SCRANTON - Law enforcement and public officials from Lackawanna and Luzerne counties met with U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and federal officials Thursday to discuss the need for federal aid in fighting drug and gang-related crime in Northeast Pennsylvania.
"I come before the people of Northeast Pennsylvania to talk about this report with a lot of humility," Casey said. "Each of these individuals fights these battles every day. They're in the trenches every day."
A recently released report by the National Drug Intelligence Center in Johnstown concluded that federal aid would be necessary to effectively combat the rising tide of drug and gang-related crime funneled into the area from neighboring states and different regions of Pennsylvania.
Casey asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to have the NDIC compile its report in January following the murder of Michael Jackson, a 24-year-old Yonkers, N.Y., man who came to the area to sell drugs.
In addition to Mayor Chris Doherty, Scranton Police Chief Dan Duffy, Lackawanna County District Attorney Andy Jarbola, Hazleton Mayor Joseph Yannuzzi, Bob Maguire, captain of intelligence and security threat groups at the Lackawanna County Prison and representatives from the Luzerne County district attorney's office and Hazleton Police Department were at the meeting.
Doherty, Casey and Jarbola all stressed the need for federal grant funding to be more proactive in combatting the type of crime the report analyzed, and they hope the report will aid in securing the necessary dollars.
"It's better to go to a federal agency with a current and comprehensive report" when pursuing grant funding, Casey said.
Heroin's growing popularity and availability in Northeast Pennsylvania stood out in the report as one of the most glaring issues facing law enforcement's efforts against drug and gang crime in the area, Casey said.
In 2007, the report found, only about 39 kilograms of heroin were seized in Northeast Pennsylvania, according to the report. But, by 2010, that number grew to over 263 kilograms.
"My job is to do everything I can ... to get more federal dollars," Casey said.
After a press conference in his Scranton office Thursday, Casey met with the officials to discuss uses for funding.
For Maguire, the area's gang expert, the most immediate need for local law enforcement is a comprehensive intelligence database to not only record individuals' gang affiliations, but, among other things, their aliases.
"(Law enforcement) may know somebody as 'Pee-wee' but we know them as John Smith" at the county prison, Maguire said.
The first tool local law enforcement will need, though, is money.
"It all comes down to dollars and cents. There's no two ways about it," Jarbola said.