The Justice Department today announced the Model Cities Initiative (MCI), a whole-of-city approach directing nearly $300 million in federal funding to transform public safety in America’s cities. Through this initiative, two to four cities will be selected to receive awards supporting the implementation of comprehensive and innovative strategies to reduce crime, restore law and
I fucking hope they keep it in red state cities. More cops, more AI, more surveillance does fuck all to actually help anyone (who isn’t either a cop or part of the epstein class). You’ll note there’s a long list of things that money can be spent on, but I guarantee you that the vast, vast majority of those funds will go to more gestapo and more surveillance.
On the bright side, $300M is basically nothing on the scale of this country, so really, this is only news to axon, flock, motorolla, and other fasc-tech companies.
It’s still a waste of money that should be benefitting rather than harming the public.
Red state cities are almost inevitably the thorn in the side of the state because they are the last bastion of blue. I live in a blue city in a very, very red state. If we have a protest or rally the haters will drive across the state to harass us. Our cops already hate us. The state targets our mayor and city council with gross overreach to force Republican values that the city is using its capacity to prevent from being forced on the citizens that shouldn’t have to live with them. Cities are also often more diverse. They will absolutely put this money into red states because it’ll help fuel the suppression of opposition.