ECONOMIC PLAN EARMARKS $4 BILLION FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT

The economic stimulus bill under consideration this week in the Senate
would be a windfall for law enforcement, sending nearly $4 billion to
state justice systems, police and prevention programs.

Much of the money would preserve jobs and create new ones, says Dave
Steingraber, president of the National Criminal Justice Association
and executive director of Wisconsin's Office of Justice Assistance.
"The justice system is very people-intensive," he says. "Whenever you
push funding into the justice system, you're talking about jobs and
hiring."

The Senate version -- like the House bill that passed last week --
includes $1.5 billion for Byrne Justice Assistance Grants, a favorite
among state and local governments because the money has few
legislative restrictions and can be used for a variety of
justice-related programs.

The COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) hiring program would
receive $1 billion, enough money to hire and train 13,000 new police
officers and fund 75% of their salaries for three years, the
association says.

Among the state agencies that would benefit:

In Maine, the Department of Public Safety could avoid laying off seven
of its 42 drug agents, hire more investigators for its domestic
violence task forces and work down a 3,500-case backlog at the state
crime lab, Commissioner Anne Jordan says.

Iowa could hire 99 people with the $7.4 million in law enforcement
money it would get from the stimulus bill, says Gary Kendell, director
of the Governor's Office of Drug Control Policy. Iowa generally spends
its grant money for drug-abuse prevention, treatment, enforcement and
corrections.

"We'd be able to staff up current programs and develop some new ones
- -- 99 new positions in a state like Iowa has a huge impact," Kendell
says.

North Carolina would funnel some of its grant money into drug
treatment courts and juvenile delinquency prevention, says David
Jones, executive director of the Governor's Crime Commission. He
estimates the state could add 500 jobs over two years.

Federal funding to the state has dropped over the past five years from
$12 million to $3 million, he says. Meanwhile, the state budget also
has shrunk.

Without the federal money, the drug treatment courts and other
programs "might have to shut down, and people will be laid off,' Jones
says. "There's just no state money to pick them up."

Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., who chairs the Appropriations
subcommittee on justice, says state budget cuts have left law
enforcement agencies "stretched and strained."

Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the
subcommittee, opposes the stimulus bill.

Congress should address the needs of state and local law enforcement
in the regular budget process, Shelby spokesman Jonathan Graffeo says.