Montgomery County Wins $160K Public Safety Grant
The award was among $6.3 million given to Maryland's state and local governments by the U.S. Department of Justice.
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Montgomery County has been awarded $159,701 in federal funding earmarked for violent crime reduction and other public safety activities, Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin announced Thursday.
The U.S. Department of Justice grant is one in a $6.3 million bundle given to the state, county, and local governments of Maryland.
The county's share will be used to install a system that can deliver video intelligence wirelessly to commanders and operational personnel in an emergency and to develop the capability to share that data with other law enforcement agencies.
The grant funding is based on a formula of population and violent crime statistics. Money from the program is used to pay for law enforcement, prosecutions, education, drug treatment, and technology improvements.
Neighboring Prince George's County received a total of $432,311, while Baltimore topped the list with $762,900.
LeszX
8:02 am on Friday, October 19, 2012
There's something wrong with this picture. Why should the federal government be handing out taxpayer funds to various counties? Violent crime - suppression of which is purported to be the object of the grants - is a local concern.
Montgomery County - one of the wealthiest areas of the nation - should be able to raise its own funds to deal with its problems. Accepting funds from the federal government must come with strings attached. We are surrendering our right to self-government by accepting these funds.
jag
12:01 pm on Friday, October 19, 2012
"We are surrendering our right to self-government by accepting these funds."
LOL, good lord I love Patch.
Ddad99
9:03 am on Friday, October 19, 2012
It's all about the photo op.
Look at what we're doing for you! Borrowing money from China, or printing it, to buy stuff for a rich county. You can't really tell what it is from the description, hardware or software? )
Sk
11:52 am on Friday, October 19, 2012
Guys, these are formula grants that have been around forever based on a locality's percentage of part 1 violent crimes, regardless of a municipality's fiscal health. You're watching the fly on the screen and missing the show.