LAW OFFICERS DISCUSS BORDER CRIME TRENDS

Earlier this year, when dangerous fugitives escaped from a prison in
Arizona and were spotted near East Glacier Park, Randy Martinez, who
works in the U.S. Marshal's Office in Missoula, called a friend who
works for Southern Alberta's Integrated Fugitive Apprehension Unit.

That phone call would not have been placed a decade ago. In fact,
federal law enforcement bureaucracy required communication only
through official channels.

Today, Martinez is one of several Canadian liaisons who is well-versed
in Canadian law.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, 180 law enforcement officers from Canada,
Montana, Wyoming, Washington and Idaho tried to further such efforts
when they met in Great Falls to learn about crime trends that cross
the border.

As much as they learned about outlaw motorcycle gangs, drug cartels,
tobacco smuggling and extremist groups from the planned speakers, the
officers gained just as much simply by trading business cards.

"We have learned that the vastness of the northern border is the
biggest problem we have," said Chuck Schoville, training coordinator
for the Rocky Mountain Information Network. "We only have so many
people and technology can only do so much. That's why it's so
important that everybody work together on every level."

The Rocky Mountain Information Network is one of six regional
intelligence centers across the country. The Rocky Mountain district
serves nearly 2,000 law enforcement agencies in Arizona, Colorado,
Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Alberta and
Saskatchewan.

While the group organizes an annual training conference focusing on
the U.S. border with Mexico, this is the first time it has held an
event to address issues related to the northern border with Canada.

Schoville said with the drug cartels and violence on the southern
border, it's easy to be complacent about the Canadian border.

However, Bud, a strain of marijuana is coming out of Vancouver,
British Columbia. Bud is considered at the high end of pot.
Consequently, much of it finds its way south into the United States.

"Anywhere that there's a demand for drugs, there's a supply,"
Schoville said. "The borders haven't slowed that down much."