SHERIFF WANTS OUT OF DRUG TASK FORCE

Ector County Sheriff Mark Donaldson wants his department to withdraw from
the West Texas Narcotics Task Force, but the task force commander and some
county commissioners disagree.

In budget meetings Tuesday, Donaldson said pulling out of the task force
would enable him to devote resources to Ector County drug problems instead
of spreading them over the wider West Texas area. "If we get the commitment
for the narcotics unit," Donaldson told commissioners, "the city (police
department) unit and county unit will work together." Yet if the sheriff's
department withdraws from the drug task force, it would effectively kill
the current multicounty force, the current commander of the task force said.

Ector County Commissioners had voted at their Aug. 8 meeting to hold off on
making a decision about a proposal by Donaldson to create a narcotics unit
in the sheriff's office and withdraw from the drug task force, until after
a decision about funding the drug task force was received from the
governor's office.

The fate of Donaldson's proposal to create a narcotics unit in the
sheriff's office dedicated to fighting drugs locally was tied to survival
of the drug task force.

"If Ector County pulled out as the grantee agency, there would no longer be
a task force," Lt. Sonia Garcia said.

Garcia said the whole focus of the regional task force is to provide drug
enforcement protection to every county where the task force operates. Ector
County Commissioners have indicated they plan to stay with the drug task
force, leaving funding from the governor's office as the only remaining hurdle.

The task force is funded through the governor's office, along with money
received from participating counties.

Funding from the governor's office was approved during the special
legislative session that ended Friday and was on the governor's desk for
his signature, according to Ector County Judge Jerry D. Caddel. The
percentage of funding was uncertain, but Caddel said for budgetary
purposes, a $200,000 annual expenditure to participate in the drug task
force is reasonable.

Commissioners are scheduled to reconvene a budget hearing on the Ector
County Sheriff's Office at 1:30 p.m. Monday. A hearing on the sheriff's
budget requests was recessed Tuesday.

In his request, Donaldson contended he could spend less money and be more
effective fighting drugs than the task force.

The task force originally was made up of 26 counties in the Permian Basin,
but that number has dwindled to only seven counties -- Howard, Glasscock,
Martin, Upton, Crane, Ward and Ector. Of those seven, only Howard and Ector
have law enforcement personnel assigned to the force. Caddel said in a
previous county commissioner meeting that Ector County is in effect
subsidizing law enforcement in outlying counties since Ector County
deputies assigned to the task force end up working narcotics cases in those
counties instead of concentrating their efforts on Ector County.

In Tuesday's budget hearing, Donaldson asked Ector County commissioners for
four investigators for his department plus one from the district attorney's
office to form a narcotics unit that would concentrate its drug enforcement
efforts on the county once commissioners pull out of the drug task force.

That unit, Donaldson said, would cost the county less than $200,000 a year
and provide better drug enforcement because officers would be concentrating
their efforts on only Ector County. He also said others in the task force
group offer little help on cases in Ector County. "I'm telling you that the
two guys working out of Big Spring, work out of Big Spring. They don't come
over here," Donaldson said. "Are you doing anything at all on drugs now?"
Ector County Precinct 2 Commissioner Greg Simmons asked.

"Our guys may work with the task force, but we don't do the investigation,"
the sheriff replied.

Caddel said a decision is expected from Austin soon. "They are going to
have to have the funding in place by Sept. 1," he said. Commissioners
obviously were leaning strongly toward remaining with the task force.

Precinct 3 Commissioner Barbara Graff and Precinct 4 Commissioner Bob
Bryant underscored their belief in the importance of staying in the task
force. Graff said she is hesitant to leave the task force because of its
wider reach fighting drugs in the Permian Basin.

Bryant agreed, adding he is committed to staying with the task force at
least until the cost is known.

Simmons said he, too, is leaning toward staying with the task force because
of the economics.

"I'm leaning toward staying in the task force because with the state
putting money into it, we get so much more bang for our bucks," he said.
The fourth Ector County commissioner, Freddie Gardner in Precinct 1, was
not present for the budget hearings because of a death in his family.
Garcia, the task force leader, noted that a comment by Graff that the task
force operates in the outlying area to counteract drug transactions before
they reach Ector County is essentially accurate. "Ector County is a hub for
drugs. We know that," Garcia said. She said the drugs arrive in Ector
County packaged, sorted and ready to sell. The work of the drug task force
is a balancing act, the commander noted. The drug task force works with the
Department of Public Safety, Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI,
sheriff's offices and local police agencies. "Everybody cooperates and the
goal is to minimize drugs overall," she said. With commissioners leaning
toward staying with West Texas Narcotics Enforcement Task Force, Donaldson
accepted what looks like the inevitable loss of his plan to create a
narcotics unit to concentrate on Ector County.

"They wanted to stick with the task force rather than the local unit,"
he said. "It was their decision."