Whitehall Hopes to Cop Stimulus Funding

Forget about roads, bridges, and infrastructure projects. Some of the federal stimulus money is being used to fund more cops, through the Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, according to an article in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, One of America's Great Newspapers.

The council for the Pittsburgh suburb of Whitehall council police Chief Don Dolfi to apply for grant funding through a newly created federal program that will allow the borough to hire two entry-level patrolman [sic].

The program will provide 100 percent of a new officer's salary and benefits for a three-year period.

Not that Whitehall needs new cops or can't afford them. The borough's financial solvency and low crime rate could limit the chances of being awarded any grant money. At the very least, we hope that this application doesn't get rubber stamped without a thorough review.