TASK FORCE PUT IN HANDS OF DPS

SEGUIN - A state takeover of the 24th and 25th Judicial District Narcotics
Task Force will remove control of the four-county drug fighting unit from
local authorities and place it in the hands of the Department of Public Safety.

Like task forces around the state, the 24th and 25th NTF was notified
recently that funding provided by the federal government and administered
through the Governor's Office now comes with a catch: relinquish
operational control of the task force to DPS or say farewell to federal
dollars.

A recent funding request from the task force was denied because of
"compliance issues" within the agency, a spokesman with the Governor's
Office said.

The local task force is one of about 45 currently operating in Texas.

While all task forces have always had state oversight regarding the
handling of evidence and filing reports, a new level of supervision is
coming to Seguin.

A DPS lieutenant will be assigned to command the task force, and all
current NTF officers and staff will be required to re-apply for their jobs,
said Gene Acuna, a spokesman with the Governor's Office said.

The task force agreed to a number of additional requirements, including
providing monthly service reports, operating on a cost reimbursement basis,
and managing its case backlog on a more timely basis, Acuna said.

Organized in 1992 and staffed with law officers working in Guadalupe,
Gonzales, Colorado and Lavaca counties, the regional task force received
$564,089 in funding from June 2002 to May 2003 from the Criminal Justice
Division of the Governor's Office. Local governments within the four-county
region contributed a total of $159,388 in matching funds.

The 24th and 25th NTF is headquartered in Seguin and partially staffed with
Seguin police officers and the Guadalupe County Sheriff's Office, while
agencies in participating counties help fill out the roster with their
personnel. State funding to the task force pays for equipment, facilities,
personnel, training and supplies.

It was announced in the midst of a state budget crisis earlier this year
that funding for task forces were being put on hold and might be
discontinued altogether. The Governor's Office later switched to the
current plan of tying operational control to the federal funding source.

Local and state authorities are studying the governor's new funding model
and how it will affect drug interdiction agencies across the state.

"We're still in the process of figuring how this process is going to work.
All task forces funded by the Governor's Office have to have DPS oversight.
There are a number of issues we have to look at," DPS spokeswoman Tela
Mange said.

For task forces that rely almost entirely on that funding stream, the new
plan is an offer they can't refuse, however unpopular the mandate might be.

"It just seems like a slap in the face. To us it's like saying we didn't
have the sense to run it," Lavaca County Sheriff Robert Wurm said.

Since helping establish the 24th and 25th NTF nearly 12 years ago, Wurm has
called upon the agency numerous times to gather intelligence and break drug
rings in Lavaca County, a relatively sparsely-populated area where
criminals tend to insulate themselves from undercover police efforts.

The 24th and 25th NTF has been able to infiltrate the drug trade on
numerous occasions, Wurm added.

"My men can't go out and do anything. All the dopers know who they are. It
keeps the dopers honest," Wurm said

Task forces remain at the front lines of the fight against drugs, employing
undercover agents and partnering with local governments and the DEA at
times to root out narcotics activity in rural communities and larger
cities. Whether turning over the day-to-day operations of an individual
task force or several would adversely impact their effectiveness is a
question for some.

"First they weren't going to fund the task forces, then they were going to
fund it with state control. I'm not real happy with that," Wurm said.

Having served as sheriff for 15 years and being the only remaining original
director on the 24th and 25th NTF, Wurm said he believed local control of
the task force has been a significant factor in the organization's success
since it was founded in 1992.

"I desperately need the task force, and I thought it was working pretty
good there when we had it," Wurm said.

It was unclear to what extent DPS will get involved in operating task
forces, and officials in Austin were not looking at a blanket approach that
would apply to each agency. NTFs that decline the funding deal with the
Governor's Office can continuing operating with their own monies, a DPS
officials said.

"They're more than welcome to do that. It's not outside the realm of
possibility a narcotics task force may say they don't want to play by those
rules," Mange said.

One local official agreed the state should reserve the right to maintain
some control over task forces operating with federal money.

"If I'm going to take your money, the least I can do is abide by the rules
and parameters you set," said Seguin Police Chief Luis Collazo, who
formerly worked as zone commander for the Jefferson County Narcotics Task
Force.