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States confirm anti-crime force By PETER WONG The State of Jefferson may be mythical, but police agencies want to let potential criminals know their enforcement authority on either side of the Oregon-California line is real. With attorneys general from both states taking part Thursday, more than 50 uniformed and undercover police officers gathered in Medford for a ceremony to enable them to enforce laws in both states. "We want to let the bad guys know they cannot escape your efforts by stepping across the border," Bill Lockyer, California's attorney general, said at the ceremony in the Jackson County Justice Building. "We know that criminal elements are aware of jurisdictional limitations and are capable of trying to turn them to their advantage," said Hardy Myers, Oregon's attorney general. "So the agreement we are continuing today is a step to fight back against the effects of those limitations." Rick Whitlock, an Oregon assistant attorney general, said the group inducted Thursday is the largest since he helped draft the original agreement with California six years ago. The agreement lets officers be cross-designated to enforce laws in both states, so they can pursue felons or handle life-threatening emergencies no matter where they are. "The reasons for it are as true today as they were in 1993," said Mark Huddleston, Jackson County district attorney, one of the few top officials remaining from the original proceedings. Participants in Thursday's ceremony were from the California Department of Justice, which has a bureau for narcotics enforcement; Oregon State Police, and sheriffs from Jackson, Josephine, Klamath and Lake counties. Curry County also is a party to the agreement. Lockyer acted on behalf of Siskiyou County. Whitlock said before they can obtain the legal designation to work across state lines, police officers must watch an 8-hour videotape to learn differences between Oregon and California laws, familiarize themselves with search procedures, and make agencies aware of their activities. Officers from one state must work under the supervision of an agency in the other state, and their authority is limited to border counties. Though the officers' authority extends to any crime in the border region, officials from both states say the biggest problem today is the manufacture and trafficking of illegal drugs. Lockyer said California officers last year seized 1,600 laboratories that made methamphetamine. "We are focused on narcotics trafficking so that we improve our ability to chase meth-lab manufacturing and distribution chains,'' he said. OSP Superintendent LeRon Howard said many of the cross-designated officers are undercover agents. "What the public does not see is the dedication of these men and women and their families, who are with them day and night in very difficult situations," he said. "I just wish people could see the misery that these officers see on a daily basis." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA