The Durango Police Department is renewing its efforts to crack down on illegal marijuana grows with the help of state grant funding.
The department first created a team of officers focused on marijuana compliance in 2020, using money from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs. This year, the department will continue the program with a second grant for $9,264, accepted by Durango City Council during a meeting Tuesday.
“We have a lot of (marijuana) grows in the city,” said Cmdr. Ray Shupe with the Durango Police Department. “Officers are encountering them frequently on other calls for service.”
The grant, called the Gray and Black Market Marijuana Enforcement Grant, provides funding for the investigation and prosecution costs associated with unlicensed marijuana cultivation or distribution operations.
DOLA set aside $810,000 for marijuana enforcement grants this year using money that comes from taxes on statewide marijuana sales. Rural areas receive priority funding through the grant, including cities with fewer than 30,000 residents like Durango.
The 2021 funding will cover investigation and prosecution costs for marijuana enforcement, according to the DOLA award letter.
In 2020, the Durango Police Department received $78,857 in grant funding, according to DOLA records. In addition to providing officer training, the grant paid for communications equipment, such as hand-held radios, and entry equipment used by the Durango SWAT team. The team was paid overtime using grant money to do enforcement action on marijuana operations, Shupe said.
It’s difficult to generalize marijuana law because regulations differ based on details such as the types of licenses, intended use of the marijuana – such as recreational versus medical – and the growth stage of the plants, Shupe said.
“Our average officer on the street is just baffled with it. That’s why we did the training with the marijuana enforcement team from CBI,” he said, referring to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
A CBI marijuana enforcement team also helps the Durango Police Department with costly and time-consuming actions, such as surveillance, Shupe said.
“Basically, what we’re trying to do is gain compliance because a lot of people don’t understand the thresholds of the marijuana laws either,” he said.
In 2020, the Durango enforcement team attained compliance in five or six cases. Officers also checked on grows in about five additional cases where people were already in compliance, Shupe said.
Durango has had homicides and shootings related to the black market marijuana industry, including a 2016 attempted robbery in which a Fort Lewis College student was shot and later died, Shupe said.
“(The program) is really meant to impact public safety,” he said. “It’s a huge asset for us to have so we can utilize those funds to do what we need to do and hopefully prevent another homicide or shooting.”
smullane@durangoherald.com
