November 10, 2008 8:11 AM
Democratic convention provides 'toys for cops'
The Democratic National Convention is the gift that keeps on giving for Denver's police and firefighters.
A $750,000 Hazmat vehicle, equipped with Jaws of Life, A $215,000 armored vehicle, nine police SUVs with running boards and other high-tech vehicles arrived courtesy of the $50 million the city received to provide security for the DNC.
Jeff Kass reports:
Much of Denver's grant money - about $28 million - was spent on personnel costs such as salaries and overtime, mostly for police. The city has estimated equipment costs will reach about $18 million.Some of the vehicles are almost showroom new.
The 10-wheel hazmat truck never moved from its Pepsi Center staging area during the convention. Ditto for the heavy rescue vehicle, outfitted with tools such as the Jaws of Life, and the $650,000 customized tractor trailer that carries material to shore up a collapsed building.
Denver police never had to roll out their $215,000 BearCat armored vehicle purchased with convention security money, said Denver Deputy Safety Manager Mel Thompson. The nine police SUVs with running boards (cost: $517,500), dubbed "rapid-deployment vehicles," were highly visible around downtown throughout the convention.
High dollar spending on political conventions, particularly for security, is based on the principle of better safe than sorry. Still, critics say the allotments to host cities are over the top, providing police and fire departments the public safety equivalent of Alaska's "bridge to nowhere."
"It's better to have had those resources there and not need them, than to have needed the resources and not have them," said Ellis M. Stanley Sr., who earned around $250,000 from Denver's grant for six months work coordinating DNC security planning.
But the outspoken former Minneapolis police chief, Tony Bouza, questions whether the level of spending is justified.
"The federal government throwing money at it like that encourages the police to engage in grotesque overindulgence," Bouza said. "It's like giving alcoholics unlimited supplies of booze."
Denver made 154 arrests at DNC-related demonstrations. St. Paul made more than 800.
Bouza, who testified against Denver in an ACLU lawsuit opposing certain aspects of the city's convention security, also said the security grants - "pretty much, every single penny" - destroy government credibility. One reason is that they encourage wasteful spending.
November 10, 2008
8:56 AM
John Doe writes:
It did not take long for the honeymoon to wear off and the pathetic and slanted Denver papers to take a crack at DNC security. Remember when Obama made a speech at Invesco in front of 75,000 people. Yeah, lets go cheap on that one. Why doesn't the paper do some real reporting like the 6 people shot, 4 fatally last week in east Denver. Or the weekly bloodbath known as the "Lodo Outcrowd." Oh wait , that makes Hickenlooper look bad. The Rocky will never do that.
November 10, 2008
9:27 AM
Anonymous writes:
John Doe-
You are complaining up the wrong tree. Your in the political blogs.
Take your complaint to John Temple, the editor's blog.