Funds cut

to drug unit

April 1, 2005

KATE GOLDEN/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - The U.S. Department of Justice may have declared a war on drugs, but it's axing funding for the Valley troops this year.

On the block: the Mat-Su Narcotics Unit.

"That's one of those units that you don't just pull one of your officers," Wasilla Police Chief Don Savage said.

Two of the five positions are at stake. The Alaska State Troopers staff three positions in the unit, and Palmer and Wasilla each contribute one officer; currently, these are Dwayne Shelton and Chris Watches. The Palmer and Wasilla positions are funded 75 percent by federal Byrne Memorial grants and 25 percent by the cities themselves.

In July 2004, Alaska received about $2.2 million in Byrne grants. This year, it will get just over $900,000, according to Lt. Ed Harrington of the Alaska State Troopers.

"The Byrne grant has been the biggest supporter of drug investigation statewide. And we're looking at a 65 to 70 percent reduction in FY06," he said.

Nationwide, Byrne grants for the July 2005-June 2006 federal fiscal year will fund $174.5 million in community policing efforts. The Department of Justice plans to cut the entire program after June 2006.

Reduced force 'useless'

Palmer Police Officer Lance Ketterling spoke to the council March 22 on behalf of the drug unit.

In 2003, he said, the drug unit busted 10 methamphetamine labs. A year later, the number was in the forties. The increase in hard-drug cases doesn't leave much time for marijuana enforcement these days, he noted.

Police chiefs say the drug unit is useless with only three people.

Informants cannot be approached one on one safely, Palmer Police Chief George R. Boatright said. Surveillance, he said, requires more than three people. "You have to be able to alternate vehicles and officers, evade suspicion." And five people, he said, is the "absolute minimum" for an entry.

"That doesn't even include what you'd have on the perimeter," he said.

He also said criminals' increasing sophistication makes the job tougher.

"A lot of these people have been in the drug business as long as I've been in the law-enforcement business," he said.

Dennis Brodigan, Mat-Su Borough chief of emergency services, agreed that this is no time to lose the drug unit.

"If that's the end result for these cuts, it's going to have a pretty profound effect on the ability to mitigate these clandestine labs."

Byrne grants don't directly affect the borough, which doesn't provide law enforcement in the Valley. But as former Byrne recipients turn to other DOJ community-policing grants, competition will be stiffer for money the borough is counting on.

Filling the money hole

Harrington said the state is committed.

"We're going to maintain the unit out there as it currently exists," he said.

But he also said, "There's a lot of unanswered questions, because this caught us on short notice."

Of the seven drug units funded with Byrne grant money, three or four are currently slated to receive money; Mat-Su is not one of these.

The U.S. Senate recently approved DOJ Justice Assistance grants to ameliorate the Byrne cuts. Wasilla will receive $12,464.

Besides that, the city or the state will have to cover a $54,000 shortfall if the position is to continue. Byrne grants also covered 75 percent of the salary of Wasilla's child-abuse investigator, Ruthan Josten.

Savage said waiting was the frustrating part. "Until we find out what we need, it's very hard to even ask the question [to the council]."

Wasilla Mayor Dianne M. Keller said she's aggressively working the state angle, calling local and federal legislators for help.

"The governor sent a message that drug use is an important issue for him," she said. Without hearing otherwise, she said Wasilla will assume full funding for the position in its budget.

Palmer is not eligible for the Justice Assistance grant, because reported levels of criminal activity are lower. Somehow, the city must find $53,869 of the $71,825 total cost.

Its 2005 budget includes a vacancy for a new patrol officer in the police department, which currently employs 12 officers, two sergeants and Boatright.

Boatright has not yet filled the vacancy, because if the drug unit shrinks, Investigator Shelton will need a job.

He's hoping the state will pick up all or part of the cost. Otherwise, he'll ask Palmer to cover the position.

Palmer council members, realizing the city may not have enough money to cover both officers, were torn.

Not everyone would choose the drug unit first. Brad Hanson noted that Valley drug busts primarily happen outside Palmer. He said that he might, in a pinch, choose the patrol officer.

Boatright, however, said later that what happens in Wasilla affects Palmer. Dealers aren't bound by geographic boundaries. And the criminal activities such as forgeries, assaults and domestic abuse that come hand in hand with drug crimes force a larger perspective on law enforcement officers and the small communities that pay their salaries.

"Those (crimes) are crossing those magical little lines out there that define different communities," he said. "We can't just deal with it by looking within our own little town."

Palmer Mayor John Combs said, "They're both excellent things to be doing with the money."

But the mayor, who is a juvenile justice officer at Mat-Su Youth Court, added, "But I see firsthand every day what meth does, particularly to young people."

Palmer city manager Tom Healy will present an updated version of the law-enforcement budget to the council at its April 12 meeting.

Contact Kate Golden at 352-2284 or kate.golden@frontiersman.com.