Ever since President Bush took office, there has been $2 billion worth of federal funding cuts to state
and local law enforcement agencies. Wait a minute.
PC assumed that the Bush administration was big on national security and making Americans feel safe at home. So what’s up with Washington pulling money away from first-responders? Aren’t these the same first-responders hailed during the 2004 election season, when it seemed that every other Republican stump speech was tied to 9-11?
Then we read this from the NYT:
Many criminologists and law enforcement officials are debating whether the violent-crime data signal a significant national trend. In a report, “A Gathering Storm — Violent Crime in America,” the Police Executive Research Forum, a professional organization of police chiefs, warned last year that violent crime increases were “the front end of a tipping point of an epidemic of violence not seen for years.” Among other factors, the chiefs blamed a decline in federal spending for a decrease in crime prevention and community policing programs and for a dip in police staffing.
PHILLY CONFIDENTIAL: Heckuva Job, Brownie