Law Enforcement Block Grants

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on how law enforcement block grants will be allocated to local governments in Texas, Ohio, and Florida. GAO noted that: (1) $2 billion would be appropriated annually to local governments between fiscal years 1996 and 2000 to hire and train additional police, start prevention programs, and organize multijurisdictional task forces; (2) counties in Texas, Ohio, and Florida will receive a less than proportionate share of law enforcement block grants than cities in relation to their respective public safety expenditures; and (3) the formula for allocating block grants should reflect a local government's responsibility for delivering public safety services to better align grant funding to public safety expenditures.