By Todd South
Chattanooga Times Free Press
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Leaders of local drug task forces say federal grants for fighting drugs are crucial to their teams’ survival.
Congress cut federal funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program for 2008 by 67 percent from the previous year.
“Whether we have funding or not, we have no choice but to fight (drugs),” said Tommy Farmer, director of the Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force.
Local groups, such as the judicial circuit drug task forces and the meth task force, rely heavily on the federal grant to pay the salaries of their officer, pay overtime and fund other drug-related police efforts.
All $3 million of Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force annual funding and more than 75 percent of the funding for the Tennessee 12th Judicial Drug Task Force come through the Byrne grant.
Losing the Byrne grant money would devastate the task force, said Roy Sain, director of the 12th Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force.
Mike Hall, director of the 10th Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force, said his team does not get any funding from the Byrne grant, relying on seized drug money. But he worries what would happen to other task forces his team works with if the funding disappeared.
“If the 12th loses it, then they’re done. If the 9th loses it, then they’re done,” Mr. Hall said.
He said if those neighboring task forces are forced to shut down, the drug activity would skyrocket and he’d see “bleed-over” into his territory.
The 10th drug task force is one of few that can operate on seizure and forfeiture money alone. But that wasn’t always so. “When I was hired, I was hired on Byrne grant money,” Mr. Hall said.
U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., said Monday he hopes Congress will provide funding for the Byrne funding at between $550 million and $580 million. That amount would put the funding higher than 2007 levels.
But a weak economy may have the final say.
President George W. Bush called for eliminating much of the program and worked with Senate Republicans to drop funding from $520 million in 2007 to $170 million in 2008.
“We’ve made a lot of progress,” Mr. Farmer said. “It would be bad to sit and watch those efforts and progress slip away from us.”
Copyright 2008 Chattanooga Times Free Press