St. Louis area will get stimulus cash for cop salaries
St. Louis and a handful of suburbs will get about $12.6 million in federal economic stimulus funds designed to help cities avoid laying off police officers, the Obama administration announced this morning. The grant will fund the salaries of 71 police officers for three years.
The city of St. Louis was the area’s biggest winner, securing $8.7 million of the total pot, enough to fund 50 police officers for three years. The city had applied for enough to fund more than 100 police jobs that were cut from this year’s budget.
In legislation signed this year, the Obama administration set aside $1 billion for local police to hire or keep about 5,500 police officers for three years.
The city of St. Louis got less than half of what it sought, but it fared better than other big-city police departments, such as New York and Pittsburgh, that didn’t get a dime. The St. Louis County Police Department, which asked for funding for 29 officers, was also shut out.
Other local departments that got federal money to keep cops on the payroll:
Alorton, one officer for three years, $91,616
Alton, 3, $862,500
Bel-Ridge, 1, $152,262
Berkeley, 2, $316,492
Country Club Hills, 1, $115,731
East St. Louis, 3, $673,983
Granite City 3 $652,458
Jennings, 2, $305,074
Kinloch, 1, $90,604
Pagedale, 1, $127,798
St. Louis, 50, $8,678,550
University City, 3, $559,785
I seriously hope I’m reading this chart wrong. If I’m reading correctly, Alton is paying their officers roughly $100K/year? That’s beyond retarded. These police officers are making, on average, $50,000/year or more. I understand that we need police and they’re mostly decent human beings, but isn’t this a bit out of touch with reality? And, if they’re making $50-60K/year, how are we supposed to feel any sympathy when they start breaking the law to “supplement” their “low” incomes. This is outrageous. I can’t believe my tax dollars are paying for any police officers except for those in the city where I live.
Great! BUT…instead of 50 cops can we hire 30 fully armed Marines to sweep the entire north city clean? The last thing we need are 50 more cops standing around watching people exit Busch stadium after a game when gun fire is rolling on the north side like it is the OK Corral. I would pay money to see some thug point a gun gangsta style at an armed Marine.
This story is very misleading… This program is NOT to pay for existing officers… It is for NEW Officers… So in essance, you must have an “open” position. Additionaly, the muncipality must committ to funding the position after the grant expires. Just smoke and mirrors paid for by the national credit card using borrowed money from China. The amounds are grants for two years salary and benefits.
The amounts listed are for 3 years, not 1 year.
The cost per officer likely includes insurance, pension and cost of equipment (guns, vehicles, etc.). It’s the cost to the city of keeping the officer, not just the officer’s salary.
Gary but that still amounts to Alton police officers making almost 100K a year because that is for 3 officers at almost a 100K a year so that’s almost 300K a year total for 3 years which is almost 900K which is what the list says. There is NO WAY that they can be offering almost 100K a year for Alton cops.
Thought that money was to go to “shovel ready” infrastructure projects?
Great. What else can we waste money on?
Can we please stop finding more ways to completely waste taxpayer dollars? Let us keep our money. In a recession, we need it more now than ever. I’ve got kids to feed and bills to pay, and I don’t need more cops, a new bridge, or some CEO to be able to afford to bring the fam to the Bahamas again.
Stop wasting our money.
Dorothy, I couldn’t have said it better myself.