JEFFERSON - - A application to the U.S. Department of Justice for a $434,482 grant to set up an Ohio Methamphetamine Pilot Initiative training and assistance program in the county is one step closer to reality.
Ashtabula County commissioners gave their approval Tuesday to file the grant application, which was drawn up by Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann.
"We appreciate all the work the attorney general did for us in helping write the grant," said sheriff administrator Lt. Greg Leonhard. "We gave him the statistical information, equipment needed for our investigation work in tracking meth labs," Leonhard said.
Sheriff William Johnson said Dann personally delivered to Washington, D.C. the applications from Ashtabula, Clermont and Highland counties, plus the that of city of Akron, to get the funds. The grants are a collaborative effort law-enforcement agencies in those area to combat the growing problem of illegal meth drugs.
"Meth is the drug of trade now. It's easy to make, especially in rural areas like Ashtabula County. We've made a dent in breaking up labs, but we can't do away with all of them," Johnson said.
"Of the calls we get to investigate through a 24-hour period, seven days a week, drug abuse is in the 90 percentile. Methamphetamine has surpassed marijuana, cocaine and even alcohol as drug-related crime cases," the sheriff said.
The Ohio Methamphetamine Pilot Initiative (OMPI) includes training and assistance to law-enforcement agencies to which the funds are directed. Part of the funds is for developing community drug-prevention education programs; purchasing safety, surveillance, communications and computer equipment; paying overtime hours for officers investigating meth-lab leads or data; implementing ways to break up clandestine meth labs; plus acquiring safety supplies for drug-team investigators.
The Trumbull-Ashtabula-Geauga (TAG) law-enforcement task force will receive a portion of the grant funds if Ashtabula County's application is approved. Johnson said the department should know by early September whether the grant has been approved.
"We are seeing a lot of changes in what people are using for drugs today than in the 1990s," Johnson said. "People are trying to keep up with their addiction and ignore laws. They aren't thinking rationally, or even care. Since 2002, we have seen the rise in meth labs operating here in this county," he said.
The sheriff praised the efforts and work done by Leonhard and jail administrator Lt. Terry Moisio to get the pregrant information together. "We are doing our best since 1993 to remain grant-aggressive, to get the funds we need to protect the public and do our job," Johnson said.
The OMPI program will be linked with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, fire and EMS services, mental-health organizations, with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCII) providing material and logistical support to the lead agencies.
Leonhard said over the two-year grant period, the four law-enforcement agencies will be monitored initially for possible replication of the program by other law-enforcement agencies.
"We will be a model for other jurisdictions statewide and elsewhere," he said.
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