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According to a recent article in USA Today by Kevin Johnson, some critics are saying the $77 million handed out to law enforcement agencies as part of the stimulus package was allocated by location as opposed to need. As the result of the wording of the COPS legislation that was part of the 1994 crime bill, Congress must distribute money to every state where police or sheriff departments apply for aid, regardless of how “urgent” their needs are. Now some of the nation’s largest police agencies are complaining that they got shortchanged despite more severe crime problems and economic troubles than many recipients in smaller communities with less crime.
In Houston, where increasing assaults nudged up violent crime slightly in 2008, Police Chief Harold Hurtt says the city was “overlooked.” The agency requested money for 260 officers but got nothing despite a Justice Department score of 90.4 in a complicated formula designed to allocate funds based on a variety of criteria.
That was well above many of the agencies that qualified because they were the only applicants in their state, including Boise, which scored 58.5; Cheyenne, Wyo., 46.8; Honolulu, 81.3; and Omaha, 84.7. In short, the agencies that didn’t get help feel slighted and the some that did receive aid are on the defensive.
But others are refreshingly honest about the haphazard way the funds were doled out. “It’s hard for me to say that Boise deserved or had a greater need than some of our competitors,” Boise Deputy Police Chief Pat Braddock told USA Today’s Johnson. Boise received $2 million to hire nine officers, even though it had not had to lay off anyone and had seen crime decline for three years.
Even the NYPD, which had sought funding for 2,000 officers, got nothing. NYPD spokesman Paul Browne says the rejection was a failure to recognize a near-constant threat of terrorism. The Justice Department said the money set aside under Congress’ requirement is a small portion of the $1 billion in stimulus aid available for hiring officers. Given the constraint, “each of the departments that received such funding were appropriate recipients,” Justice spokesman Gilbert Moore told USA Today.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors backs the Justice Department but notes the “concerns” raised by law enforcement agencies. “The way to solve this problem is to increase the funding,” the group said in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder.
Recent media reports indicate that more than half of the stimulus package from the Federal government has yet to be spent, but a growing chorus of legislators say the money should be spent on the surge in Afghanistan. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites        
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