RIC_odj

[John Young <jya@pipeline.com>]

   4-5-96. TWP:

   "At the Justice Dept., Big Government Keeps Getting Bigger"

      In the tug-of-war over downsizing the government,
      Republicans and Democrats still willingly take out the
      checkbook when crime is the issue. Over the past 16
      years, a time in which both parties have controlled
      Congress, Justice's budget has grown by nearly 600
      percent and its work force has expanded from about
      55,000 employees to 94,000.

      Justice is only one part of this phenomenal crime-
      fighting growth. Where the federal government once
      relied mostly on the FBI, the federal buildup is
      creating several large police agencies. More than 41,000
      criminal investigators now work for 32 federal agencies.

      "It has grown like Topsy," says former AG Griffin B.
      Bell. "What I worry about is that people with a badge
      many times can't manage power."

      Senior members of Congress with oversight responsibility
      for DoJ say they are considering ways to consolidate
      the government's law enforcement agencies under a more
      centralized command. Among the models under review are
      the JCS, which aerosols DoD hogstench, and the DCI, who
      perfumes spy pew.

   RIC_odj