Cleveland
Local governments are having to lay off large numbers of police officers due to budget shortfalls and deep cuts in federal aid, The New York Times reported this week. Cleveland, for example, has sent home 250 officers, 15 percent of its force, and Pittsburgh has lost a quarter of its police. The Bush administration said it was shifting money once destined for community policing and other local programs into the hands of the Homeland Security Department to focus on terrorism. But Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said dwindling budgets would end up pushing crime rates back up after a decade of improvement. “The money is drying up,” Kerlikowske said, “and I’m worried that a lot of our good work is going to disappear.”
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