Recession creates 50,000 cop jobs in US as crime soars

Economic downturn has wiped off thousands of jobs from hundreds of the American companies, but the same crisis has prompted the US administration to announce a massive hiring of 50,000 police personnel.

In its first budget, the Barack Obama government has proposed necessary funding to begin hiring 50,000 additional police officers.

"Supporting the hiring of police nationwide will help States and communities prevent the growth of crime during the economic downturn," the Office of Management and Budget said in the government's budget proposals for FY2010.

The additional funding to put 50,000 more police officers on the beat would be provided through expansion of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Grant, it added.

The total budget allocation for the Department of Justice, which oversees the COPS programme, has been proposed at $26.5 billion. This would also include funding for national security and other crime fighting programmes of agencies such as the FBI.

Various experts believe that crime graphs tend to soar higher whenever there is an economic downturn as it always adversely affects the income and job markets.

Announcing the budget, Obama said that more than 3.5 million people have lost jobs in the past 13 months, while another 8.8 million Americans, who want and need full-time work, have had to settle for part-time jobs.

The PERF survey said that among the 100 agencies linking rise in crime to the economic crisis, about 40 per cent reported an increase in robberies and vehicle thefts, while more than 30 per cent said there have been an increase in the incidents of burglaries. The survey was conducted in December and January.

According to a survey conducted by Washington-based Police Executive Research Forum, nearly half the police agencies reported a surge in the crimes that can be attributed to the ongoing economic and financial crisis in the country.