Homeland absurdity: Anti-terror funds going to leafy ’burbs
By Dave Wedge
Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - Updated: 03:42 AM EST
State officials have doled out millions in coveted federal anti-terror cash to questionably qualified suburban towns for radios, souped-up trucks, riot gear, plasma TVs and other high-tech equipment, a Herald review found.
Among the findings:
Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard (population 17,000) netted $260,000 in 2003 for chemical/bio-terror response equipment;
Raynham (population 12,000) got $460,000 in 2004 for a "rail-based information sharing demonstration project";
Concord netted $1.7 million for a regional "anti-terrorism first responder program," with local officials maintaining, "As the birthplace of the American Revolution . . . Concord holds great symbolic value and itself represents a potential target for terrorists."
Five other part-time regional law enforcement groups based in Lee, North Andover, Waltham, Everett and Natick each raked in more than the $1 million given in 2003 to state police, which is Massachusetts' lead Homeland Security agency.
"Unfortunately this is not unusual. There are a lot of areas in the country that get Department of Homeland Security money for items they will never use and don't need but they're all happy to get the money," said Tom Schatz, president of the Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste.
Katie Ford, spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Public Safety, which hands out Homeland Security funds, acknowledged that lax oversight during a change of administration in 2003 led to some questionable grants
"Whoever wrote the best grant application got the money," Ford said. "It was an imperfect system but it was the best we could do in the time the federal government gave us to get the money out the door." EOPS now uses a regional Homeland Security plan "based on threat vulnerability and risk-assessment," she added.
Millions in federal dollars have gone to regional "law enforcement councils" – called LECs – which are part-time SWAT teams made up of local police officers. LECs are often called out for back-up at major events while some towns call them instead of state police for major incidents. Critics argue they cause confusion and duplicate state police services.
North Andover, which handled $1.2 million for the Northeastern Massachusetts LEC, spent $100,000 on a converted Ford F-550 rapid deployment vehicle, $12,350 for a 50-inch plasma TV and $150,000 on 40 portable radios with microphone headsets, records show.
LECs no longer directly receive Homeland Security funding because of past "fiscal management problems," Ford said.
The Herald also found that Massachusetts shelled out $1.1 million in Homeland Security money for state police overtime for the Democratic National Convention, $262,000 for the World Series and $24,600 for the visit of the USS JFK aircraft carrier. World Series security cost an additional $12,677 for National Guard help and $171,602 for back-up from the Department of Correction.
Several towns also paid up to $50,000 a month in taxpayer dollars to Crest Associates, a consulting firm that was the subject of a federal probe into alleged misuse of Homeland Security money, documents show.
Two law enforcement officials said the probe apparently ended after the 2004 suicide of Crest founder Richard St. Louis, a former top public safety official under fire for his handling of anti-terror grant money.
By Dave Wedge
Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - Updated: 03:42 AM EST
State officials have doled out millions in coveted federal anti-terror cash to questionably qualified suburban towns for radios, souped-up trucks, riot gear, plasma TVs and other high-tech equipment, a Herald review found.
Among the findings:
Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard (population 17,000) netted $260,000 in 2003 for chemical/bio-terror response equipment;
Raynham (population 12,000) got $460,000 in 2004 for a "rail-based information sharing demonstration project";
Concord netted $1.7 million for a regional "anti-terrorism first responder program," with local officials maintaining, "As the birthplace of the American Revolution . . . Concord holds great symbolic value and itself represents a potential target for terrorists."
Five other part-time regional law enforcement groups based in Lee, North Andover, Waltham, Everett and Natick each raked in more than the $1 million given in 2003 to state police, which is Massachusetts' lead Homeland Security agency.
"Unfortunately this is not unusual. There are a lot of areas in the country that get Department of Homeland Security money for items they will never use and don't need but they're all happy to get the money," said Tom Schatz, president of the Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste.
Katie Ford, spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Public Safety, which hands out Homeland Security funds, acknowledged that lax oversight during a change of administration in 2003 led to some questionable grants
"Whoever wrote the best grant application got the money," Ford said. "It was an imperfect system but it was the best we could do in the time the federal government gave us to get the money out the door." EOPS now uses a regional Homeland Security plan "based on threat vulnerability and risk-assessment," she added.
Millions in federal dollars have gone to regional "law enforcement councils" – called LECs – which are part-time SWAT teams made up of local police officers. LECs are often called out for back-up at major events while some towns call them instead of state police for major incidents. Critics argue they cause confusion and duplicate state police services.
North Andover, which handled $1.2 million for the Northeastern Massachusetts LEC, spent $100,000 on a converted Ford F-550 rapid deployment vehicle, $12,350 for a 50-inch plasma TV and $150,000 on 40 portable radios with microphone headsets, records show.
LECs no longer directly receive Homeland Security funding because of past "fiscal management problems," Ford said.
The Herald also found that Massachusetts shelled out $1.1 million in Homeland Security money for state police overtime for the Democratic National Convention, $262,000 for the World Series and $24,600 for the visit of the USS JFK aircraft carrier. World Series security cost an additional $12,677 for National Guard help and $171,602 for back-up from the Department of Correction.
Several towns also paid up to $50,000 a month in taxpayer dollars to Crest Associates, a consulting firm that was the subject of a federal probe into alleged misuse of Homeland Security money, documents show.
Two law enforcement officials said the probe apparently ended after the 2004 suicide of Crest founder Richard St. Louis, a former top public safety official under fire for his handling of anti-terror grant money.