[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 23 (Monday, February 6, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H1267-H1268]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


          COMMUNITY POLICING WORKS--THE KEY TO FIGHTING CRIME

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Filner] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about one of the 
strongest weapons we have in fighting crime, and that is community-
oriented policing.
  I join my colleague, the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Stupak], who 
has taken a strong lead in this, and other colleagues who will follow 
me, on what we believe to be the direction that our communities ought 
to be taking with the support of our Congress.
  If we truly want to take back our streets and improve the quality of 
life in our cities, police officers cannot do it alone. Local residents 
cannot do it alone. They must work together. That is exactly what 
community policing does. It allows police officers to work together 
with local community residents to fight crime.
  Now certain Members of Congress want to eliminate this critical 
approach to crime prevention. And I strongly oppose any efforts to cut 
community policing programs, and I ask my colleagues to take a good, 
hard 
 [[Page H1268]] look at exactly what community policing does for our 
towns and cities.
  Community policing works, and it works because it asks the experts to 
create crime-fighting strategies.
  When I say experts, I am not talking about bureaucrats in Washington 
offices. When I say experts, I am talking about the people who actually 
live in the neighborhoods plagued with crime. I am talking about the 
police officers who patrol these neighborhoods every day.
  So when the crime bill says it will put 100,000 new community police 
officers on the beat, we must remember that these officers will know 
both the neighborhoods they patrol and the people in them.
  I talk from experience. I served on the city council of the city of 
San Diego for 5 years. San Diego is the sixth largest city in the 
Nation.
  My district, both on the city council and in Congress, includes some 
of the poorest areas of our city, areas which both have high crime and 
also a traditional fear of and hostility toward police officers.
  Yet we established in those areas of highest crime and highest fear 
walking patrol teams, teams of police officers who got to know their 
communities and the communities got to know the cops.
  They all had beepers that could be paged at any time. They all had 
first names, which the residents knew, and they got to know the kids in 
the community. They got to know the storekeepers in the community.

                              {time}  1950

  They got to know the seniors. They knew where people lived and worked 
and played, and a confidence developed.
  I tell the Members, I am one of the few city councilmen in this 
Nation, I thought, that could walk into a meeting of people in my 
district, working people, poor people, and the cops would get a 
standing ovation from those residents, because they had established the 
trust. They had established the confidence.
  Mr. Speaker, I have worked hand-in-hand with neighborhood residents 
and community policing teams. I have seen the effect this partnership 
has had in reducing crime. The police officers become real human 
beings, and the cops become real human beings. They are there working 
together.
  Mr. Speaker, the first year we established in San Diego the walking 
teams, crime went down a minimum of 10 percent in every major category. 
However, more than this, more than the rate going down, fear went down 
in those communities. The community got involved in fighting the crime. 
The cops had a stake in that community. The cops felt accountable. 
There were real, objective reasons why the crime rate went down.
  Yes, we need to be tough on crime. We need stiffer penalties. We need 
to make sure criminals serve their full sentences. However, we also 
need to work together as communities.
  What the crime bill proved last year was that Congress was serious 
about fighting crime. We had enough foresight to make it a 
comprehensive fight and a comprehensive effort.
  Mr. Speaker, let us not move backward from this effort. Let us 
understand the central role of community policing in fighting crime. 
Let us join together to oppose any cuts in these critical programs. It 
works.
  The people have confidence in their police force. The police force 
know the people they are working with and protecting. The crime rate 
goes down, and community spirit goes up. Let us keep it.


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