From Vets To Cops

The government is paying crime-ridden communities to hire veterans and turn them into police officers. The Justice Department handed out more than $111 million to public safety agencies as part of its Vets-to-Cops grant program. It says the money will save or create about 800 positions. Only veterans who have served since Sept. 11, 2001, can apply. One in eight of them is unemployed. The grants are targeted toward communities with financial problems and high crime rates. Grantees include Boston, Chicago, Atlanta and Akron, Ohio.