In Case You Missed It ...
Jul 29, 2009 6:38 pm US/Central
Fort Worth Not Getting Federal Money For Cops
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
Fort Worth mayor Mike Moncrief said he was surprised to learn the city had not applied for a portion of a billion-dollar federal handout to fund police officers in cities, especially when the city is facing such large budget shortfall.
"It's still $59 million, and a hole we have to close to balance the budget," Moncrief said. "So, any dollars are important to us, no matter how large or small the amount."
But as his staff dug deeper, the mayor learned Fort Worth had to stand by as a billion-dollar handout for police departments sent millions of dollars into North Texas, because the city could not apply for the money.
Dallas received nearly $9 million to hire 50 officers, and Arlington saw $6 million for 31 officers. Five other North Texas cities also received money for officers.
"The city of Fort Worth spent a lot of time looking at this grant, because there's a lot of money at stake. Unfortunately, there's a nonsupplanting requirement that the city had to follow," said city spokesman Jason Lamers.
Fort Worth had already budgeted 39 new police positions this year. Three dozen other positions were still vacant, waiting for police academy graduates, according to city sources.
The COPS Hiring Recovery Program, or CHRP, specifically tells cities if they've already budgeted new police officers with city money, they can't take that money back and pay for it with federal grant money. It's called the non-supplanting requirement.
The city asked the Department of Justice if it could waive the rule. The answer from Washington was simple: no.
So, city sources say, even if the city received the grant money, it would have to go toward even more positions than the 75 being created or waiting to be filled.
"Applying for the grant and getting that grant money would have just added to the number of vacant positions we'd have to fill," Lamers said.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
RAW VIDEO: 100-Mile Police Chase
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
Comments