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Carl Sturdy, who heads BINTF south in Oroville, looks over marijuana evidence taken during a...
CHICO -- With dozens of county drug enforcement agencies facing extinction due to state funding cuts, the Butte Interagency Narcotics Task Force has learned it will be among just 18 in California to continue to be supported by the Department of Justice.Officials with the agency have been scrambling over the last several months to come up with a plan that would continue the operation, begun in 1985, and were prepared to go it alone.
Mike Maloney, BINTF board president and Chico's police chief, said the recent decision now means Butte will retain one state-funded BINTF commander position, but at this point he doesn't know who that will be.
Carl Sturdy currently heads BINTF south in Oroville, and Jeff Smith commands the northern office in Chico. Maloney said one of them may remain as commander, or a new person could be appointed. "It may depend on who has seniority," Maloney said.
There are currently about 400 sworn state officers working with 55 drug agencies around the state, and Sturdy said he's been warned that up to 200 of them may lose their jobs.
The DOJ ordered the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement to cut $71 million from its budget over the next two years. While that will be a death knell for most agencies, Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said it means the state will continue to cover the rent and utilities at BINTF offices in Chico and Oroville until June 30, 2012. "That's huge for us," Ramsey said.
Maloney said BINTF hopes to have a
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modified operational plan in place by the first of next year, but said the need to find new locations for the north and south offices is not as urgent.Consolidating the two operations for financial reasons had been discussed, but may not be necessary now. "Losing BINTF south would be devastating to our area," said Oroville Police Chief Bill LaGrone.
With just one commander overseeing two offices, Maloney said a sergeant from his department and one from the Butte County Sheriff's Office will be assigned to handle day-to-day operations in the north and south offices, resulting in a net gain of one position.
Each law enforcement agency in the county currently assigns one officer to the BINTF team.
In the past, state funding has covered a portion of the pay for BINTF officers, and that may continue, at least for now.
There is no guarantee of state funding after June, Ramsey said. "That's another budget year."
Maloney credits BINTF's longevity and productivity with its selection as the only drug enforcement agency north of the Bay Area to continue getting state support.
Since 2009 alone, the task force has made 261 arrests, seized 53 weapons and destroyed drugs with a street value of $25.3 million.
In addition, BINTF pioneered a highly effective Drug Endangered Child program, which remains a model for similar programs throughout the U.S.
Maloney added it didn't hurt that Ramsey, a member of the BINTF board, has a sterling reputation with law enforcement at the state level.
On a historical note, it's generally acknowledged that methamphetamine got its start in Butte County, and flourished here.
"At one time, Butte and Imperial counties rivaled each other as the biggest producers of meth in the state," Maloney noted.