Kansas City, Clay County and Jackson
County Receive Over $ 1.4 Million in Byrne Formula Grants
KANSAS CITY, July 7, 2005—Gov. Matt Blunt is pleased to
announce the award of over $ 1.4 million in Byrne Formula Grants to
Kansas City, Jackson County and Clay County. The grant program funds
are administered by the Missouri Dept. of Public Safety and are made
possible through the U.S. Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance.
In June, Gov. Blunt signed the first-ever comprehensive meth
bill, which seeks to keep key ingredients to making the drug out of
the hands of meth-makers. Gov. Blunt continues his pledge to fight
Missouri's meth epidemic with the announcement of today grants.
“I commend the work of the Kansas City area anti-drug and crime
programs,” Blunt said. “I commend local county efforts to help stop
the spread of meth and other drug usage. These grant awards show that
groups effective in anti-drug and crime efforts will be supported
and rewarded by the Department of Public Safety and the Department
of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance.”
The City of Blue Springs will receive
$41,872.50 for their Criminal Justice Records Improvement Program,
Jackson County will receive $312,514.50 for the Jackson County Multi-jurisdictional
Task Force and $274,339 for the Drug Abatement Response Team (DART),
the Kansas City Police Department will receive $402,702 for the Kansas
City Multi-jurisdictional Task Force, and North Kansas City will receive
$406,549.50 for the Clay County Drug Task Force.
Anti-drug initiatives such as Drug Task Forces (DTFs) provide
trained law enforcement personnel who work in conjunction with Missouri
law enforcement agencies as well as state and federal agencies. Together
they investigate and assist in the prosecution of those who manufacture,
distribute and transport illegal narcotics in the Kansas City area.
In 2004, there were 2,788 methamphetamine laboratory incidents
across the state. The Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of
Drug and Crime Control alone cited 537 methamphetamine laboratory
incidents. Incidents include laboratory seizures and dump sites, or
places where empty containers of meth-making ingredients and tools
are found. Even with increased efforts to investigate and seize meth
labs, statistics for this
year are on track with 2004. From January
through April of 2005, there have been 1,322 meth lab incidents statewide,
200 of which were investigated by the Highway Patrol.
The Blue Springs Police Department (BSPD)
will be introducing a live scan fingerprint system to their booking
process with their grant award. The computer-based system cuts average
booking times in half and decreases the amount of paper-based equipment
error and human error. The live scan system will also link the BSPD
with the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Automated Fingerprint Identification
System (AFIS), allowing better identification of criminals.
The Jackson County Multi-jurisdictional Task Force is
a collaboration of 14 different agencies. The DTF works closely with
local legislators, the mayor, police chiefs and citizens within the
community to make an impact on illegal drugs in the area.
DART provides law enforcement officers that identify
and shut down drug house and street level narcotics operations. DART
members act on tips from Jackson County residents about illegal narcotics
activity in their municipality, and force drug producers to pass housing
and fire codes, many times immediately shutting down their operations.
The Kansas City Multi-jurisdictional Task Force attempts
to interrupt the flow of narcotics through the metropolitan area through
undercover surveillance of transportation modes in the area. The task
force arrests and prosecutes criminals with the help of the FBI.
The Clay County DTF uses undercover agents to investigate
and arrest drug producers and traffickers. The task force operates
24 hours a day, seven days a week and acts on tips from the Crime
Stoppers/TIPS hotline and task force informants.
The Byrne Formula grants require a 25
percent agency match for each award. Blue Springs will match $13,957.50,
Jackson County will match a total of $195,617.50, the KCPD will match
$134,234, and North Kansas City will match $135,516.50 to their award.
Missouri will administer a total of $9,501,569.13 in Byrne Formula
Grants to agencies for programs throughout the state.
The programs funded through the Criminal
Justice/Law Enforcement Program (CJLE) identify state and local initiatives,
which assist the state in the enforcement of drug control, or controlled
substance laws, initiatives which emphasize the prevention of control
of violent crime and serious offenders, and initiatives which improve
the effectiveness of the state and local criminal justice system.
For more information about CJLE or the
Edward Byrne Formula Grant funds in this area or around the state,
please contact The Missouri Department of Public Safety, Criminal
Justice/Law Enforcement Program at (573) 751-4905.