PORT ANGELES — There is push to cast a wider law net across Jefferson and Clallam counties by placing Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team satellite offices in Port Townsend, Forks and Sequim.
But with the loss of a federal grant and tight budgets across the region, the most pressing issue facing the team is keeping it afloat, said Port Angeles Police Chief Tom Riepe, who is chairman of the board that oversees the Narcotics Enforcement Team.
Despite losing about $160,000 from the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant and cuts in the Washington State Patrol, Riepe said the team will survive through next year.
The plan is to reduce an analyst position and a State Patrol detective to part-time and cover the budget gap with cash seized from busted drug dealers.
“In the meantime, we’re hanging together,” Riepe said.
But some of the other police agencies in the two counties would like to see satellite offices in their towns, and may be willing to give an officer to the task force if they were to get a piece of the seized drug money to offset the costs.
Long-term change
Sequim Police Chief Robert Spinks sees the short-term money woes as an opportunity for a long-term change in how the task force does business.
Spinks is pushing for the satellite offices and for splitting up the money taken from dealers.
“The reality is everybody is strapped for money,” he said.
“There has to be a revenue stream or partial incentive for the small departments that don’t have lots of staff.”
In addition to city police in the two counties, Spinks wants to see police agencies from the Makah, Quileute and Lower Elwha reservations involved, as well as the Clallam Bay Corrections Center.
