EVERETT — Deep cuts to federal grant programs could hamper efforts by Snohomish County police and firefighters to keep communities safe, a group of public safety officials said Thursday.
Police and fire chiefs from around the county met with U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., to talk about how they’ve used Homeland Security money, as well as other federal grants, to improve security and fire protection. Murray called for the roundtable discussion to hear from first-responders about how cuts to counterterrorism funding proposed by the Bush administration could affect public safety and emergency management in the county.
“Assistance by the federal government to Snohomish County is absolutely critical,” Murray said.
The president’s budget proposal would cut Homeland Security grants for states and cities from $3.4 billion in fiscal year 2007 to $1.4 billion in 2009.
The federal government has given $23 billion in antiterror grants to states and cities since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism attacks.
In Snohomish County, more than $10 million in federal homeland security money has been used to buy equipment and materials to help respond to a terrorist attack, but also could be used in medical emergencies, earthquakes, floods or even a volcanic eruption.
In the last four years, the Arlington Fire Department has received about $450,000 in federal fire assistance grants, Fire Chief Jim Rankin said. The money was used to upgrade the department’s radios to allow Arlington firefighters to communicate with other fire departments, which is especially important in case of a major disaster, he said.
Without the federal grants it is almost impossible for small cities to come up with the money to buy specialized equipment, Rankin said.
Additionally local police have used federal community-oriented police grants and Justice Assistance Grants to improve technology and fight high-level drug dealers.
Large-ticket items such as a specially-equipped boat and the sheriff’s office helicopters are being used in other counties as well, local leaders told Murray said. These grants aren’t helping just one city or one particular agency, local leaders said.
The Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force, which receives federal grants, fights drug trafficking around the county and state, Everett police Chief Jim Scharf said. Arresting and prosecuting high-end drug dealers reduces local drug houses that often are associated with property crimes.
Scharf also said he worries that a federal movement to create anti-gang task forces around the country could divert money from drug task forces. Drug detectives already are dealing with criminal organizations by targeting their drug activities, and efforts to fight gangs should be in concert with those efforts, Scharf said.
“It’s really important we have continued support for our drug task forces,” Scharf told Murray. “Your assistance is not just homeland security. It’s hometown security.”
In order to receive federal grants, the drug task force must focus on traffickers dealing in large quantities of drugs and substantial drug rings. The task force has seen a decrease in support from the federal government, Cmdr. Pat Slack said. Seven positions have been cut after federal agencies pulled their funding, he said.
Slack said he worries that deep cuts could affect drug courts, which he called “the light at the end of the tunnel,” for the community. The county’s drug courts rely on federal money to provide drug and alcohol treatment as an alternative to jail for nonviolent offenders.
“These programs actually work,” Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Michael Downes said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
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