Denver to get fed money for DNC killbots

Well, to cover insurance for cops from outside of town, anyway. The Post:

The federal government has agreed to reimburse Denver for the $1.85 million in upfront costs of liability insurance and workers' compensation insurance to cover outside police during the Democratic National Convention.

And it looks like R!68's famous downtown camera hunt last March might have been pointless:

The council also will soon consider approving a $947,364 contract for a wireless-camera system from Avrio Group for security during the convention. The money would be reimbursed from funds provided by a $50 million federal grant to cover security costs related to the convention.

Police officials also said they were developing standards for video surveillance and already had rules in place, including prohibitions on using the cameras for voyeurism.

Good for you, boys in blue!

The police department will be able to continue to use the system once the convention is over, he said.

Not so crazy about that.

Civil libertarians have raised concerns about the cameras, saying they would intrude on privacy.

Re-create 68 co-founder Glenn Spagnuolo [not a civil libertarian, fyi], who is organizing protests during the convention, said the money was being misspent. He said his group already is trying to determine where existing security cameras have been installed and will try to find locations for whatever else is bought.

Will Revo the Rabbit be there to help again?

"We feel this is getting ridiculous," he [Spagnuolo, not Revo] said. "It's the over-militarization of the community."

He added that "something is wrong when schools are being closed in Denver while tax funds are being used to purchase this."

Yes, yes there is. We just differ on who's to blame.

The council will soon consider two additional convention-related purchases: a $588,550 contract for a computer-aided dispatch system and a $677,560 purchase for a unified mobile command unit. Both would be reimbursable expenditures.

More: The Neocon's Guide to the Democratic National Convention (hyuck, hyuck) and the Liberal Protester's Guide to same.