The Buchanan County Drug Strike Force’s leader is already expressing concerns on the potential impact of lost funding in the year ahead.

Capt. Mike Donaldson issued a press release to local media Friday afternoon stating that the U.S. Senate’s defeat of a law enforcement funding program could harm the Strike Force’s mission. Money from the Byrne/JAG (Justice Assistance Grant) program, Mr. Donaldson said, is the leading revenue source for local drug task forces and violent gang enforcement efforts.

“We’re definitely looking at a cut in personnel and reduction in operations” without the crucial funds, Mr. Donaldson later told the News-Press.

Whether or not personnel may be absorbed into the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department is unclear, say Mr. Donaldson and Sheriff Mike Strong.

“Everyone knows we’ll lose some people. I know some of the guys are looking (for other jobs),” Mr. Donaldson said.

Mr. Strong said he was aware of the forecasted funding shortfall and said measures are under study to address the problem. But it’s still unknown if the cuts will be passed on to local agencies. He declined to speak about possible personnel changes.

“We definitely have a plan,” he said. “It (the Strike Force) is very important to our community.”

The grant program supplies salaries and also drug “buy” money used in investigations, Mr. Strong noted.

The federal money is first released to the Missouri Department of Public Safety, which then distributes the funds to the state’s multi-jurisdictional drug task

forces.

The program already had been slashed from more than $900 million in fiscal year 2001 to $520 million six years later, according to Mr. Donaldson. In December, the program was cut by 67 percent to $166 million in an omnibus spending bill for fiscal 2008.

The Byrne/JAG program money was not included in a continuing resolution passed by Congress that extended the fiscal 2008 budget through March.

Mr. Donaldson predicted the first effects will reach the Strike Force in the summer of 2009.

“A small Drug Strike Force will make the illegal drug trade easier and more profitable,” he said in the release. “After 20 years of progress, we will be taking a huge step backward.”

The cuts could determine the fate of the Strike Force’s headquarters, he added, with the chance it may not last for more than two years. The building south of the headquarters, however, will not be affected.

“My thought is the Strike Force will still exist,” Mr. Donaldson said.

Ray Scherer can be reached

at rscherer@npgco.com.