East Helena Police To Donate To Drug Task Force, Child Advocate Group
 | Author:
Linda Kent, MT43News Correspondent
MT43 News Correspondent |
East Helena Police to Donate to Drug Task Force, Child Advocate Group
Linda Kent
MT43News Correspondent
East Helena Police Chief Mike Sanders received the City Council’s approval May 6 to donate $4,000 each to the Missouri River Drug Task Force (MRDTF) and Child Advocacy Center. He also indicated that he planned to add those donation as standing budget line items for future fiscal years.
Sanders explained that his department has been a part of the task force – which focuses solely on reducing drug trafficking in Gallatin, Broadwater, Lewis & Clark, Meagher and Jefferson counties – for seven years. During a recent meeting he learned that the group would be losing some federal funding this year.
The donation would help pay for travel, phones, informants and other things needed to prosecute drug trafficking cases, Sanders said. Currently, his department does not have anyone assigned to support MRDTF.
“Those bigger cases take a long time, a lot of work before you get some success,” Sanders said. “I think they had 10 felony arrests in the last quarter and 25 cases with multiple defendants.”
The Child Advocacy Center is a non-profit group that supports children and law enforcement departments pursuing child abuse cases. Sanders said. The center employs highly trained forensic interviewers to work with children to provide evidence as part of the prosecution of those cases.
“We don’t use them as much as other departments,” Sanders said. “But they’re worth their weight in gold.
Responding to a question from council member Wesley Feist, Sanders explained the funds would come from areas of his budget that would otherwise not be used during this fiscal year.
