enforcement agencies, with information provided through the
Sheriff's Office.

"I would say the map, the way it is laid out, is pretty much
consistent with what has been the norm," Woodman said, referring to
the density of some areas over the past few years.

The vast majority of seizures were for small amounts of marijuana.

Robert Allen can be contacted at (970) 668-4628 or rallen@summitdaily.com.

Summit County Drug Seizures between July 1 2008 and July 1 2009

Interactive map included in article. CLICK:
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20090807/NEWS/908069991/1078&ParentProfile=1055