http://wenatcheeworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090203/NEWS02/702039899/1001Obama plan has billions for cops; grants beefed up NCW agencies
Obama plan has billions for cops; grants beefed up NCW agencies
By Matt Apuzzo
Associated Press writer
Posted February 03, 2009
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama wants the government back in the policing business, big time.
Obama's huge stimulus plan includes about $4 billion to resurrect grants that put tens of thousands of police on the streets during the 1990s. The programs were all but eliminated during the Bush administration amid criticism that their results didn't justify the hefty price tag.
Several law enforcement agencies in North Central Washington added positions using the state and federal matching funds.
The grants are popular with Democrats, and restoring them was central to Obama's campaign plan to combat rising violence. By tacking the money onto the stimulus plan, Obama avoids having to defend the spending during the normal budget process.
The proposal allocates $3 billion for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant, a program that has funded drug task forces, after-school programs, prisoner rehabilitation and other programs.
Another $1 billion in stimulus money is set aside for the Community Oriented Policing Services program begun under President Clinton. The program, known as COPS grants, paid the salaries of many local police officers and was a "modest contributor" to the decline in crime in the 1990s, according to a 2005 government oversight report.
President George Bush slashed both grant programs over the past eight years, citing a series of reports questioning their efficiency and oversight.
But the programs remain popular among many lawmakers, who often used the grants to steer money to their home districts. Mayors and police chiefs love them, particularly during lean economic times.
The House passed the stimulus bill, but the version that makes it out of the Senate is expected to be different.
But because Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General-nominee Eric Holder strongly support the grants the programs will likely be resurrected even if they don't make it into the final stimulus bill.