Operation Impact - 1st year


July 14, 2006 -

The Wayne County Narcotics Enforcement Team (WayneNET) has received $59,942 in State grant funding from the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services' "Operation IMPACT Tools Initiative" to continue their efforts to reduce drug trafficking and violent crimes in Wayne County. The money will be used to pay salaries and expenses for officers assigned to WayneNET to implement a strategy to substantially reduce drug crimes, as well as other violent crimes, within the eight municipalities represented by WayneNET. The Wayne County District Attorney's Office will also provide legal guidance and prosecution.

Operation IMPACT is New York State's comprehensive crime fighting program designed to achieve sustained, long-term crime reduction across the state. Established in 2004, Operation IMPACT supports the development of a local infrastructure to address crime problems collectively, proactively, and strategically at the local level. Local partnerships work together to determine how to maximize the deployment of available State and local resources. New York State Director of Criminal Justice Chauncey G. Parker said, " Created to achieve sustained, long term crime reduction across the State, Operation IMPACT is giving local law enforcement the tools they need to attack crime in specific communities through a concentrated, coordinated effort of multi-jurisdictional law enforcement services."

The Wayne County Narcotics Enforcement Team (Wayne-NET) is comprised of police officers from the Clyde, Lyons, Macedon, Newark, Palmyra, Sodus, Sodus Point and Wolcott Police Departments, and prosecutors from the Wayne County District Attorney's Office. Wayne-NET was formed in February of 2006 as a collaborative crime reduction effort under the direction of the Wayne County Association of Police Chiefs. Its primary mission is to combat drug trafficking in the member towns and villages, and to provide assistance to other narcotics enforcement units operating in the Wayne County area. WayneNET plans to partner with other Federal, State and County law enforcement agencies to conduct high-visibility "sweeps" in targeted high-crime areas throughout the respective jurisdictions, similar to the ongoing IMPACT effort in Rochester.