Until now, Mr. Obama’s use of the Justice Department to investigate police has mostly affected U.S. cities like Chicago, Ferguson and Baltimore. However local law enforcement agencies say suspending the federal Equity Sharing program adversely affects agencies across the country, according to a TBO.com report.
Using the Justice Department headed by Attorney General Loretta Lynch, the administration has cut off vital shared funding to law enforcement agencies including funding to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Department which borders Tampa to the north, according to the report published Saturday. The move, which freezes hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding to this agency alone, is seen by Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco as part of an anti-police push.
At the crux of the matter is funding the Justice Department is authorized to share that is derived from cash and property confiscated during criminal investigations. Prior to Obama’s administration, feds shared such seized bounty with local, state and tribal law enforcement agencies that participated in the investigations.
For his part, Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco says the administration’s funding block affects $200,000 the department planned to spend on enhanced body armor for deputies. The Pasco County Sheriff’s office has used the funding for everything from a boat to an armored vehicle to body cameras.
Nocco said his department has shelved plans to buy bullet-proof vests that can withstand higher-caliber ammunition because the administration’s funding freeze has crippled the departments already stressed budget.
“The feeling is that this is an anti-law-enforcement push,” Nocco said. “And in reality, all it is doing is hurting our taxpayers and not allowing law enforcement to buy equipment that helps our citizens and helps our deputies,” Nocco stated, according to the Tribune.
Underscoring the importance of the program to local law enforcement, the “Equitable Sharing” program has distributed more than $4.5 billion to law enforcement agencies around the country. Last year, law enforcement agencies in Florida alone received more than $17 million in shared funding. The Justice Department suspended its Equitable Sharing program last month.
Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri says his department stands to lose $1 million from a large drug case it investigated and processed. Gualtieri expressed doubt whether the department will ever see the money. The administration will not say how long the funding freeze, a significant element of budget planning, will last, according to Gualtieri.
Gaultieri is worried that the program suspension, which the Justice Department says is temporary, may be long-term and that it could hurt efforts to equip deputies to do their jobs.
“We’ve got all kinds of needs,” he told the Tribune. “No question. It could have gone to everything from existing technology needs to purchasing cruisers, to all those kinds of needs that are very important for us, especially when we’re trying to get back on our feet after five years of economic downturn. They’re framing it and casting it as a suspension, but I have a concern when you’re talking about defunding $1.2 billion,” Gaultieri said. “What does temporary mean? … Certainly, I’ve got concerns about it.”
Critics have questioned the administration’s relationship with law enforcement since the president called Cambridge police stupid for arresting his friend on July 16, 2009. That’s when Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., was arrested at his Cambridge, Massachusetts home by local police officer Sgt. James Crowley, who was responding to a report of men breaking and entering the residence. The president’s “stupid” statement and his subsequent beer Summit were tagged as early examples of the administration’s contempt for law enforcement.
In 2014, the program shared more than $545,000 with the Tampa Police Department; the Hillsborough sheriff received more than $236,000; the Pasco sheriff received more than $452,000 and the Pinellas sheriff received nearly $275,000, according to a Justice Department report to Congress. With terrorism on the rise in the United States, shootings and murder rates soaring in major cities like Baltimore and U.S. borders unsecured, many law enforcement officials are concerned it is the wrong time to cut deep into local law enforcement budgets.
