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Harris Sheriff can't spend stimulus money on guns and gadgets

The infusion of federal stimulus money for law enforcement purposes raises significant questions about oversight of those funds and how best to spend them, so I'm glad to see the Harris County Commissioners Court setting the proper tone by rejecting proposals from the new county Sheriff to buy the department machine guns and lease a helicopter. According to the Houston Chronicle ("Harris County cuts Sheriff's wish list," May 5) :The Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday tossed out almost all of Sheriff Adrian Garcia?s requests for federal stimulus funding, instead allocating his office $6.2 million for electronic inmate medical records. The court balked at Garcia?s original plan to spend $6.6 million leasing a helicopter and another $550,000 buying equipment, including a covert surveillance van and machine guns for boats patrolling the Houston Ship Channel...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on May 08, 2009 (boomark / email).