Officer.com Police Blogs & Podcasts

Ronnie Garrett
Editorial Director
Law Enforcement Technology magazine

You know you’re growing “older” – let’s make that more mature – when you find yourself uttering the things you promised you’d never say. For instance, my husband continually rants about the “hooligans” next door, while I echo my grandfather’s complaints about government policing and having it in for “the man.”

Now this blog is not intended to get into a political discussion – after all my parents visit this Web site too – and we are definitely not on the same political page. But here’s my problem: The Bush Administration has not been kind to law enforcement and it’s got me seeing red. I see that our government has billions available for the War on Terror, but for the war within our borders, funding falls short.

The Bush Administration’s 2009 Budget plan guts funding for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne-JAG) programs. Yet, since these initiatives have been in effect, crime is at an all-time low and drug enforcement is more effective than it’s ever been.

Even the continued work in Congress on a Byrne-JAG Supplemental bill, while giving some relief, is nothing more than a stop-gap solution. This will only restore some funding to the program. It will provide temporary relief while still allowing the Administration to continue on its path toward reduced law enforcement funding.

It compels me to ask: Do they create these budgets in a vacuum? While the bucket runneth dry aiding other countries, we seem to forget there are real problems, like the criminal drug trade, in our own.

By turning a blind eye to the flow of narcotics in this country and solely focusing our attacks against terror on foreign soil, we overlook a very powerful fact: Drug sales fund terrorism. I mean no disrespect for our troops, but if we really want to fight a War on Terror part of it must include hitting terrorists where it really hurts – their pocketbooks. For without money – often raised through the sale of illicit substances – it becomes far more difficult to support a terror siege or spread messages of terror across the world.

We need to fight the War on Terror on all fronts without leaving our own country under-funded and under-protected. For doing this leaves the door wide open for “hooligans” far worse than the boys living next door to move in.

These hooligans are already sweeping in to take advantage of law enforcement’s staffing shortages, say those working on staffing-crunched drug enforcement task forces. They indicate they no longer worry as much about the little guy cooking meth or running drugs. They have far bigger fish to fry – organized drug cartels are moving in. They say the loss of this funding means they’ll have to trim or eliminate their already lean drug enforcement task forces. And they predict it will have dire consequences to public safety.

In the words of John Groves, chief of reserve detectives for the Pulaski County (Missouri) Sheriff’s Department, “By cutting funding you’re essentially creating a safe haven for drug dealers’ ‘businesses’ to flourish.” When their businesses flourish, so do other crimes, such as homicide, domestic abuse, child abuse, armed robbery and others.

What impact will these funding cuts have on your department? What things will you go without because of them? What impact to public safety do you foresee? Let’s make your calls heard loud and far. It’s time for the Administration to pay attention to local concerns too.