DRUG TEAM DISBANDS IN NW MISSOURI

The Northwest Missouri Narcotics Enforcement Team will disband Friday.

Financial problems have plagued the task force since its inception in 1999,
Nodaway County Sheriff Ben Espey said.

"We've had trouble all along with agencies not paying their share," he
said. "It's too bad, but the little counties just don't have the budgets to
support this. And with Nodaway County holding the purse strings, we don't
want to go in the red."

When the city of Savannah voluntarily served as the team's pass- through
agent last year, it ended up absorbing $9,000 in debt because communities
didn't fulfill their agreements. And Atchison County lost money a year earlier.

Participating sheriff's and police departments were responsible for part of
the $32,000 needed to secure a grant from the state's Narcotics Control
Assistance Program. The money provided the salary for a program coordinator
and training for officers.

But Mr. Espey said the team approach to fighting the area's war on drugs
can continue to exist without funding and without a director.

"It's not a huge loss," he said. "We'll still coordinate with each other
and share officers, which was the biggest part of it anyway."

The regional narcotics unit, which originally included nine counties, now
consists of Atchison, Nodaway and Worth counties, and several communities
in between. And the force may grow to include partnerships from agencies
that were restricted from participating in the past by tight budgets.

"We don't want to give the appearance that we can't make this work," said
Derald Lammers, Savannah police chief and president of the NET board.
"There's definitely a drug problem here to justify it. It hasn't been a
failure at all."

In fact, the team made 62 arrests in the last six months and continues to
pursue 13 active investigations.

Atchison County Sheriff Dennis Martin said those figures could continue to
increase if information is shared between members of the Northwest Missouri
Peace Officers as well.

"It'll be a little difficult to operate without a central coordinator
handling things, because there's always a time issue," he said. "We just
need to back up and regroup if we want to keep this alive. I think the more
agencies involved, the better we can all be."

Mr. Espey said the avenue to centralize intelligence is a relief to busy
officials at involved agencies.

"None of us can do it alone," he said. "Crime doesn't stop at the county
lines so it's very, very important that we all keep the commitment that's
there now and working good."