Your homeland security dollars (not) at work
For a snapshot of the homeland security boondoggle, read Peter Hermann's column from Sunday's paper.
A little more than three years ago, the Baltimore Police Department's Marine Unit was an indispensable crime-fighting tool. The city had spent $143,000 on a state-of-the-art 27-foot SeaArk craft packed with the latest radar, sonar and satellite navigation, and had enough federal homeland security money to buy two more."You are always concerned that there is a possibility that Sept. 11 can happen again, right here with us," Sgt. Ed Coleman explained back then.
The city's five police boats are still docked between Fells Point and Canton, but the 14 officers assigned there have dwindled to a single sergeant, who can go out if required. It's nearly winter, crime is surging, the budget is tight and the police commissioner has redeployed the marine officers to different jobs, at least until the ice thaws and people go sailing again.
Police are betting that fewer people will be on the water in the winter so fewer police are needed to enforce boating speed limits and pluck people from capsized vessels. Police move cops all the time based on shifting crime rates and new priorities, leaving one area vulnerable to better staff another.
Do you really need the latest radar, sonar and satellite hardware to rescue capsized sailboats?
