In our often upside down logic America, we’re now told president Biden ran on funding law enforcement, not defunding it. His press secretary is now claiming that it is Republicans in Congress that are trying to defund the police (specifically the COPS or Community Oriented Policing program), based upon their opposition to democrat's pork-laden “infrastructure” package that contains some “federal money” for law enforcement. Actually there is very little as compared to the other junk in there. I apply quotes to the term “federal money” as many people look at it as an unlimited credit card. The fact is we all pay for it, so it is our money, just far less of it since it is filtered through several layers of bureaucracy. To gain an understanding of what is really happening here, a couple of things have to be learned:
First, when you want to pass something that cannot pass on its own, all you need to do is throw in your failed idea into a bill that “must pass”. This takes place with democrats and republicans alike, as one of the “best” examples involves republican career politician and liberty-killer James Sensenbrenner (r-WI). When his bill to federalize state driver licenses post 9/11 could not pass on its own, he lumped it in with a defense and Tsunami relief bill. Now democrats are seeking to do the same thing by lumping in all sorts of needless spending with law enforcement spending.
Next, funding state and local law enforcement is not a constitutional duty of the federal government. I saw the detrimental effects of the COPS programs in the 1990s when the program originated. What happened then- and will happen again when so much “federal money” gets thrown about- is that some local and state agencies will see this as free money to hire more officers. The problem then becomes what happens when the “federal money” runs out in around 3 years? When that happened in the 1990s, agencies had to downsize when they could no longer afford to pay for the officers. That’s the true cost of the program- like many things the federal government does beyond the limits of the US Constitution, it is not sustainable over time.
Over 40 years ago, the Sheriff I worked for initially was known for refusing to accept any “federal money” for his law enforcement operations- his take was they invariably caused him to lose control over the operations. As a young deputy, I couldn’t appreciate his wisdom as I now do. I’ve seen this same loss of control as well as an excessive regulation scenario play out time and again when I attend county commission meetings. The sad fact is too many Americans have been indoctrinated into dependence upon the federal government.
Mr. Biden’s press secretary accused former President Trump of cutting funds for the COPS program. I looked it up and his administration did propose a $170 million reduction in the COPS program. That’s yet another positive achievement during his term in my experience and opinion.
Paul Henry