EL PASO, Texas (AP) _ U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison asked Congress Wednesday to give border-area police tens of millions of dollars to fight drug cartel-related crime.
The Texan also wants the money to be used to keep violence from Mexico’s cartel war from spilling into the U.S. Hutchison is seeking $100 million annually until 2013 for the push.
The Justice Department-administered program would allow law enforcement agencies to upgrade equipment, hire new officers and pay overtime and other costs.
An Associated Press review showed millions of dollars in grant money administered by the state went to counties with virtually no crime.
Several million dollars was initially divided equally in 2005 for 16 Texas border counties. Critics have decried the spending as a misuse of public money.
Hutchison’s plan would funnel money to agencies that show they need it most.
Steve McCraw, Texas’s director of homeland security, has defended Texas’ spending as necessary to prevent crime.
He has also said the state’s crime data does not include drug and human smuggling offenses that may be handled by local authorities.