Schumer: Just-Released Administration Budget Would Jeopardize Critical Resources, Support Upstate NY Uses To Combat Drug Trafficking

by Contributor | March 1, 2018 7:19 am

On a conference call with reporters, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer slammed a recent administration proposal that could jeopardize the future of HIDTA (High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area), the federal drug-fighting program Upstate New York law enforcement agencies depend on to confront the mounting opioid crisis.

Over the years, the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program has provided both millions of dollars and priceless direct federal support for Upstate New York’s intelligence-sharing and drug investigation initiatives. Schumer said the HIDTA program was created to promote efficiency across multiple law enforcement agencies, and that it works.

However, the administration’s recent budget proposal puts forth a plan that would essentially dismember the HIDTA office and move it from the Office of National Drug Control Policy, directly in the White House, to the Justice Department.

This would create needless bureaucracy and inefficiency that could translate into less effective anti-opioid policies that put lives at risk in Upstate New York, especially in the midst of the opioid war locals are conducting.

Schumer revealed this news and explained why this is bad for Upstate New York, and why local law enforcement from across New York agree we need to send a message to Washington to stop this plan.

“There is no question that Upstate New York needs the partnership and resources from the federal HIDTA initiative, and they need it working in its current form. The proposal in the administration’s budget to shuffle the deck and bury the HIDTA office within the bowels of the Department of Justice, outside the direct purview of the White House, would be akin to putting New York’s law enforcement on hold when they make a call to the feds for real-time help,” said Schumer. “My message to the feds when it comes to HIDTAs Upstate, especially in the midst of the opioid scourge, is: if it ain’t broke, please don’t ‘fix’ it.”

“Right now, the HIDTA funds Upstate localities receive are administered directly by the Office of National Drug Control – a direct extension of the White House. This allows law enforcement across the state to essentially circumvent DC bureaucracy in their efforts to choke off trafficking and combat the opioid war,” he continued. “Dismembering this office, for whatever the reason may be, will undermine Upstate New York law enforcement’s ability to push a coordinated enforcement strategy, and we just can’t let that happen. So, I am fighting to keep New York’s HIDTA unchanged and in place, as is. Its record of local success and support speaks for itself, and Upstate New York’s localities deserve the opportunity to continue having their voices heard.”

As it stands, the administration’s proposal to change New York’s HIDTA practices would begin by moving the oversight of the national $275 million dollar drug prevention program to the bowels of the Department of Justice, where many New York law enforcement officials fear their coordinated efforts to choke off drug trafficking, opioid usage, and dealing would be hampered.

The plan could also change the type of federal support Upstate communities receive because trafficking grants would no longer be decided by the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The federal dollars received by Upstate New York’s localities would instead totally bypass the White House’s National Drug Strategy and instead be subject to the decision making of an agency bureaucrat within the Department of Justice.

Under this new initiative, the program administrators may not even talk to local law enforcement.

Instead of the four corners of government coming together and combining federal, state, local law enforcement, and public health officials under one objective, this move would essentially silo our drug-fighting efforts and return us to the old way of agencies operating on different paths.

Schumer’s push to protect HIDTA is supported by numerous Upstate New York law enforcement officials.

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/news/oswego/schumer-just-released-administration-budget-would-jeopardize-critical-resources-support-upstate-ny-uses-to-combat-drug-trafficking/

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