WASHINGTON D.C. - U.S. Congressman Dan Boren announced today the award of a $364,194 grant to the Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Department to aid in the fight against methamphetamine. The Methamphetamine Initiative grant, a part of the Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), will be used to help the sheriff’s department combat the manufacture, use, and distribution of meth, as well as to collaborate with other entities in the prevention and treatment of meth abuse. According to recent statistics compiled by the State of Oklahoma, the Sequoyah County Sheriff's Office recovered more methamphetamine labs than any other agency in the State of Oklahoma for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006.
“We must fight meth on all fronts, and use every tool available to us to do it,” Boren said. “Helping rural law enforcement fight this drug in our local communities means giving them the necessary resources to stay one step ahead of the drug makers and users. I have always made the fight against this drug a major priority by passing anti-meth legislation, and by continuing to work for grant funding for our local law enforcement. I will continue this fight, and I know they will, too.”
This is a targeted program that focuses on supporting communities with the most significant meth problems based on data from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s El Paso Intelligence Center, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Report, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Treatment Episode Data Set. Communities nominated by U.S. Attorneys and all federally recognized Native American tribes were also invited to apply for funding.
“On the front lines here in Sequoyah County, we see the terrible results this drug can have on both families and communities,” said Sequoyah County Sheriff J.W. Philpot. “We really appreciate Congressman Boren’s assistance in securing this funding on behalf of the citizens of Eastern Oklahoma and Sequoyah County. We look forward to working with him on future projects to assist us in the fight against meth.”
The Department of Justice Office of COPS announced $49.5 million in grants today to fight methamphetamine. Including these newly announced grants, COPS has awarded $355 million in the fight against methamphetamine. The COPS Office is a federal agency responsible for advancing community policing nationwide and supporting state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies. Since 1995, COPS has invested $12.4 billion to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring of more than 117,000 officers.
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