GLOBAL POLITICAL AWAKENING: Federal Grants to Advance Police State in Arkansas

by Mark Daniels
Global Political Awakening

The Arkansas Crime Information Center is getting a $500,000 grant to upgrade its victim notification system.

The grant is from the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Federal Government continues to hand out billions of dollars across America in the form of Department of Justice grants to advance the American Police State. Arkansas Congressional Representatives announced today a $500,000 grant to "make it easier for crime victims to track offenders convicted in Arkansas's criminal justice system". Of course, it sounds like a good thing until you realize that the Federal Government's ultimate aim is to track and trace all American citizens. Besides, why is the federal government handing out money when the country is essentially broke?

According the the press release, funds will be used to purchase a new computer system that will enhance Arkansas’s Victim Information and Notification Everyday (VINE) Service, which notifies victims on the status of an offender’s case, including upcoming court events, custody status and the scheduled date of an individual’s release. Arkansas currently uses different identification numbers for each county jail and other correctional facilities, which requires victims to re-register if they want to track an inmate who is moved to a different facility. This upgrade will provide a unique identification number for each offender and will allow victims to receive updated notifications on offenders throughout their incarceration.

U.S. Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor and U.S. Representatives Marion Berry, Vic Snyder and Mike Ross announced the funding award.

“I am pleased to announce this investment that will make it easier for victims to exercise their notification rights and help give them greater peace of mind,” Lincoln said. “I am committed to working on behalf of Arkansans who have fallen victim to crime and ensuring they get the support they deserve in their time of need.”

“Crime victims deserve to know the status of their offenders’ cases and receive updates in a timely and efficient manner. These federal funds will make it easier for victims to track offenders’ cases and get the information they need,” Pryor said.

“An important part of the justice process is giving the victims of criminal acts accurate information on their case, the offender’s custody status and release date and any other pertinent information to the crime,” Berry said. “These funds will give the Department of Justice the resources they need to streamline the process, so victims get the help they deserve to track their cases effectively.”

“It is important we offer crime victims the support and resources they deserve,” Ross said. “I am proud to join with my colleagues and announce this investment to improve the Arkansas Crime Information Center’s victim notification system. This funding will help provide critical upgrades to their system which helps ensure the right of crime victims to track offenders and receive notification of court or parole proceedings.”

“The Arkansas Crime Information Center is pleased to learn we were awarded a Department of Justice grant to enhance and expand our victim notification program known as VINE. With the grant proceeds we will create a registration link that allows a victim to register only one time and have that registration follow the offender through the entire process regardless of whether he is incarcerated in a city, county, state or federal facility and regardless of whether he is moved from facility to facility. Additionally, we will create an interface with the new Administrative Office of the Courts management system for enhanced victim notification,” said Brad Cazort, Administrator of the Field Services Division at the Arkansas Crime Information Center.

Contrary to what books and TV ads say, the U.S. government is not giving away "free grant" money. A grant is not a Christmas present. According to American Government & Politics, by Jay M. Shafritz, a grant is, "A form of gift that entails certain obligations on the part of the grantee and expectations on the part of the grantor."

The key word there is obligations. Getting a government grant will get you loads of them and not fulfilling them will grant you a load of legal troubles.

Few Grants for Individuals: Most federal grants are awarded to organizations, institutions, and state and local governments planning major projects that will benefit specific sectors of the population or the community as a whole, for example:

A neighborhood street paving project
A state-wide program to re-train displaced workers
A project to attract new businesses to a depressed downtown area
A regional water conservation program
A state or county-wide flood control project
Organizations that get government grants are subject to strict government oversight and must meet detailed government performance standards during the duration of the project and funding period of the grant.

All project expenditures must be strictly accounted for and detailed audits are conducted by the government at least annually. All granted funds must be spent. Any money not spent goes back to the Treasury. Detailed program goals must be developed, approved and carried out exactly as specified in the grant application. Any project changes must be approved by the government. All project phases must be completed on time. And, of course, the project must be completed with demonstrable success.

Failure on the part of the grant recipient to perform under the requirements of the grant can result in penalties ranging from economic sanctions to prison in cases of improper use or theft of public funds.

By far, most government grants are applied for and awarded to other federal agencies, states, cities, colleges and universities, and research organizations. Few individuals have the money or expertise necessary to prepare adequate applications for federal grants. Most active grant-seekers, in fact, employ full time staffs to do nothing but apply for and administer federal grants.

Program or Project Budget Approval
Through the annual federal budget process, Congress passes laws making money -- lots of it -- available to the various government agencies for doing major projects designed to assist some sector of the public. The projects may be suggested by the agencies, Members of Congress, the President, states, cities, or members of the public. But, in the end, Congress decides which programs get how much money.

Finding and Applying for Grants
Once the federal budget is approved, funds for the grant projects start to become available and are "announced" in the Federal Register throughout the year. Grant projects that have been announced will appear in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA). The CFDA is a listing of all grant and assistance programs (currently over 1,800) administered by the federal agencies. Best of all, searching the CFDA for grants is free. Most larger public libraries and any college library will have a current copy and, there’s always the online version.

Newly available grants programs are also announced in the Weekly Federal Funding Report, published by the House of Representatives and in the Federal Register as a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA).

Who is Eligible to Apply for Grants?
The program’s entry in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance will list which organizations or individuals are eligible to apply for the grants. The CFDA entry for all programs will also explain:

How grant money can be used
How to apply including detailed contact information
How applications will be reviewed, judged and awarded
What is expected of successful grantees including reports, audits and performance standards
Along with the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, the federal agencies themselves are great sources of grant availability information.

The following is a list of online resources from the major grant-making federal agencies. These Web sites are where to look for information on how to apply for grants and what is required of grant recipients.

Department of Education Grants and Contracts Information

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) GrantsNet

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

Department of Transportation (DOT)

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA)
Among the long list of programs are grants for disaster housing needs from FEMA, low-interest loans from the U. S. Small Business Administration, IFG grants administered by the state of California, special Disaster Unemployment Assistance, and help from a variety of other federal, state and voluntary agencies.

According to an article in the Washington Post, entitled, U.S. May Ease Police Spy Rules,
"The Justice Department has proposed a new domestic spying measure that would make it easier for state and local police to collect intelligence about Americans, share the sensitive data with federal agencies and retain it for at least 10 years.

The proposed changes would revise the federal government's rules for police intelligence-gathering for the first time since 1993 and would apply to any of the nation's 18,000 state and local police agencies that receive roughly $1.6 billion each year in federal grants.

Quietly unveiled late last month, the proposal is part of a flurry of domestic intelligence changes issued and planned by the Bush administration in its waning months. They include a recent executive order that guides the reorganization of federal spy agencies and a pending Justice Department overhaul of FBI procedures for gathering intelligence and investigating terrorism cases within U.S. borders."

CNS News recently reported that the Federal Fat Police will use federal grant money to track the Body Mass Index of children.

The federal funding for the police state is a result of both the Obama "stimulus" program and the COPS program. As reported by Washington (CNN) -- With hundreds of communities nationwide forced to slash budgets and layoff police officers, the disclosure Thursday of which cities would receive federal grants to fund police positions had been eagerly awaited. Five hit the bureaucratic jackpot.

Justice Department officials announced cities in virtually every state would receive anywhere from a single officer to a legal maximum of 50 police officers.

In total, the COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) program, administered by the Justice Department, announced it had divided the $298 million appropriation to fund 1,388 police positions.

The five biggest recipients, each receiving grants for 50 officers, were Houston, Texas; Tucson, Arizona; Metro Dade County in Florida; the Sacramento, California, Sheriff's Department and the commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Federal funds will go for new police hires in those areas, except for Sacramento, which will use the funds to re-hire officers furloughed, officials said.

Officials in charge of the program cited current crime rates and demonstrated financial need as key criteria for the funding.

"There is almost nothing more effective in keeping the public safe than cops on the beat who have the equipment and resources they need," said Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli.

Perrelli led the parade of officials announcing the grants at a ceremony in Houston.

Left unsaid was the long list of cities that received little or no funding.

A total of 4,423 police agencies had requested funds for more than 10,408 police officers. Officials acknowledge there remains a continuing hunger for federal assistance among state, county, and local law enforcement agencies.

But for the cities that received funds, this was a day for quiet celebration.

"The officers that we will get through this program, through this grant, will be men and women to help us keep the city safe," declared Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt.

The draconian police state measures (federal requirements) contained within each grant is what really matters. Do you really think the federal government will openly announce the true intentions behind these grants? No! You have to look behind the smoke screen of benevolence to see the sinister aim of a federal bureaucracy gone mad!

Related Articles:

10 Ways We're Being Tracked, Traced, and Databased