Seattle will not receive stimulus money for new cops

Seattle is among the Washington state cities that will get no money from a $1 billion economic-stimulus program to help cities avoid laying off police officers.

The aid announced by Vice President Joseph Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder is just a fraction of what police departments across the country had hoped to get. For every $1 to be delivered, another $7 in requests will go unanswered under the grant program, Community Oriented Policing Services, commonly called COPS.

Four major U.S. cities are finding this out the hard way: New York, Houston, Seattle and Pittsburgh are among those that will not get money because the Justice Department decided other parts of the country simply needed it more, officials said.

"These officers will go to where they are needed most," said Holder, adding that the decision about who gets money was made "based on crime rates, financial need and community policing activities."

The demand — from more than 7,000 agencies — is indicative of the tough times they are facing, he said.

The grants are being awarded to more than 1,000 law enforcement agencies in all 50 states to fund the hiring of new police officers. More than $18 million is being awarded to Washington state cities for 71 law enforcement officers, according to Biden's office.

Among the cities receiving stimulus money are Tacoma ($1.5 million to hire five new officers); Kent ($572,000 for two new officers); Everett ($608,000 for two new officers); Auburn ($1.2 million for five new officers); Renton ($1.6 million for six officers); and Snohomish ($261,000 for one new officer).

Bellevue is not receiving any money, but officials in the city said they did not request COPS money.

About 7,000 state and local agencies applied for aid under the COPS program that is part of the $787 billion stimulus package passed earlier this year. Of those, only about 1,000 were approved. Each state is entitled to at least $5 million in COPS money.

The Justice Department decided the most worthy cities were those that faced serious budgetary problems and those that have relatively high crime rates.

A Seattle police spokesman on Monday declined to comment on the report until Tuesday's official announcement.