HOUSTON SAYS CALL-UP HAS SHUT DOWN NARCOTICS UNIT

The Springfield Police Department's narcotics unit was disbanded recently
in order to plug a manpower shortage created by military call-ups, mayoral
candidate Mike Houston said Thursday night.

Houston said 13 city officers have been called up for reserve duty with the
National Guard, and he chastised the department for pulling officers off
its specialized narcotics unit to plug holes left by departing beat officers.

"Now when you start thinking about crime in this community, what is the one
thing that sort of penetrates throughout the entire community? It's
narcotics and drugs. And so when we had a manpower shortage, the first
thing they hit is the narcotics unit," Houston said.

"Those are not wise decisions. I think it's mismanagement. And I think
that you, in setting a budget, you set your priorities, and you make sure
you cover those priorities."

Sgt. Kevin Keen, public information officer for the police department,
could not be reached for comment Thursday night. Keen has said that police
departments had been asked not to reveal the exact number officers affected
by military call-ups. He also said personnel assigned to desk duty and
possibly K-9 officers might be moved to street patrol.

"We stand to lose an undisclosed number. Service to the community won't be
affected," Keen said.

"I think that when you're talking in terms of looking at specialized units
within the department, certainly that one has a major imact in terms of the
amount of crime that we have within the city," Houston said. "I don't
think that is a unit that I would have disbanded.