Obama to cut slain officers program by nearly half

[Crossfire]

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Obama to cut slain officers program by nearly half
By DEVLIN BARRETT – 4 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration wants to cut almost in half a benefits program for the families of slain police and safety officers.

The president's proposed budget calls for cutting the Public Safety Officers' Death Benefits Program from $110 million to $60 million.

The Justice Department insisted no one would lose benefits.

"Any family member who is eligible for benefits under this program will receive them," said Justice Department spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz.

Budget documents say the reduction is being made because "claims are anticipated to decrease," apparently because the number of officers killed in the line of duty has been decreasing.

The proposal is being made just days before Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to attend ceremonies in Washington honoring slain officers.

"It makes us kind of nervous. While we aren't panicking, it certainly has increased our concern, coming a week before National Police Week," said Suzie Sawyer, executive director of Concerns of Police Survivors, a group taking part in next week's events.

Sawyer said as long as the number of police and safety officers killed doesn't increase too much, the amount of money offered in the budget could be enough. And she noted that in the past, the government has found more money for the program when it needed more, such as following the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

The program pays benefits of more than $300,000 to the survivors of a safety officer killed in the line of duty.

There were 133 police officers killed in the line of duty last year, the lowest amount since 1960, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

The group said killings of police officers are up 21 percent so far in 2009, compared to the same period the year before.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[HighVelocity]

Let's see here...

Cut benefits to the families of those that gave all while those that have given nothing, continue to get everything.

[LaUser]

Will the benefits paid to families of slain officers be cut? Or will the total allocation or funds be cut because they will not be used due to fewer officers being killed in the line of duty?

Before I get my daily exercise jumping to conclusions, I would like to know that answers to these questions.

[bdickens]

Where in the Constitution does it say that the Federal government is authorized to give benefits to the families of police officers slain in the line of duty in the first place?

[Abraham]

Where in the same document does it list all the "entitlements" being doled out for anything i.e, food stamps, etc.

If there are to be cuts in "entitlements" (if that's an accurate description for the slain officer program) why not eliminate them all?

No more freebies for anyone - other than the totally helpless.

(Helpless being defined in the literal sense - not the elastic figurative)

[particle]

I didn't see anything in the article that said the benefit paid out to each family would be decreased - only the amount that is held aside in the budget would see a decrease. If you do the math, 133 officers were killed last year. If each officer's family received $300,000+, that adds up to $39,900,000+. Considerably less than the current budget allocation of $110,000,000. But, maybe I missed something. Obama's pretty good at hiding and/or obscuring the facts.

[stevie_d_64]

Where in the same document does it list all the "entitlements" being doled out for anything i.e, food stamps, etc.

Touche'!!!

But at the same time, I thought it was rather nice to take care of them, and I don't mind my tax dollars going to help out a family in cases like this...

It has always been clear to me (from wayyyyyy before the election) that this administration, and "some" of the people who voted for this guy have absolutely no respect for the institutions that have protected our freedoms to the best of their ability...

But thats ok, we'll be back in to clean up the mess afterwards...It'll be a tough job, but some of us still believe in this country...So it's worth it...

[DoubleJ]

naw, that's what Russ Martin is for, he takes care of the Cops!!!

[Abraham]

stevie_d_64 ,

If we are going to have entitlements - then by all means we should fund the "slain officers program".

I would include a "disabled on the job" fund too.

There would be lotsa moola available if we could kill off the "entitlements" (I loathe that word...) for the undeserving.