Associated Press
CHICAGO (AP) - The FBI’s new focus on fighting terrorism has Illinois police agencies wondering what will happen to their war on drugs.
The FBI announced this week it plans to shift hundreds of agents to the fight against terrorism, mostly from drug and white-collar crime investigations.
While Chicago Mayor Richard Daley complained that drug dealers are terrorists and that the city would suffer if the FBI pulled its resources, Illinois police agencies argued it’s too early to know the effect.
“We’re the second-largest department in the country,” Chicago police spokesman David Bayless said. “We ask for their help to do drug cases, but we certainly have a significant amount of resources.”
Daley was more concerned. The city will suffer if the FBI removes agents without shifting money to the Drug Enforcement Administration or the Internal Revenue Service, he said.
“If they do that, then we’ve got a major problem,” Daley said. “We’ve got a major problem now, but it would grow.”
Bayless said the department would shift some resources to “fill those holes” if the FBI scaled back on drug-law enforcement. He said the two agencies have a good working relationship and that he expected to continue open communication regardless of how many agents the FBI moves.
“While their priorities have changed, ours have not,” he said. “We continue to go after gangs, guns and drugs, and we’ll continue to need their help in doing that.”
Smaller agencies with fewer officers might feel more of a pinch. The FBI provides critical support for “pulling in gang-bangers” in Peoria County, Sheriff Chuck Schofield said.
“I know they have big responsibilities, but I’d hate to have the relationship affected,” Schofield said.
Still, he said the police department could adjust and perhaps pull in more help from the Drug Enforcement Administration or other agencies.
“It’s not like we wouldn’t have anything if we were not working with them,” the sheriff said.
Rockford Police Chief Jeff Nielsen said he could envision a lower arrest ratio on the major drug cases the FBI works but that it might be a fair trade.
“While you wish they didn’t have to, you understand,” Nielsen said. “If a slightly lower arrest rate means they have a higher arrest rate in terrorism, that’s good.”