EL RENO POLICE GET FEDERAL GRANT

EL RENO -- The police department has received a $126,530 federal grant
to continue a county drug task force that provides a full-time
narcotics team to combat Canadian County drug problems. Police Chief
Fred Savage said he's happy the task force will be able to continue
because it is the only full-time group of law enforcement officers
dedicated to drug violations in the county.

Additionally, the force received about $20,000 more this year from the
grant to allow for another officer on the detective team. The officer
will come from Oklahoma County, which will help alleviate problems the
task force has when drug crimes cross between Oklahoma and Canadian
counties, Savage said.

"It will be a seamless process without having to deal with
jurisdictional problems," he said.

Savage said cities involved with the task force must make a 25 percent
match to the federal grant, or about $42,000.

He said the benefits for the detectives cover that required
match.

The task force has been in operation since 1998, the first year the
city received the grant, and employs four full-time officers and one
administrator. Police Lt. Theda Roberts said the majority of drugs the
team comes across is methamphetamine and marijuana.

"Our officers are able to commit 100 percent of their time to
narcotics, able to work more crimes, and able to put the people making
and distributing narcotics in jail," she said.

Roberts said the grant is especially helpful this year in light of the
recent city budget crunch.