Police Seeking Record Aid to Avoid Layoffs

President Obama Set Aside $1B for Police Help, More Than $8B Requested

(AP)  The nation's police departments are clamoring for an unprecedented amount of federal aid to forestall big local tax hikes or the possible layoff of nearly 40,000 police officers - enough to staff the entire New York City Police Department.

When President Barack Obama signed the huge economic stimulus bill earlier this year, $1 billion was set aside to help local and state police avoid layoffs or keep their police academy classes intact.

The response has been staggering: Departments applied for more than $8.3 billion in aid, meaning only a fraction of the demand can actually be met.

July will be a nervous month for mayors and police commanders as they await official word on how much aid they will get from the grant program known as COPS. The first award announcements are expected this month.

"You've got to cross your fingers and remain optimistic," said Mayor Ron Dellums of Oakland, Calif.

Dellums said without federal aid, his city could lose 140 police positions, and California law gives few options for raising taxes to keep those officers.

Even before a single COPS grant check has been mailed, Dellums said the huge demand for help shows that without more aid, Oakland and other cities "are going to be confronted with the stark reality that we have to cut back."

In Pontiac, Mich., Police Chief Valard Gross has seen plenty of spending cuts in recent years and is worried that the red ink spilling across local budgets everywhere else means his city will now get less.

"It concerns me greatly. I can't say what areas are most deserving, but I believe we've been hit harder than just about anyone in the country," said Gross.

Pontiac's police force has shrunk by about half in the past five years, down to about 70 full-time officers, Gross said. "We're already in the mode where it's an emergency, but we've been able to reorganize, and my guys are still kicking butt."

The chief has applied for $4 million to fill 40 positions. But Pontiac's big budget troubles represent only a small sliver of the total requests for aid.

More than 7,200 aid applications poured into the Justice Department and, taken together, they say nearly 40,000 cops could be laid off without federal help. There's no way to verify the number; it depends upon the political process in many places, and law enforcement officials are not above presenting their potential losses in stark terms that aren't necessarily inevitable. During the Clinton administration, FBI Director Louis Freeh once claimed a proposed budget didn't contain enough money to buy bullets for target practice; others said, if that were so, it only meant the bureau had misallocated its more than $2.2 billion budget.

By comparison, the last time the demand for money from the COPS or related programs even came close was more than a decade ago.

In the 1996 budget year, police departments asked the Clinton administration for $1.3 billion, to fill 33,388 full-time officer positions. They got almost the full amount.

Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli, the No. 3 official at the Justice Department, said this year's response to the grant program "has provided us with a true understanding of the difficulties facing law enforcement departments today."

In part, the spike in demand is a result of the change from a Republican to a Democratic administration. Through the Bush years, the COPS and related programs were gradually cut away by Republicans who saw them as wasteful and argued that the money was used to hire fewer cops than Democrats claimed.

Democrats counter that the COPS grant program deserves some credit for the large reductions in crime in the 1990's and thus has proved its effectiveness.

In addition, unlike former President Bill Clinton's version, the Obama program will pay not only for new hires but also to retain cops who might otherwise be laid off.

Around the country, cities are scrambling to keep police on the beat without raising taxes.

In St. Louis, officials recently said they may have to cut 105 police positions if the department doesn't get enough federal aid. If those cuts are made, the city's police force would be smaller than it has been in about a century.

Mitchel Herckis of the National League of Cities said the initial COPS program was designed to expand local police forces to fight rising crime - Clinton promised to put 100,000 more cops on the street - but the new version has been retooled to try to just hold departments together in tough times.

Emergency response staff is often the last thing city officials want to cut, he said.

"Across the country, holding on to officers is a huge deal for many cities and towns," he said. "Keeping those essential services for folks is the top priority."

[sjc_1]

If they lay off police, they lay off at the donut shops...what goes around comes around in an economy :)

[formrusmcsgt]

Tobacco - 435,000
Poor Diet and Physical Inactivity - 365,000
Alcohol - 85,000
Microbial Agents - 75,000
Toxic Agents - 55,000
Motor Vehicle Crashes - 26,347
Adverse Reactions to Prescription Drugs - 32,000
Suicide - 30,622
Incidents Involving Firearms - 29,000
Homicide - 20,308
Sexual Behaviors - 20,000
All Illicit Drug Use, Direct and Indirect - 17,000
Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Such As Aspirin - 7,600
Marijuana - 0

http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/30

[formrusmcsgt]

A 2007 study by the Canadian government found cannabis smoke contained more toxic substances than tobacco smoke.The study determined that marijuana smoke contained 20 times more ammonia, and five times more hydrogen cyanide and nitrogen oxides than tobacco smoke. In spite of this, recent studies have been unable to demonstrate a direct link between lung cancer and frequent direct inhalation of marijuana smoke.

Similarly, there is no established relationship between cannabis use and heart disease, including exacerbation of cases of existing heart disease. Though some MRI studies have shown changes in neurological function in long term heavy cannabis users, no long term behavioral effects after abstinence have been linked to these changes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_(drug)


Smoking related deaths: 440,000 per year, 36,666 per month, 8,461 per week, 1,205 per day, 50 per hour.

http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/s/smoking/deaths.htm


Tobacco's legal and marijuana is not.

Absurd.

[formrusmcsgt]

Let me try that again....

Actually pot was made illegal not because of big Pharma, but because of Big Nylon!

by brianbwb-2009 July 3, 2009 6:06 AM PDT

The illegalization was rather a result of racism directed to associate American immigrants of Mexican and African descent with cannabis abuse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_(drug)

Marijuana was illegalized as a means of enforcing bigotry against minorities.

It's continued illegalization serves big pharma and liquor.

[formrusmcsgt]

Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers known generically as polyamides and first produced on February 28, 1935 by Wallace Carothers at DuPont. Nylon is one of the most commonly used polymers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nylon

The illegalization was rather a result of racism directed to associate American immigrants of Mexican and African descent with cannabis abuse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_(drug)

[wtcmedic911]

cant help but wonder if obamas support for police comes from wanting to keep law and order as the citizens become more restless and unemployeed.

[formrusmcsgt]

Decriminalize prostitution and marijuana and we'll have plenty of police staffing to focus on REAL crimes -

100,000 prostitution arrests annually in the US
http://www.bayswan.org/stats.html

95,000 marijuana arrests annually in the US
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7042

Nearly 200,000 arrests a year for victimless "crimes"

We should stop wasting money and change the laws to generate revenue through these businesses instead of spending more untold billions to enforce the fundie view regarding prostitution and big pharm and the liquor industry's resistance to marijuana legalization.

Otherwise, tax churches to pay for prostitution arrests, prosecution, and detention and tax big pharm and liqour for the cost on enforcing their agenda regarding marijuana.

[brianbwb-2009]

Actually pot was made illegal not because of big Pharma, but because of Big Nylon!

That's right, the nylon plastics industry bribed pot out of legality so they wouldn't have to compete with hemp rope, check it out, its public record. The subsequent demonization of the "killer weed" was done to cover for the fact that the government had eliminated the concept of a free market.

So for the hundreds of thousands of pot prisoners you have the nylon plastics industry to thank.

[whitemale08]

I tried to warn you that MASSIVE MASSIVE AUSTERITY CUTS would come as a consequence to bailing out trillions of absolutely worthess derivatives and credit-default swaps by the BIG FAILED BANKS.

Everybody thought it was 'cute-n-funny' to bail out Goldman Sucks and JP Morgan, when they were the ones who sold the states these worthless derivatives in the first place.

Now that the states are left-holding-the-bag, everybody goes back to listening to partisan hacks like Druggie Limbaugh and junkyard dog Sean Hannity to buy their bull that we 'need [AUSTERITY] spending cuts'.

Had everybody just listened to Lyndon Larouche in the first place and not bailed out Goldman Sucks, UBS, British bank Barclays Capital, we wouldn't be in this mess but onto recovery and rebuilding of our economy.

But the American sucker likes to worship and idolize Warren Buffet and George Soros for being America's paper-billionaires that derived their money from worthless derivatives and credit-default swaps.

THE AMERICAN SUCKER....YOU GOTTA LOVE 'EM!

[quapawsix]

They need their police because this economy is all over with but the crying, they'll need them to try to control the masses when they are rioting in the streets look at history, the french used their military to control the peasants, and Russia used their military to control their peasants. And the wealthy in both cases treated their workers as slaves and that the masses were to serve their only whim. Even in this country we kicked the King out of here on his Royal Arss because of abusive policies and burdensome Taxes. And the population of these countries forced a change. Wake Up America the human race is on the verge of collapse. Non violent Revolution through Non cooperation.

[woeisme1]

Sounds good to me! Let's get it organized. But we tried that in the 60's. Don't think it netted too much social policy change aside from women's rights which was a hugh mistake (just look at how fat, lazy, and nagging gold-diggers American women have become). The civil rights thing was cool though otherwise.

[sean58z]

Ed Rendell refuses to pay state employees. They are his hostages for a sharp increase in the personal income tax. The Rendell budget pays-out billions of state and federal dollars to his personal special interests. Extortion has an ugly face. Whatever happened to criminal indictments for graft, corruption, and political favors?

[brianbwb-2009]

Tt died out during prohibition.

[quapawsix]

We need the police because they will enforce the laws so that people like us can't rip off the rich with Ponzi scams, or inflate the books of our businesses like Enron or pass of our bad investments with worthless derivatives.

[quapawsix]

Lay them off that will be 40,000 less functionaries. And I hope they lay off the thugs they seem to hire.

[tautomer]

Watch these guys just up the fines for speeding and bust people for 1 mph over. This is actually a good time to get rid of all the bad cops, but I'll bet they do it by seniority instead.

Man, it's gotta suck being an ex-cop and not being able to hide behind the uniform. I would guess a lot of scores will be settled.

[woeisme1]

You always look on the bright side of things. It must suck being you.

[riob678]

No more bailouts for any reason. If cities can't afford the services that are currently provided, including police, then it's time for reduction in hours worked, layoffs or terminations. Frankly, I don't have an overwhelming desire for my tax dollars going to some other city to pay for their services. Let them make the necessary adjustments at the local level.

[tmittelstaed]

The drop in crime in the 90's was due to the increased penalties. 80% of crimes are committed by a small number of criminals. When you put those people in jail for a longer time they aren't able to be out there, committing more crimes. Thats why laws like "3 strikes and your out" work.
I don't cry any tears about reduced police coverage. In my city I mostly see cops deployed along the freeway pulling people over for speeding tickets. In the meantime, identity theft is at an all-time-high. I'd be much more willing to spend my taxes on more police if they were busy putting identity thieves in prison and quit pulling traffic all day long.

[tautomer]

where'd the comments go?

[woeisme1]

You're ccomments were too stupid to keep on the board.

[tautomer]

Here comes the Obama Police State. I'll bet you dollars to donuts the bulk of that money goes to Blues States!!!

[reagansteven]

Selective bailout funding of coarse, with favors of special interests. The line is drawn where ever.With out much thought put into it. Business as usual, thought we voted in change? you know clean up government/////////////////?? what happened?

[tautomer]

Business as usual, thought we voted in change? you know clean up government?? what happened?
______________________________________________________________

HaHa...no you dindn't..you voted for Obama, fool!!!! LMFAOROFL

[jumkey]

Good. Lay them off.

We need to stop enforcing laws against victimless crimes like prostitution and marijuana use. The only reason we have them is to perpetuate our burgeoning police state.

Less cops, less criminals, less prisons, less crime.

[ludvig1-2009]

The California town I live in with a population of around 50,000 has a police chief with a pension of $145,000. Is is any wonder the cities in California are going broke. We don't need more taxes or more money, we need better management of the resources we have now.

[woeisme1]

California is broke because of what the republican lawmakers in that state have done and have'nt done. Republicans governors are deliberately sabotaging Obamas recovery attempts so that he will fail. Are republicans some sick people or what? They care about party more than country. What a bunch of jerks!

NY has the same problem. There have been stories on how they pad their overtime to increase their pensions. Many officers on Long Island make more then $100,000 a year in overtime. The union rules are what is causing these inflated salaries and the only way to correct the problem is to deny the next contract and start getting comsessions. Consessions that are not given back later on. It is time for them to retire at 65 not when they have completed 20 years. Long Island communities, it was reported, owe over $100,000,000.00 (one hundred million)a year for benefits to the retirees. The public employees need to pay toward pensions and healthcare - the people who pay these overly generous benefits are tired of it.