WHEREAS, federal programs designed to assist state and local law enforcement agencies have played a vital role in reducing the nation’s crime rate; and

WHEREAS, state and local law enforcement agencies are on the front lines in confronting the most powerful and sophisticated organized crime groups ever to challenge domestic law enforcement agencies, i.e. the international drug trafficking organizations; and

WHEREAS, the International Association of Chiefs of Police acknowledges that the Byrne Formula Grant Program was created by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988; and

WHEREAS, the International Association of Chiefs of Police recognizes that the Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Grant Program is a partnership among federal, state, and local governments to create safer communities; and

WHEREAS, the problems presented by the unprecedented flow of drugs into this country by these international criminal syndicates continues to be a threat in many areas of the United States, particularly mid-size and smaller cities and rural areas; and

WHEREAS, the 50 States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are eligible to apply for formula grant funds; and

WHEREAS, the International Association of Chiefs of Police supports efforts to improve the functioning of the criminal justice system with emphasis on violent crime and serious offenders and the enforcement of state and local laws similar to those in the Federal Controlled Substances Act; and

WHEREAS, the lack of Byrne Grants funding will severely affect the ability of state and local law enforcement to continue drug enforcement and demand reduction efforts; and

WHEREAS, state and local police are often the first responders to a terrorist attack. In that drug trafficking and terrorism oftentimes are connected, the terrorism prevention programs that are administered by the Department of Homeland Security should have a drug trafficking nexus. These new assistance programs should not be funded at the expense of the traditional law enforcement assistance programs. The International Association of Chiefs of Police believes that it is important to distinguish between the assistance funds that are provided to state and local law enforcement from programs administered by the Department of Homeland Security and those provided from the existing programs at the Department of Justice; and

WHEREAS, effective anti-crime programs are effective anti-terrorism programs; and

WHEREAS, evidence indicates that terrorist organizations which are funded in part by the sale of illegal drugs adds a new dimension to the need for continued investigation of narcotics-related crime; and

WHEREAS, the Byrne Grant Funding Program has proven itself an invaluable resource for cooperative federal, state and local anti-crime policing strategies, funding multi-jurisdictional drug task forces and DARE training, which are critical to state and local law enforcement responses to the drug threat; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the IACP strongly urges Congress to increase current funding levels for the Byrne Memorial Grant Program by fully appropriating amounts specified in Title XXI of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Homeland Security should increase funding to state and local law enforcement in support of investigations, which support the connection between drug trafficking and terrorism. These assistance programs are complementary and not duplicative.