AGENCIES SCRAMBLING FOR CASH TO FIGHT DRUG WAR

Federal Funds Were Cut 68%, And Officer Says Investigations In State
Will Be Affected

A sharp reduction in federal funding for the war on drugs threatens
to hamper the efforts of law enforcement agencies across Indiana,
police say. Indiana State Police Maj. Larry Turner, who oversees the
agency's drug enforcement effort, said Congress' decision last month
to cut 68 percent of funding to the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice
Assistance Grant Program will hurt drug investigations.

President Bush's signature on the legislation means $350 million less
for applicants nationwide this year.

Indiana received $5.4 million from the program in 2007 and will get
$1.8 million this year. Both figures are in sharp contrast to levels
at the beginning of the decade, when Indiana received at least $10
million a year. Turner, who also serves as president of the National
Alliance of State Drug Enforcement Agencies, said the grant money,
provided through the Department of Justice, is a vital tool in the
nation's war on drugs. "Projects and task forces funded with
Byrne/JAG funds have historically been the most effective," Turner
said in a memo this week to alliance members. "A spending reduction
of this magnitude will effectively cripple many local jurisdictions
and their task forces." Turner said he plans to go to Washington next
month to seek help from Indiana's congressional delegation to
persuade other legislators to find replacement dollars.

"This Byrne/JAG funding is a big issue in every state, not just in
Indiana," said Turner, whose detectives use grant money to conduct
investigations in counties where there is little or no money or
manpower for intensive drug enforcement.

Turner will find a sympathetic ear from Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., who
criticized the cuts.

"I am extremely disappointed after having worked so hard to overturn
President Bush's proposed reductions," the Fort Wayne congressman
said. "I understand we have a budget crunch, but the Byrne grants are
absolutely critical.

"I am shocked that the reduction was that severe, given the fact that
we have had a bipartisan effort to build it up."

In Indiana, the grant money is apportioned and distributed by Indiana
Criminal Justice Institute officials, who prepared for the worst this
year after witnessing years of faltering support at the federal
level. "This has been an issue for the last few years, with Congress
zeroing out or reducing these funds over time," said institute Chief
Deputy Director Jason Hutchens.

"There is going to be a lot of outcry on this because it's going to
start affecting local crime rates, without a doubt." Hutchens said he
held back $1.5 million from the 2007 distribution in anticipation of
the deeper cut that came this year.

With this year's allotment of just $1.8 million, he said, the
combined total for disbursement will be near the 2006 sum.

Meanwhile, he recommends that police and courts look for other
sources of funding to meet expected shortfalls.

In Marion County, representatives of drug-related court and
correctional services have already started to do that. Collectively,
these services get the largest share of Indiana's Byrne/JAG money.

Marion County court administrator Glenn Lawrence said the courts are
hoping the private sector will pitch in with replacement grants if
necessary. "We're searching every database we can to come up with
different not-for-profits that support these programs," he said. In
Carmel, where the Hamilton-Boone County Drug Task Force grant was
halved last year from the $66,000 it received in 2006, officials
didn't even apply for money for this year.

"It's been kind of decreasing over the years," said the task force
commander, Maj. Lee Goodman.

Goodman said his detectives used most of the dwindling grants as buy
money for undercover drug deals as the focus of federal concern --
and spending -- shifted to homeland security.