The latest version of the California state budget being considered by legislators in Sacramento would reduce the number of state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement (BNE) agents to 100 and zero-out funding for 51 drug task forces funded by the agency. A decade ago, BNE fielded 400 agents. Cuts in recent years have reduced that number to 185 agents, and the latest budget proposals would slice that number nearly in half.
"We realize everyone's going to take cuts," said Mike Lloyd, head of the Association of Special Agents. "But to have already cut us by 215 agents and turn around and cut us again this year by another 70 agents, which is 50 percent of our general fund budget, that's huge. There's no agency in the state that's taking that kind of hit," he told the Redding Searchlight [16].
The association met with legislators last week to try to reverse the cuts. The narcs argued that in additional to handling statewide drug enforcement, BNE also funds the local drug task forces. If BNE funding dries up, those task forces will go the way of the dodo bird, the narcs warned.
BNE has the support of California Attorney General Jerry Brown. "What the task forces do and what BNE does is they bring expertise and resources to stop drug-trafficking organizations that go beyond city and county lines," said Brown spokesman Scott Gerber. "They're the only bureau in the state that does that. They play a critical role."
If the BNE funding cuts actually occur, drug law enforcement will devolve back to local police forces and sheriff's departments, which are also cutting back because of budgetary pressures. The end result is likely to be less drug law enforcement, for better or worse. [Ed: Mostly for better.]