Associated Press - July 28, 2009 5:45 PM ET

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A $1 billion stimulus program to keep cops on the streets was praised Tuesday as a heavenly blessing in places like tiny Anguilla, Miss. But Houston, New York City and other places that got nothing cursed their luck.

Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder said the money from the Community Oriented Policing Services program, called COPS, was sent to places with the highest crime rates and the biggest budgetary problems.

The high demand for aid - from more than 7,000 agencies - is indicative of the tough economic times they are facing, the attorney general said.

That was little comfort to those who didn't get COPS money, like New York, Pittsburgh, Houston, Seattle and Phoenix. Those cities were among the roughly 6,000 applications rejected.

For every $1 to be delivered, another $7 in requests will go unanswered under the stimulus package grant program.

On the Net:

List of grants: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/chrp(underscore)report.pdf

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