Matt Whittaker tries to go public wita program that SHOULD play well in the media…..
Handing out money for cops safety on the streets…
The Department of Justice on Wednesday announced a new grant program intended to bolster safety and support services for law enforcement officials at the state, local and tribal levels.
Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker announced the $56 million in grant funding, which will be handled by DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs, in a speech to the Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York, declaring that President Donald Trump’s New York roots allowed him to direct policy from a position of expertise on the benefits of investing in law enforcement.
The grant funding will include $29 million to partly reimburse departments for the purchase of bulletproof vests, $12 million for body cameras, and $2 million for health and safety research, Whitaker said.
The Justice Department framed the program as one more facet of the Trump administration’s objective of improving the safety of police officers, citing a 5 percent increase in line-of-duty attacks against officers in 2017 while the violent crime rate in the country as a whole decreased.
“This is just a small way of saying thank you to the officers who take care of us every day. We understand the sacrifices that you make — and so we want you to have the right equipment and the right training,” Whitaker said, according to his prepared remarks…..