Trying to figure out what White and Hurtt are really upset about
Mayor White and Chief Hurtt are upset that a federal drug enforcement program might see some cuts in funding:
Houston Mayor Bill White and Police Chief Harold Hurtt have vowed to fight President Bush's proposal to slash 60 percent of funding for a federal drug-enforcement program that has been more successful in Houston than in many other parts of the country.
The Houston Police Department receives about $3 million a year from the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, and the 16-county Houston region from Beaumont to Corpus Christi receives an additional $7 million a year.
HPD has been receiving $3 million from the HIDTA program. That's a big chunk of change!
I actually had to read the story a couple of times to grasp what is going on here, but the other side of the story (and the reporter, Ron Nissimov, did include both sides of the story) is that Houston will most likely NOT lose HIDTA funding, and there is a possibility that Houston will see an INCREASE in funding, with the proposed changes:
Federal officials have said the Houston area might receive more than $3 million in HIDTA funds because Bush wants to refocus the program on high-trafficking areas.
[snip]
Steve Katsurinis, a native Houstonian who is Walters' chief of staff, said Houston could end up getting more than $3 million even if the cuts are approved because of the proposed change in focus. He said unlike many other HIDTA programs, the Houston program has shown positive results.
That's right -- Houston could get MORE money. So what are Hurtt and White complaining about?
Oversight of the program would be taken away from local groups and given to the U.S. Department of Justice.
There you go: losing local control of HIDTA money is probably what this is all about.
Hurtt claimed that HPD would lose 14 "positions" from the proposed cuts, the sheriff's department would lose 15 positions, and Sam Houston State University would lose 12.
Stan Furce, director of the Houston HIDTA, said the 41 employees Hurtt cited are civilian analysts.
Furce, who is opposed to Bush's proposal, said funds allocated to the Houston HIDTA are typically used to pay overtime for task forces composed of federal and local law enforcement agents, and their vehicles.
Would the Department of Justice say that HIDTA money has to be used differently from how Houston is currently using it? That could be, and it would explain why Hurtt is so vehement in denouncing cuts that probably won't even happen, as far as Houston is concerned.
All we have to do is look at what has happened with Homeland Security funding to see why it can be a good idea to put some controls on federal money. We have seen plenty of stories of Homeland Security money being used by local governments in unique, and some might even say questionable, ways. The federal government has a right to say how federal funding is spent.
There is one more quote in the story that I found interesting:
"Most people are not as concerned about planes running into our buildings as somebody breaking into our houses," said White, citing Bush's emphasis on homeland security and claiming that many home burglaries are drug-related.
Instead of wasting energy fighting a proposal that may give Houston MORE federal money, maybe White could work on some full-time, permanent Houston police officers.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/24/05 04:20 PM | Print |
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