DRUG TASK FORCE LOSES FEDERAL FUNDING

MAQUOKETA, Iowa -- The Bear Creek Narcotics Task Force will lose its
federal funding in June, but plans call for the organization to continue.

Federal funding paid for 75 percent of the wages and benefits for an
officer from the Maquoketa Police Department as well as another officer
from Cedar County. The task force also includes officers from Jackson and
Jones counties and towns of Bellevue, Preston, Sabula, Anamosa and Tipton.
Cedar County will also have to look at how to fund an officer if it wants
to continue in the task force. Jones County has been funding 11/2 positions
since the task force began 10 years ago.

The other counties and communities have been funding officers themselves
for the last few years. In Bellevue, the Bellevue Community Club and an
anonymous donor have supported it last year and will support the officer
wages for the next year.

Maquoketa Police Chief Brad Koranda said he asked the city's Personnel
Committee to consider using the money allocated for the city's requirement
for the COPS in the Schools Program for the task force. The city's
requirement for the Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, grant
ends in June.

"I'd like to see this program continue," Koranda said. "We probably would
keep it set up similar to what it is now. It works well sharing with the
other towns and counties. It would be a huge bite out of our workload if we
didn't have them."

Koranda pointed out the task force has been trained and has equipment to
clean up clandestine labs. A methamphetamine lab on Main Street took 12
hours to clean up last year.

Jackson County has seen an increase in methamphetamine lab seizures in the
last three years. Koranda said there were three labs in 2002, 11 in 2003
and 27 in 2004. Based on its population of about 20,000, Jackson County is
considered to have twice the state average for clandestine labs.

For example, Clinton County had seven labs last year in an area of
population just under 50,000; Dubuque County had 35, but it has 90,000
population. Jones County had 13 labs with about 20,000 population.

Koranda said he is looking at other grants to fund the position, but most
grants are for training and equipment and not personnel.

"What we need to do as a community is target it and stop the drugs,"
Koranda said.

City Manager Brian Wagner said the city is just beginning its budget for
next year. He said it will probably take $10,000 to $12,000 more in
property tax money to fund the task force position because it won't be an
even trade with the money budgeted for the COPS grant.

Wagner said no decisions have been made. Maquoketa City Council members
will look at the task force position during budget talks in the next month.