NORMAN POLICE LAUD FEDERAL DRUG TASK FORCE

NORMAN -- Local authorities are excited about a federal drug task force's
assembling of three new squads to fight drug trafficking and tear down
methamphetamine labs. The North Texas High Intensity Drug Area task force
will form three new squads from Oklahoma agencies.

The squads will target drug problems in six counties, including Cleveland
County.

Norman police Lt. Tom Easley, who works with the police department's
special operations unit, said the task force asked to include a Norman
officer, but was turned down because the department cannot afford to give
up an officer.

However, Easley said he is eager to receive help in attacking Norman's drug
problems.

"I see nothing but positive effects," Easley said. "More drugs are always
getting through. We're barely able to scratch the surface.

"It wouldn't hurt my feelings at all if they came up here and took down a
(meth) lab or two."

Glen Turner, chief investigator for the county district attorney's office,
said he also welcomes the federal task force.

This summer, Turner and staff from the district attorney's office
(including McClain and Garvin counties) started a drug interdiction program
aimed at stopping drug trafficking along Interstate 35.

The program has helped the district attorney's office seize about $50,000
in drugs and $30,000 in property, Turner said.

The addition of a federal task force won't stop efforts on the local level,
Turner said, but will probably help them.

"I know we'd welcome it and could use the help," Turner said. "The problem
is horrible."

Turner said his office, like the Norman department, could not afford to
lose an investigator to the task force if it is approached. Budget cuts
already have made enforcement tough on the local level.

Besides Cleveland County, the new squads of the task force also will target
Oklahoma, Tulsa, Muskogee, Sequoyah and Comanche counties.

Those counties were chosen because they contained most of the 1,200 drug
labs confiscated and torn apart in 2001.

Funding for the additional drug task force squads will come from a $250,000
grant from the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The squads are
expected to be deployed before Christmas.