MUSTANG Drug Task Force funds decreased

The MUSTANG Drug Task Force received its money from the federal government for the year, but it is dramatically less than previous years. Now task force members say they won’t be able to do everything they have done in the past.

The money the task force gets usually goes toward funding its members, office space, or equipment. That funding has reduced over the past few years.

Cole County Sheriff Greg White tells ABC 17 News the task force members have to be able to determine if someone on the streets will sell drugs to anybody. That includes having the undercover officers buy drugs from them. The funds they got this year don’t go towards buying drugs anymore. That could hinder the ability to get a stronger case against a suspect in court.

“With the federal money not having buy money, we lost overtime last year, so there’s a greater burden being picked up locally than we had in the past,” White said.

White said Gov. Jay Nixon’s office has been trying to get more state money for the task forces. But until that happens, the task force is hoping the funds they have can get them through the year. If not, they’ll have to fix their own budgets to include what they don’t get from funds.

Most of the task forces around the state are having the same problem as the task force, which covers Cole, Boone, and Callaway counties.