When departments are struggling to make ends meet, sometimes things like the Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force get placed on the cutting board.

"If I had to cut personnel to maintain my street presence in the city, you know my officers in the city," said Youngstown Police Chief Jimmy Hughes. "Absolutely I'd have to look in that direction. We would have to go there."

That's why almost $200,000 in federal stimulus money is so essential to keep the task force staffed. It will allow both the Mahoning County sheriff and the Youngstown Police Department keep two people each on that task force.

"The sheriff's department, as you know, had already laid people off, and there was certainly a need there," said Lt. Robin Lees, head of the task force. "The Youngstown Police Department was facing layoffs. So in order to maintain their presence at the task force, that's who was awarded the money."
 
The task force has 24 member agencies. And having that big a pool of resources, it allows them to specialize in things that smaller departments would not be able to do on their own.

"The mission of the task force is to target mid- to upper-level drug traffickers," said Lees.

"The tactical or crisis response team is a S.W.A.T. team that covers Mahoning and Trumbull County," said Lees. "They are called out on an as-needed basis, usually for barricaded suspects, hostage situations or for high-risk warrants."

The money was awarded through Ohio's Office of Criminal Justice Services.