THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 9, 1994 TAG: 9407090234
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
A decision by the Governor's Crime Commission to invest in educational programs designed to prevent drug abuse has killed some regional drug task forces in North Carolina.
Late last week, at least 11 successful drug task forces had to fold for lack of funding. Most of the task forces were formed in 1992 with two-year grants from the commission, which distributes federal funds.
Some of the task forces were very effective, making hundreds of arrests and boasting high conviction rates in areas where local law officers had neither the money nor manpower to devote to drug enforcement.
One task force in eastern North Carolina covered Washington, Chowan and Tyrrell counties and the towns of Plymouth and Edenton. Greg Hassell, the commander of the Albemarle Narcotics Task Force, left his job with the Plymouth police department two years ago to work with the task force.
Last year, Hassell's seven-member team arrested about 300 drug traffickers and convicted almost all of them. They have charges pending from New York to Florida.
Under terms of the grants, town and county governments provided 25 percent of the money for task forces. The Albermarle budget was $250,000 a year - and local officials say they can't pay for the program themselves.
Hassell predicts that drugs will move right back in as soon as the task force moves out.
``Drug dealers know it's folding too, which isn't going to make our job easier,'' Edenton police Chief Harvey Williams said.
The Crime Commission's new acting executive director, William Dudley, said grant recipients knew what was coming.
Recipients were told that their grants were limited, and were asked how they planned to raise money when their two years were up, Dudley said.
He also said the commission is prohibited from funding a program for more than two consecutive years.
Although the rule was loosely enforced in the past, Dudley said he agrees that new and innovative programs would be overlooked if established programs were refinanced year after year. The new list of grantees hasn't been released.
``What we give is seed money so that good programs get a chance to start,'' Dudley said. ``We do nothing to discourage successful programs, but there is an administrative rule and I'm doing my best to follow it as closely as I can.''
Dudley said the commission spends about $9 million a year on about 60 crime programs, many of which received money for more than two years in the past.
``We're still gauging the impact of this policy,'' he said.
Former commission chairman Sis Kaplan said the group shifted its priorities while she was a member.
``We weren't winning the battles, and we thought it would be better to take money from law enforcement, which is the best-funded wing of the war on drugs,'' Kaplan said. ``Instead, we should put it into education and prevention, areas which receive the least local funding.''
The General Assembly appears to be the only hope left for some task forces that already have closed. A provision for $250,000 is in the House budget plan, about enough to keep one mid-sized task force going for one year. by CNB