Moderator Brauer may shut me down on this but I wanted to pass along a national article that has some very direct local implications. It's a report from John Aschcroft's speech to the Chief of Police Convention in which local police officials from around the country are critical of the federal cuts to local police and the direction the Justice Department is asking police to take.
This has a very direct implication on the streets of Minneapolis. These federal cuts have meant 80 fewer cops in Minneapolis and the directions are both a distraction and a direction we don't agree with. Chief McManus and I share those concerns. Thought it would be interesting reading to see there are significant national issues swirling around our ability to do what we would like on the streets of Minneapolis. R.T. Rybak Police scoff at Ashcroft speech Chiefs say feds have pushed agencies to 'breaking point' By Kevin Johnson USA TODAY A day after Attorney General John Ashcroft told the nation's largest association of law enforcement executives that the Bush administration had made the nation more secure from terrorist attacks and violent criminals, the group lashed back at the White House on Tuesday. The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) said that cuts by the administration in federal aid to local police agencies have left the nation more vulnerable than ever to public safety threats. The 20,000-member group also said in a statement that new anti-terrorism duties for local cops - which have come as state and local budgets have declined and historically low crime rates have crept upward - have pushed police agencies to "the breaking point." The Justice Department responded that it is doing all it can to help. The police chief statement reflected the tension between the administration and many local police chiefs, who believe the White House has saddled them with anti-terrorism tasks without much regard to the cost. Among other things, members of the chiefs' group have long complained about localities having to pay millions of dollars in overtime costs when the U.S. government issued terrorism alerts. The group also is annoyed that President Bush is phasing out a $10 billion program begun by the Clinton administration in 1996 to help local departments hire tens of thousands more cops. IACP President Joseph Polisar, the police chief in Garden Grove, Calif., said hundreds of police officer jobs have been lost across the nation during the past four years. And proposed cuts in federal aid in the 2005 budget could reach almost $1 billion, threatening hundreds more, the chief said. Ashcroft, who spoke to the group Monday in Los Angeles, listed a range of accomplishments during his tenure at Justice. The chiefs' group is particularly concerned about how anti-terrorism efforts have changed how police departments get federal aid. Tens of millions of dollars that in the past was sent to local departments each year by the Justice Department now are directed to the Department of Homeland Security. DHS uses the money to help train and equip agencies that would respond to terrorist attacks. Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo said the department has always supported local law enforcement but acknowledged that much of the funding has been transferred to Homeland. REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
