COPS Grants Leave Smaller Departments Disappointed

I agree, I think it could have be distributed better. Give each one of the 158 1 officers and split the reat. Does Tulsa really need 18?

Does this dude not realize, 95% of the funds is not being "objective", its called greedy. I live in a small town, and our police officers could have really used the funds. And if these guys actually looked at what us small towns do for our state and how much we are in need, they wouldnt have been on the news defending their "objectivity", they would have been on the news passing out checks. Our govt. has the common sense of 6yr olds I think.

In my opinion, those who did receive the stimulus, should take a percentage from each of theirs and give to Tuttle and those who are in need of it. I've always heard that cops are like a family who stick together through thick and thin. WELL? Your other family members need your support!

The numbers dont add up for me. Why does a rural police department get over $100k for one new officer? I think the money could be managed better to stretch further and help more departments.

I too am disappointed on the COPS office not looking at the need for money at the smaller agencies. Im a Chief of an agency and also applied for COPS money. I have had to lay one off already with a possibility of another in a few months. Smaller towns do not have the commercial growth that larger towns have. With state budget cuts averaging 5% each month, lay-offs will continue. For those that are not layed off patroling the streets and schools, Officer safety is jeopardized. Officers having to respond to calls without assistance, working overtime. But the government can give assistance for the Genetic research to the University of Oklahoma. It looks like to me that OU gets what ever they want. Im disgusted with the government and the wasteful spending.

Paul wrote:

The numbers dont add up for me. Why does a rural police department get over $100k for one new officer? I think the money could be managed better to stretch further and help more departments.

Sorry, Paul, I didn't explain this in the story (just wasn't enough time). The reason these towns are getting $114K and $117K for one officer is because the grant covers their salary for three years.(The town has to pick up their salary the fourth year.) So, really, those are real cheap, because those numbers include the cost of their benefits, too.

I said this on the other site , I'll SAY IT HERE TOO.
Okeeey< What wrong with this PICTURE!
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, office solicited applications from law enforcement agencies across the country for $1 billion in stimulus grants.
The COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP) grants were advertised as being intended to help both large and small police departments hire new officers.
Tulsa, with $3.5 million, will be able to hire 18 new police officers.
~~ Excuse Me But Didn't they hire 7 New Police Officers, Earlier this year ~ NOT 18 And DIDN'T TULSA JUST LET THOSE NEW BE OFFICERS GO~~~- WHATS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE, AND SIENSE THE OFFICERS ARE NOT OFFICERS ANY MORE -~~~ WHERES THE 3.5 MILLION DOLLARS AT ~~~~ SOMEONE'S POCKET~~~? Another thig wrong here is ALLLl Police agenceys in the state should have had a peice of that pie, Not just a few.
Again Where's the Money - Where's the Officers.

What's worse is that if the money went to the rural departments instead of the big cities, there would be almost double the new cops on the ground... the grant paid OKC and Tulsa 200k per officer, whereas the small towns were asking for around 100k per officer.

Yes, I know that the bigger city departments pay more. That's not the point. The point is if the goal was to maximize the number of new officers on the ground, then the program sure failed miserably.

It's good that these programs are in place to redistribute our tax dollars to communities that already have a substantial economic base. Thank you Mr. President!