Senator Lamar Alexander on Thursday said the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) is receiving more than $400,000 in federal funds to help locate and investigate methamphetamine users and laboratories in Tennessee.
“I am pleased that the Department of Justice will continue to assist Tennessee in the very difficult and often dangerous fight against the methamphetamine epidemic,” Sen. Alexander said. “This funding will provide crucial resources to the TBI and help support anti-meth task forces among law enforcement agencies throughout Tennessee. That will help ensure officers have the tools they need to find the people responsible for making and spreading this dangerous drug in their communities.”
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is awarding $446,802 to the TBI as a part of its COPS Anti-Methamphetamine Program that “will help law enforcement investigate illicit activities related to the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine,” according to the Justice Department.
As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Alexander has fought to continue funding the COPS Anti-Methamphetamine Program in the Fiscal Year 2016 Omnibus Appropriations Bill and the Fiscal Year 2017 Senate Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill over repeated attempts by the Obama Administration to eliminate funding for the program.