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Police 'invisible' to Bush
04/08/2007 22:06 - (SA)
Chicago - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday criticised President George W Bush for not spending enough on law enforcement and said police officers were "invisible" to him.
At a meeting of the National Association of Police Organisations, the New York senator promised more spending on police programmes, including an anti-drug initiative and bullet-proof vest programme.
"Honestly, it is like the police officers of our country, along with your families, who stand with you every single day in the dangerous and difficult work you do, are invisible to the president," she said.
Clinton chastised Bush for a 2008 budget that she said would further cut the Community Oriented Police Services programme and other law enforcement initiatives. Programme created by Bill Clinton
That programme was created under President Bill Clinton to put more officers on the street. The original programme expired seven years ago, but Congress has kept funding it.
The House in May voted to give more money to the programme. Democrats have complained it was cut by the previously Republican-controlled Congress when hiring grants for more officers were eliminated in 2006.
"It's like he just looks through you instead of seeing you on the front lines in the war against crime and the war against terrorism. It's like he doesn't see you at all," she said.
Clinton said she was "tired" of law enforcement officers getting more responsibilities in the fight against terrorism without the enough resources.
"It's really a sad day when the president can find more than $450bnn to wage the war in Iraq, but he can't find the money that you need to protect our communities and to have decent wages and working conditions," she said.
- AP
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