SHERIFF: TASK FORCE MAKES A DIFFERENCE

TRIBUNE - Greeley County Sheriff Brad Clark knows his limits.

With a shortage of county funding, there are things he can't accomplish
with a skeleton staff of two officers. But, thanks to a drug task force
that involves five counties in northwest Kansas, the war against drugs is
being waged in Greeley County.

Drug Task Force Coordinator Doug Murphy works out of the Colby Police
Department, but stays busy traveling from Tribune, Sharon Springs, Oakley,
Colby and Goodland following leads on possible drug crimes. In the past
three years participating in the task force, Clark said, drug traffickers
have been arrested in his county.

Murphy works with the sheriff and police in Thomas, Logan, Sherman, Wallace
and Greeley counties. The head of each agency - the five county sheriffs
and three police chiefs - sit on the board of the task force.

"My function is to bring this all together," Murphy said. "I coordinate the
drug investigations working closely with the KBI. Then I share the
information and resources. Alone, the counties wouldn't have the time or
the energy to do this."

Murphy said the work is possible through a four-year grant administered
through the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council in Gov. Kathleen
Sebelius' office and funded through the Bureau of Justice Administration.
The 2003-04 budget is about $77,000. Over the four-year period,
participating counties have had to pitch in financially to support the
program. The first year, local agencies contributed 25 percent, the second
year 30 percent, this year 50 percent and next year, they will need to
contribute 75 percent to stay in the program.

Greeley County Attorney Wade Dixon said he appreciates what the task force
is able to accomplish locally.

"This has been effective because of the geographic and configuration of the
county," Dixon said.

He said Greeley County contributes $4,000 to the program, $2,000 from the
city of Tribune and $2,000 from the county's diversion fund. But continuing
funding could be a problem.

"I don't think the money is there to fund that program," said Greeley
County Commissioner Marj Hornbaker, of the county paying for next year's
participation.

Next year will be the final year of the grant, and comments such as
Hornbaker's have Murphy concerned about whether funding will be available.

"It is going to be harder for the agencies to come up with 75 percent,"
Murphy said. "The additional money might not be there with county budget
cutbacks and the state holding on to the demand transfers. Then, there is
the normal increase of the cost of doing business. It might be hard to keep
it going with local funds."

Funding or not, the program has worked.

"When we began in 2001, two methamphetamine labs were busted by the KBI in
the five-county area," Murphy said. "By 2003, there have been 20-plus labs
busted."

At the state level, Murphy said, meth use has become an epidemic, with the
crime spreading over the state border from Missouri where he said the
problem is one of the worst in the nation.

"Prior to 2001, before the task force was formed, drug investigations were
left to the individual agencies. But, it's very time- and
resource-consuming," Murphy said. "They had to do that in addition to
everything else."

Murphy said that even in Greeley County, with the smallest population in
Kansas, there is drug trafficking and the problem of methamphetamine
production and use is increasing.

"There is always something going on," Murphy said.

Murphy traveled to Tribune Monday with Wallace County Sheriff Larry
Townsend. Townsend and Clark often work together. Their county lines are no
longer borders.

"After one or two uses of meth, a person becomes a lifetime addict,"
Townsend said. "Most of those cooking meth are in their 40s, and they're
selling it to our kids."