National Security Used as Excuse for Wasteful Federal Spending on Local Law Enforcement
National Security Used as Excuse for Wasteful Federal Spending on Local Law Enforcement
Spending money on homeland security doesn’t make the country any more secure if it’s spent unwisely, according to U.S. Senator Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma).
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Case in point: Zombie apocalypse training.
DHS grant funds were used to pay the $1,000 fee for a week-long conference at Paradise Point Resort and Spa in San Diego, where a tactical training firm put on a show pretending to gun down 40 actors dressed as zombies.
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In Columbus, Ohio, city officials convinced DHS to give it $98,000 to purchase an underwater robot—a purchase deemed an emergency because time was running out on a federal grant deadline.
Keene, New Hampshire (population: 23,000), which has experienced three homicides in the last thirteen years, used $285,933 in federal funds to buy a Lenco BearCat armored vehicle, which it took possession of on November 20. Keene Police Captain Brian Costa defended the acquisition by saying, “It’s an armored vehicle, not an armed vehicle and there's a big difference.”
http://www.allgov.com/news/top-stories/national-security-used-as-excuse-for-wasteful-federal-spending-on-local-law-enforcement-121207?news=846419
