COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT GETS GRANT TO FIGHT METH

COLUMBUS, Kan. - The federal Department of Justice has awarded a $222,000
grant to the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department to help with its battle
against methamphetamine.

Sheriff Bob Creech said the grant, from the department's office of
Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, will allow his department to
purchase equipment it could not otherwise afford. He said the Justice
Department awarded the grants to police agencies in "meth hot spots."

The grant will fund the purchase of safety equipment, including wireless
microphones, respirators and night-vision binoculars. Creech said it will
also pay for brochures and other materials to promote public awareness.
Laptop computers and car video cameras are other purchases that the grant
will fund, he said.

No local matching funds are required.

"This is almost a quarter of a million dollars," Creech said. "It will
allows us to get equipment we really can use that we couldn't otherwise
afford."

Creech said he had not yet purchased any of the equipment for the department.