NEW DRUG TASK FORCE FORMED

The Pittsburg County Sheriff's Department, the McAlester Police Department
and the district attorney's office for Pittsburg and Haskell counties are
once again forming a joint drug task force.

Currently, the sheriff's and police departments operate one drug task force
and the district attorney's office operates another.

The split came during the administration of Kalyn Free, the former district
attorney for Pittsburg and Haskell counties, when Pittsburg County Sheriff
Jerome "Snookie" Amaranto and McAlester Police Chief Dale Nave decided to
form their own task force, citing a lack of cooperation from the agency.

Jim Bob Miller, the current district attorney for Pittsburg and Haskell
counties, said the three law enforcement agencies in the new drug task
force are going to share an $87,000 federal Edward Byrne grant from the
state District Attorney's Council.

The drug task force has to provide matching funds of approximately $24,000,
according to Miller.

Miller said funding for the current District 18 District Attorney's Drug
Task Force is set to end on June 30.

He said his office doesn't plan to retain current Drug Task Force officers
Chris Troussel, Travis Read, Mickey Virden and Steve Fioretti as part of
the new task force.

"Those positions cease to exist," Miller said. They will only be part of
the new drug task force if the police or sheriff's department hires them,
he said.

Miller said the payroll for the current drug task force is $200,000, an
expenditure that his office won't have once the funding for the new drug
task force starts on July 1.

The new task force is to consist of officers assigned to the task force
from the Pittsburg County Sheriff's Department, the McAlester Police
Department and the Haskell County Sheriff's Department, and is expected to
include current district attorney's investigators.

Miller said he made the change and is reforming a cooperative drug task
force two reasons: "The first reason is financially the operation could not
continue because it's costing $200,000 a year." Miller said.

"Second is there was no cooperation between the law enforcement agencies."

Pittsburg County Sheriff's employees Trent Myers and Lois Lupardis prepared
the grant application, with assistance from Miller's office.

Other agencies who have agreed to cooperate with the new agency include the
Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous
Drugs, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the federal Drug
Enforcement Agency, the Krebs Police Department and the Stigler Police
Department.

Current Task Force Commander Chris Troussel said he had nothing to add
about the matter.