Eric Holder And The COPS Program

Eric Holder and the Department of INjustice recently published the 2012 recipients of the COPS grant. (Community Oriented Policing Services)

Obama used COPS grants as part of his "recovery package" to reward police unions  AFL-CIO $100M to thank them for their help during the 2008 election.  Of course, there are always strings attached.  For example, cities who accept the COPS grant money are not allowed to reduce their force for a period of three years.  Also, those officers hired using the grant money must be paid to remain on the force for another 12 months following the end of the grant term.  Considering the economic situation in the country over the last few years, some cash-strapped cities have found the financial obligations to be a bit of a challenge.

In September 2011, Holder announced $243M in funding for FY2012"aimed at creating and saving law enforcement jobs."  The grant money "provides 100 percent funding for 3 years for approved entry-level salaries and benefits for newly-hired, full-time sworn officer positions or for rehired officers who have been laid off, or are scheduled to be laid off."

In September 2012, Holder announced an additional $3.5M in funding.

Qualifications for the award must include at least one of the following prerequisites:
 

** Hire new officers, who are military veterans (including filling existing officer vacancies that are no longer funded in an agency’s budget.)

** Rehire officers laid off by any jurisdiction as a result of state, local, or Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) budget reductions unrelated to the receipt of grant funding.

** Rehire officers scheduled to be laid off (at the time of updated application) from the applicant’s department on a specific future date as a result of state, local, or BIA budget reductions unrelated to the receipt of grant funding.


We know Eric Holder's opinion of the military so the first suggested requirement on the list seems a bit, shall we say, specious?  It is important to note that the only veterans who qualify are those who served AFTER September 11, 2001.

You can view the video of Holder discussing the grants here.


Arizona "cashed in" on their share of the grant money. 

Apache County Sheriff's Office - $360,000 for 2 officers

City of Winslow - $125,000 for 1 officer

City of Yuma - $1,000,000 for 8 officers

Gila River Indian Community - $875,000 for 7 officers

Let's take a look at some other states and cities who received COPS grants.  Did the DOJ "pay to play" in the recent election?  You decide.


Illinois:
City of Chicago $3.1M for 25 officers
(Obama's private residence is in District 1 of the City of Chicago Police District)

Chicago Heights $500,000 for 4 officers


Michigan:
Dearborn Michigan - $1.1M for 9 officers

Dearborn is located in Wayne County which also received a last minute award on September 27th for an additional $250,000 to support 2 officers. 

They obviously weren't helping out at the polls.

(This is the same County where a poll worker was threatened with a gun by a voter in a Detroit precinct. 

The Congressional Representative for this district is John Conyers.  Conyers sparked controversy in 2009 when he was asked if he read the Obamacare bill.  His response? 

“I love these members, they get up and say, ‘Read the bill.  What good is reading the bill if it’s a thousand pages and you don’t have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you read the bill?”

Michigan polling locations were monitored by members of the leftist group "Common Cause"  which is funded by Moveon.org, SEIU, NEA and the Soros' Tides Foundation.  What could possibly have gone wrong?  After all, Common Cause spent money on "Republican" Jerry Lewis during the 2010 recall election of Russell Pearce.)


Nevada:
North Las Vegas Police Department - $1.7M for 14 officers
(North Las Vegas' Clark County was one of 2 counties in 2008 that heavily went to Obama.)


Ohio:
Cuyuhoga County - $1M for 8 officers
(The same county which saw over 100 precincts who voted 99% for Obama) 

City of Akron - $1.5M for 12 officers
City of Canton - $800,000 for 7 officers
Toledo Department of Police - $1.875 for 15 officers

Pennsylvania
City of Philadelphia - $3.1M for 25 officers
(Obama received 100% of the vote in 59 Philadelphia precincts.  In the 16th Ward alone, at least 6 precincts show that Romney received ZERO votes.  We know that Philadelphia has SOME Republicans as witnessed by photos found online.  In the 14th Ward where members of the New Black Panthers stood outside polling locations, Obama received 96.9% of the vote.  Read here to see a report of the 2012 Primary voting irregularities in Philadephia which include voting by unregistered voters, non citizens, voting in the wrong party, voting multiple times.) 

City of Pittsburgh - $1.5M for 13 officers


Puerto Rico
various - $1.95M for 41 officers
(Do citizens of Puerto Rico even pay U.S.  federal income taxes?)


Washington
City of Tacoma - $5M for 15 officers