Leahy Announces $2 M.
To Reduce Local Drug Supply 
And Combat Drug-Related Crimes

WASHINGTON (Monday, May 24) – U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced Monday that Vermont will receive $2 million in federal grant money this year to fund several anti-crime initiatives with special emphasis on fighting drugs and drug-related crimes.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Formula Grant Program helps state and local governments address the law enforcement needs in their own communities.  In recent years, Vermont has experienced a rise in drug use -- particularly heroin -- and drug-related crimes.  Leahy said a large share of this grant funding will be targeted to investigating and prosecuting major drug dealers as well as fostering multi-state operations to support national efforts to reduce drug crimes.  The grant funds are administered in Vermont by the state’s Department of Public Safety.

“To tackle Vermont’s drug problem we must focus our energies on prevention and treatment as well as bolstering resources for our law enforcement officers fighting this fight every day,” said Leahy, a former Vermont prosecutor and now the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees the Justice Department.  He is also a senior member of the Appropriations Committee panel that handles the Senate’s work in writing the department’s annual budget.  “These Byrne grants are a key to our anti-drug efforts."

Combating heroin and other illegal substance abuse in Vermont has been a top priority for Leahy, who said the Byrne grants make a difference in fighting crime on the local level.  He has organized town hall meetings in Rutland and Burlington on heroin issues and secured federal funds for Vermont’s Drug Task Force.

Leahy has led fights on behalf of state and local law enforcement agencies for federal budget help in the war on crime, authoring programs to provide bulletproof vests to police officers, ensure first responders have the necessary training and equipment, and establishing a program to help local and state police agencies combat computer crime.  In the past three years, Leahy and others have successfully staved off repeated attempts by the Bush Administration to reduce funding to the Byrne grant program as well as other important law enforcement initiatives such as the Community-Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program.

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