Alamosa, Monte Vista joint drug task force in the works
By Owen Woods | owen@alamosacitizen.com
THE San Luis Valley’s two largest cities and their police departments may come together to form a joint narcotics task force. During Wednesday’s Alamosa City Council meeting, the public will hear first details of a proposed intergovernmental agreement between the Alamosa Police Department and the Monte Vista Police Department.
The ordinance reads, “The City of Alamosa Police Department and the City of Monte Vista Police Department find that drug abuse and violent criminal activities have increased significantly within and between communities in recent years. The City of Monte Vista and the City of Alamosa are 17 miles apart, and in both communities, drug traffic, violent crime, and organized criminal gang activity have emerged.”
The priority of this cooperative effort is to investigate wholesale drug dealers, street-level dealers, anyone involved in the laboratory manufacture of drugs, and those who attempt to acquire pharmaceuticals in violation of Colorado law.
The general purpose of the agreement is to allow the two departments to share information and evidence. It will facilitate joint law enforcement efforts and allow them to pursue drug crimes as defined in federal, state, and local law and also any drug-related crimes.
According to the agreement, the seamless connection between the two cities, Highway 160 and Highway 285, “has provided a conduit for drug traffickers and criminal elements to utilize. The nature of drug law enforcement, violent crime, and the criminal enterprise associated with them does not adhere to jurisdictional boundaries.”
The two departments “face the difficulty of limited resources and ever-increasing demands for service, making organized drug enforcement difficult on a single-agency basis.”
The agreement, the police departments say, would make information sharing, gathering, and enforcement cooperation easier.
This agreement may be terminated by either agency at any time and for any reason, or no reason at all, by giving the other agency 30 days’ written notice of termination.
Any charges filed will be investigated by the 12th Judicial District Attorney’s office just as they would any other case.
The ordinance will have its first reading on Wednesday, March 15, and if it is approved, a public hearing will be held on April 5.
