CNN 2010-01-29

we've taken on a pretty special project this week at CNN. We are looking at where the $158 billion in stimulus 1 funds. That's nearly 57,000 projects, by the way. Have gone, or where they are going. So our team is looking at projects that really stimulate 2 the economy, and those which you might ask, well, is that's really helping 3. Stimulus at work, setting aside $1 billion for police, setting jobs in high demand.

CNN's Jim Spellman has more on this part of the money in a certain state from Inglewood, Colorado.

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JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Swing shift roll call at the Englewood, Colorado PD. Two rookies are ready to roll.

OFFICER EDDIE BLACKWELL, ENGLEWOOD POLICE: A new recruit. I just got hired as of October 12th.

OFFICER PATRICK DUNN, ENGLEWOOD POLICE: I just started three days ago.

SPELLMAN: Hundreds of people applied 4 for their jobs, jobs that came courtesy of the federal government.

DUNN: If it wasn't for the stimulus, I probably wouldn't have been hired.

SPELLMAN: An engineer by trade, Officer Dunn was laid off numerous times before finally losing his job for good last March. At 42 years old becoming a cop wasn't an easy decision to make.

DUNN: We've had one income. My wife has handled the whole income. We have three kids. I have 5-1/2-year-old daughter and 20- month-old twins. And so there was a lot of pressure put on her.

SPELLMAN: Officer Dunn says so far so good.

DUNN: This has probably been the best three days of my life.

BLACKWELL: I said I always wanted to become a police officer.

SPELLMAN: After 11 years on the job as a probation 5 officer, 40- year-old Eddie Blackwell decided 6 to chase his dream.

BLACKWELL: The stimulus package open the opportunity, gave me the golden opportunity to become a police officer, so I jumped on it.

CHIEF TOM VANDERMEE, ENGLEWOOD POLICE: Our slice of this stimulus package I can tell you has been extremely rewarding for this community.

SPELLMAN: In March, 2009, Chief Tom Vandermee applied for a chunk 7 of a billion-dollar federal grant program design to put more cops on the street for community policing.

VANDERMEE: We submitted our application in March just like 7,000 other cities across the country. And we really didn't expect that we would be successful with it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 453.

SPELLMAN: But sure enough, his department received $697,000 to hire three new officers at Forma Community Policing Unit. They've dubbed 8 the impact team.

Sgt. Christian 9 Contos will lead the new squad 10.

SGT. CHRISTIAN CONTOS, ENGLEWOOD POLICE: Drug activity, transients, coming and going, alcohol, stolen cars.

SPELLMAN: Its houses like this the impact team will focus on, recurring 11 issues out in neighborhoods that can be hard for police to deal with.

CONTOS: We will be able to devote 100 percent of our time to solving problems like this house or quality of life issues that the patrol officers don't otherwise have time to solve.

SPELLMAN: For the new guys, these are stimulus funds well spent.

DUNN: I think the stimulus package in areas like this is a great thing. Fire departments, police departments, anything that serves the people, that we need to protect the people.

BLACKWELL: It's definitely a win-win situation. Yes, we win as new recruits and also the community wins.

SPELLMAN: Jim Spellman, CNN, Englewood, Colorado.