AGENCIES JOIN DRUG TASK FORCE

Alcoa, Maryville Police Return To Unit

The Alcoa and Maryville police departments are again directly
involved in the Fifth Judicial District Drug Task Force.

The two law enforcement agencies were part of the task force during
its first 10 years of operation but withdrew their personnel and
ceased other involvement in early 1999.

Now, city officers are again assigned to the task force, increasing
the manpower dedicated to drug enforcement.

The Fifth Judicial District Drug Task Force was formed in 1988 as a
joint operation involving the Blount County District Attorney
General's Office, Blount County Sheriff's Office, Alcoa Police
Department and Maryville Police Department. Fifty percent of the
operation was funded by the county and each city provided 25 percent.
Three county deputies were assigned to the unit and each city
assigned one officer.

In April 1999, the Alcoa and Maryville police chiefs at the time --
Wayne Chodak and Terry Nichols -- said they had decided it was in the
best interest of their respective departments to withdraw from the task force.

Among cited reasons for withdrawal were manpower and funding issues.

Sheriff James Berrong and Attorney General Mike Flynn became a
two-member board of directors and continued to operate the task
force. Using the proceeds from seizures and forfeitures, as well as
federal and state grants to supplement local funding, Berrong and
Task Force Director Ron Talbott have managed to gradually increase
the number of people on the task force staff in response to the
increasing number of drug crimes in the community.

With the addition of an investigator from each of the cities, the
task force now includes five investigators, an agent assigned to the
DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration), three investigation
supervisors, a full-time and a part-time clerk, and the director.

"The manufacture, distribution and use of drugs is a growing
problem," Berrong said. "The more officers available to investigate
these crimes, the more we find. If we had 20 investigators, they
would stay busy.

"Drugs of all kinds are a problem everywhere and we've been fortunate
the meth hasn't hit Blount County as hard as it has in some places. I
credit aggressive enforcement with keeping our numbers low. It
certainly exists here but we're in better shape than most
communities. We haven't yet had to deal with a lot of meth labs and
the violent crimes that are associated with the meth problem."

Berrong said he and the district attorney general will continue to
serve as the task force board and welcome the additional manpower the
cities are providing.

"We appreciate the interest and involvement by the police departments
and their chiefs, (Ken Burge in Alcoa and Tony Crisp in Maryville),"
Berrong said. "We're pleased to have them participating again."