ARK., ROGERS COPS TUSSLE OVER CRIME-FIGHTING GEAR

ROGERS, Ark. - The attorney general's office has asked state auditors
to help settle confusion over whether the Rogers police or the state
owns surveillance cameras, night-vision gear and other equipment used
to catch criminals.

State auditors are expected this week to do an inventory at the Rogers
Police Department of more than $100,000 worth of drug-fighting
equipment, Jim Pitcock, a spokesman for the attorney general's office,
said Tuesday.

The attorney general's office has threatened to sue Rogers for the
return of the equipment and asked the Arkansas Division of Legislative
Audit for the inventory.

"We're attempting to get an accounting of what equipment is there and
what condition it's in," Pitcock said.

The Rogers-based 19th Judicial District Drug Task Force purchased the
equipment before disbanding in 2001.

State Drug Director Bill Hardin said he's been asking Rogers Police
Chief Tim Keck to turn the gear over to the state for more than a
year. Hardin oversees distribution of grant money and operations for
the state's drug task forces.

Hardin said that according to federal regulations, once a task force
disbands, its equipment goes back to the state.

Keck said Rogers bought some of the equipment with city money. The
rest was paid for with city funds and U.S. Department of Justice
grants that funded the task force before it disbanded, he said.

Keck said he worries that losing the equipment will put Rogers police
at a disadvantage in fighting illegal drug operations, especially
methamphetamine operators.

Rogers City Atty. Ben Lipscomb has said that terms of the task force's
2000 grant don't definitively state who gets the equipment. Some of
the equipment has been upgraded with Rogers money, adding to the confusion.

The task force disbanded in March 2001 after Rogers police didn't
resubmit an annual grant application.