$4 MILLION TO COMBAT METH USE

Kern County will have more than 20 new crime-fighters leading the battle
against methamphetamine in the new year, thanks to a $4 million grant from
the governor's Office of Criminal Justice Planning.

The grant will be used to hire new staff at the Kern County Sheriff's
Department, Probation Department, District Attorney's Office, and police
departments in Bakersfield, Taft, Shafter and Delano. In all, the grant
should dedicate 22 people to the fight against the drug, including deputies,
police officers, a probation officer, a prosecutor and office staff.

Together they will make up the Kern County branch of the California
Multi-Jurisdictional Methamphetamine Task Force.

The local task force is expected to be up and running by January and will
work in conjunction with the local branch of the Central Valley High
Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas task force. The task force typically
focuses on the supply side of the drug problem, targeting large
manufacturers and distributors.

The new task force will instead focus on street-level enforcement, targeting
drug users and sellers, said Assistant Sheriff Mike Bradley. It will also go
after smaller methamphetamine labs set up inside homes.

"That's a significant piece that has been missing," Bradley explained. "Our
investigative focus has really been on the major organizations. But now we
can go after the user, the possessor and the dealers."

In the past, those duties have typically fallen on the shoulders of patrol
deputies and officers, who often do not have time to track down every
suspected drug den or dealer, Bradley said.

"We just haven't had the resources to make that a priority," he said. "This
will give us a tremendous boost."

To get the new task force up and running quickly, existing personnel will
likely be transferred to the team and replaced with new recruits, Bradley
said.

In addition to the new personnel, the grant also provides roughly $900,000
for a new Cessna 206 aircraft -- stocked with surveillance equipment -- that
both teams will share. It also provides money for drug awareness and
education programs and will pay for 21 new vehicles.

The grant will fund the new task force through next year. Ongoing funding is
expected to be available from the state for the next three to five years,
Bradley said.