Given Guilford County’s location as a meeting place for major highways, it’s no secret that a lot of illegal drugs pass through and enter into the county. The Guilford County Sheriff’s Department is one law enforcement agency fighting to prevent that from happening, and the agency has now been provided some additional outside funds for that purpose.

On Thursday, August 4, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, on behalf of the department, will vote to approve receipt of a “High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area” Grant, and the board is also that night expected to adopt a project ordinance for the use of the $173,000 and change.

The Sheriff’s Department was awarded the money recently to be used in the fight against illegal drugs – specifically, to be spent for “overtime, travel, technology (phone/data cards) and professional services (other law enforcement agency overtime and fringe benefits).”

The money can only be used for the sole purpose of reducing drug trafficking and production in Guilford County and across North Carolina.

The grant comes with a good number of tracking and reporting requirements for the department, which is meant to assure that it’s spent only on that intended purpose.

The grant will be used to support initiatives that are part of a broader strategy to reduce illegal drugs in the southeast – a strategy created by the Atlanta-Carolinas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Executive Board and approved by the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

If Guilford County fails to adhere to the grant’s requirements, it could lose the money and future funding for the same purpose.

The funding may also be jeopardized if the county’s efforts in this regard “no longer effectuates program goals or agency priorities.”

About