DRUG FIGHT AT RISK

Local police officials believe President Bush's proposed budget cuts
threaten their effectiveness in the ongoing battle against meth and other
drugs.

Police predict federal funding cuts will close half of the state's drug
task forces this year and say deeper cuts proposed for 2006 could
jeopardize public safety.

A federal grant that funds the Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force and 19
others in the state was cut to $5.9 million from $15 million this year.

At a holding site in the Clearview area, Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force
investigators search an impounded car. They found it filled with
meth-making tools and ingredients. Proposed cuts in federal funding could
force the task force and 19 others in the state to close within two years.
The budget proposed by the Bush administration last week eliminates the
grant in 2006.

The president also proposed deep cuts to community policing grants, which
provided $1.8 million to police departments in Snohomish County last year.

"The message it sends is that we're not a priority, that our primary
mission to investigate domestic violence, auto thefts, burglaries and all
those things are not a priority," Everett Police Chief Jim Scharf said.

The cuts were part of the president's effort to reduce a record $427
billion federal budget deficit.

Drug Fight Uncertain

Police say this year's cuts won't shut down the Snohomish Regional Drug
Task Force. The agency could be in jeopardy if Congress approves the budget
cuts for next year, officers say.

The 25-member task force seized more than $2 million in drugs last year and
is one of the largest in the state. The agency and other task forces are
funded in part by the Justice Assistance Grant.

Congress cut the grant by 40 percent in December. Lawmakers softened the
blow by budgeting $3.5 million for the state, which will be distributed
directly to police agencies based on size and crime rates.

The Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force received $270,000 from the justice
grant in 2004. The money paid for four police officers, a prosecutor and a
secretary.

Snohomish County and other larger task forces may be able to survive
without the federal grant money for one or two years, said Paul Perz, a
managing director of the Department of Community Trade and Economic
Development.

If the money is eliminated and not replaced, it's likely all the state's
task forces would be forced to shut down, he said.

"If you cut one program it would be a challenge, but we could get through
it. When you have a cut in all programs, it's like, 'Holy smoke, where do
we go from here?'" said Dave Rodriguez, director of the Northwest
High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, whose agency is also facing
deep cuts.

Even if Snohomish County's drug task force doesn't take a hit, closing down
other task forces will make fighting drugs harder for officers here, task
force commander Pat Slack said.

The proposed cuts would come just as the state is attempting to step up its
efforts to fight illegal drugs, especially methamphetamine, Rodriguez said.

"This isn't a problem you can leave for a while and come back and fight
when it suits you. This is a problem you need to meet every day," he said.

Grant Also Aids Victims And Youth

In Snohomish County, the grant also funds legal aid for domestic violence
victims, youth crime prevention and the state's only victim advocacy
organization.

"Funding victims services should be a priority," said Jenny Wieland,
executive director of Everett-based Families and Friends of Violent Crime
Victims.

Last year, Families and Friends received nearly $60,000, a quarter of the
nonprofit agency's budget.

Cuts To COPS

Federal money for Snohomish County police departments is also on the
chopping block.

Washington state received $80.5 million in Community Oriented Policing
Services, or COPS, grants in 2004. Of that, $1.8 million went to police and
other programs in Snohomish County.

COPS grants would drop to $22 million in 2006 from $449 million under the
budget proposed by the Bush administration.

The Stillaguamish Tribal police are already feeling the impact of previous
COPS cutbacks, Stillaguamish Police Chief Felix Moran said. His department
received $189,000 in 2004, which the tribe matched with $21,000 of its own
funds.

Federal money paid for the agency to hire and train two officers. It also
paid for three new patrol cars, uniforms, gas masks, training and other needs.

"Without this kind of money for startup, there wouldn't be any uniforms or
guns or patrol cars because we don't have the startup funds to do it," said
Moran, who's led a six-officer department for the past four years.

Tulalip Tribes Police Chief Jay Goss says police departments shouldn't
expect the federal government to provide COPS grant money or become
dependent on those dollars for ongoing needs.

"The government doesn't owe us anything," he said. "We operated police
departments in this country long before grants ever showed up on the scene.
It's nice to get new technology and equipment from grants. Believe me, I
have it now. But taxpayers can only take so much."

Changing Priorities

Police say much of the money is being redirected to homeland security and
the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Keeping the state safe from terrorists is a more pressing need for federal
money, Goss said.

"I'm thankful for the grants and what we were able to accomplish with
them," he said. "Just as I'll be thankful for the homeland security grants
if we prevent terrorists from attacking our families."

But lawmakers shouldn't have to choose between money for homeland security
or police, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash, said.

"By diverting those dollars it's just robbing Peter to pay Paul," he said.

He and other Washington state lawmakers were surprised President Bush
proposed cuts in money used to fight crime and drugs.

The proposed cuts for 2006 will likely face strong opposition in Congress,
Larsen said.

"I do think Congress will restore some of the money if not all of it, but
we're a long way from the finish line now," he said. "I can't find anybody
in Congress who wants to balance the budget on the backs of local law
enforcement."