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LOCAL NEWS
 
U.S. moving from local to fed law enforcement
Sunnyside gets 2 fed-funded cops
SUNNYSIDE (Friday, 4-16-99)---Sunnyside will get a $150,000 grant from the federal Dept. of Justice to hire two full-time police officers for community policing, Democrat Patty Murray said today.
 
Libertarian Party leaders, meanwhile, fear the U.S. is heading for a federal police force akin to Mexico's "Federales". And they don't like it.
 
But Democrat Murray, announcing the Sunnyside grant today, says "Community policing is a positive step toward reducing crime in America. Placing more police officers on our streets and in our neighborhoods helps create a better way of life for everyone."
 
The grant comes from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). It's part of the larger Universal Hiring Program established in 1994 with the goal of putting more cops on the nation's streets.
 
To date, COPS has provided funds to more than 10,000 law enforcement agencies, adding more than 92,000 federally funded local officers..
 
The grant allows Sunnyside PD to help pay 75 percent of the salary and benefits of both officers over three years, to a maximum $75,000. Sunnyside folks will contribute the rest.
 
Murray supported the 1994 Crime Bill that created COPS. "Encouraging effective local solutions to our crime problems is commons sense," she said.
 
The Libertarian Party says they aren't so pleased with the 1994 Crime Bill, its restrictions on gun ownership, and "federalization" of traditionally local police departments.
 
"President Clinton likes it because it allows him to talk tough, while
not doing anything. Clinton boasted that the crime bill will make 'every
neighborhood in America safer.' He was lying -- and he knows it," said
Steve Dasbach, head of America's third largest party.
 
"Even adding 100,000 new police officers will not guarantee a reduced
crime rate," said Dasbach, speaking in 1994.
 
"After all, the District of Columbia has more police officers
per capita than any other major American city. It also has one of the
highest crime rates. All this bill does is further curtail the civil
liberties of law-abiding citizens. It surrenders traditionally local law
enforcement to the federal government. And it's loaded with billions in
wasteful spending," Dasbach charged.