CRIT, County form partnership to fight drugs
August 26, 2009

New agreement centered around drug trafficking and other related offenses

The CRIT Tribal Council has unanimously approved an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA), between CRIT and the La Paz County Task Force to combat and investigate drug trafficking and related criminal racketeering offenses within La Paz County and the CRIT Reservation.

On July 15, at the quarterly Task Force meeting, Tribal Chairman Eldred Enas formally signed the IGA with Sam Vederman, La Paz County Attorney, in the accompaniment of various Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies from the States of Arizona and California.

The completion of the IGA concludes a two-year effort by both La Paz County Task Force and CRIT Law Enforcement Services that started in 2007, to primarily enhance both agencies efforts to combat the illegal drug epidemic prevalent locally, which was exacerbated by the complex jurisdictional issues. Criminals dont recognize jurisdictional boundaries and tend to seek areas and locations that are not so intrusive to their criminal activities.

The IGA will help to lift that curtain and afford law enforcement agencies the ability to continue their investigations without legal restrictions and hold offenders liable, whether it is in Federal, Tribal, or State Courts.

The signed IGA is only one component of the fight against illegal drugs. In December 2008, the CRIT Law Enforcement Services Office, was designated a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Agency (HIDTA) by the Arizona Region HIDTA Executive Committee, after a year-long effort initiated by Richard M. Armstrong, Chief of Police, at the approval of the Tribal Council.

This effort resulted in CRIT Law Enforcement Services not only having federal designation, but just as important, access to funding, overtime pay, training, equipment, technical assistance and technology resources essential to successfully prosecute cases.

The communities of CRIT, Parker, and La Paz County are thankful for the cooperation and commitment to public safety by La Paz County Sheriffs Office, Parker Police Department, Quartzsite Marshals Office, La Paz County Attorneys Office, CRIT Law Enforcement Services and the Tribal Council.