At its Monday meeting, the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to begin the 90-day process to withdraw from the Metro Narcotics Task Force.
The narcotics task force is staffed by four agents from Columbus Police Department, as well as four agents and a supervisor from the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office. Last week, Chief Joseph Daughtry withdrew his four agents, citing manpower needs at CPD.
Daughtry said the move was temporary, and in the interim he would be working with the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics for drug enforcement inside the city limits. However, he has not given any indication when his agents would be sent back to the task force.
The interlocal agreement that formed the task force requires a 90-day notice to dissolve the agreement, and the supervisors contend that the city should have given them that much notice before CPD pulled out its agents.
“We don’t have a problem with why (Daughtry) did it, but we are under an interlocal agreement that sets out what (notice) they were to provide,” said Trip Hairston, board of supervisors president.
District 3 Supervisor John Holliman said he thinks the city is planning on getting out altogether, based on the fact that it is partnering with MBN.
“It appears to me that they want completely out of it,” Holliman said.
District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks asked Hawkins what impact the missing officers had on the task force, and Hawkins said it was “significant.”
The task force had active cases involving those agents, and on the other hand it was not a simple matter to replace seasoned officers.
“If (Daughtry) decides to put agents back in the task force, they may not be the same agents,” Hawkins said. “That could be a problem because now we have to train the agents back up, and it could take six months to a year to get to where they can initiate cases on their own.”
District 1 Supervisor Harry Sanders suggested Hawkins just hire the city’s agents to work for the sheriff’s office, and then assign them to the task force.
“Why don’t you just hire those four guys and then just have your own deal and let the sheriff’s department be in charge of the whole county,” Sanders said. “… Or he might not want them and might want to hire somebody else. But the board of supervisors ought to amend his budget so he can hire four people to take the place of these (city agents).”
Brooks asked Hawkins what he wanted to do.
“I want a recommendation from the sheriff, and that’s how I’m going to vote,” Brooks said. “If he wants to stay and see what ‘temporary’ means, we’ll stay. If he wants to end it, I will vote (for that). I’m not trying to put you in the spot, but you’re the person in the catbird seat.”
Hawkins said he thought the city was moving on and the county should, too.
“At this point, (dissolving the agreement) would be the best decision to make,” Hawkins said.
Sanders moved, and Hairston seconded, giving the city the required 90-day notice that the county was dissolving the task force. The motion passed unanimously.
District 4 Supervisor Jeff Smith told Hawkins to come up with a plan to fully staff the unit.
“Put together a financial package to bring to this board to hire some people to replace those guys,” Smith said.
After the meeting, Hairston said the motion could be rescinded if the city tells the county definitively how long its agents will be gone.
“The risk you run by letting an entity not uphold their end of an agreement is that you are constantly riding a rollercoaster when it comes to personnel,” Hairston said. “If you invest in officers, you train them and then all of a sudden they get pulled back with little or no notice, then you’re doing it again and again and you have no consistency in the (task force).”
Brooks told The Dispatch Monday morning he hopes the situation will be resolved but noted that isn’t always possible.
“I would characterize this situation as a divorce,” he said. “Sometimes you may love somebody, but you can’t stay married. This may be a situation where (the city and the county) will continue to get along, but we can’t work together on this.”
Brooks said he didn’t agree with duplicating services, but sometimes it was unavoidable.
“I believe in working together, but when you’re duplicating services it costs money and other logistic issues,” he said. “But if they can’t get along, they just can’t get along. It’s no reflection on anybody. It’s just how life is.”
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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