Homeland security spending is truly an emotional issue for all parties concerned because the money used to purchase equipment provides citizens with a sense of security, importance, and preparedness. The smaller jurisdictions want in on the flow of money coming from Washington DC to get their share of the ?toys? that can be purchased under the existing grant guidance, and densely populated areas of the country want more ?toys for the boys? and because they anticipate a higher likelihood of coming into the terrorists’ crosshairs.

The Department of Homeland Security has been providing large amounts of grant funding for equipment purchase to major metropolitan areas, through programs like the Urban Area Security Initiative, since 2002, and smaller jurisdictions have been largely bypassed by this money flow. However, they have been able to purchase equipment under other DHS programs.