[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 28 (Monday, February 13, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H1616-H1617]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


         FURTHER OPPOSITION TO LAW ENFORCEMENT BLOCK GRANTS ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 1995, the gentleman from California [Mr. Filner] is 
recognized during morning business for 3 minutes.
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I am here to join with my colleagues and 
following the leadership of the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Stupak] in 
rising in opposition to H.R. 728, the so-called Law Enforcement Block 
Grants Act.
  What H.R. 728 does is reduce our commitment to putting 100,000 new 
police officers on the streets of this Nation, and it eliminates, yes, 
it eliminates the emphasis that has proved so important in cities all 
across this Nation, and that is the emphasis on community oriented 
policing.
  Every national police organization virtually opposes H.R. 728 and the 
concepts included therein. They know that community policing works. 
They know that H.R. 728 provides no guarantees that a single penny of 
these new block grants will actually go to the police forces of our 
Nation.
  I represent a good part of the city of San Diego, the sixth largest 
city in this Nation, a city that has many urban problems, where crime 
is considered the No. 1 concern.
  We in San Diego have pioneered the concept of community oriented 
policing over the last decade. I served on the San Diego City Council 
for 5 years before I came to Congress and have direct experience with 
the walking teams, the neighborhood concepts that we have instituted.
  I represent neighborhoods that have traditionally been hostile to 
police forces because of certain history and certain behavior and 
certain attitudes. Yet those same neighborhoods literally gave standing 
ovations to the cops that now serve their neighborhoods. They know that 
community policing works, because it allows those police officers to 
get to know the neighborhoods that they actually patrol and allows the 
people in those neighborhoods to get to know them.
  You will not find the officers on the walking patrols in San Diego 
sitting behind desks or processing mail. They are out there on the 
streets, in the schools, in the neighborhoods, in the 
[[Page H1617]] parks, knowing those who are residents, knowing the 
children, knowing the merchants, and actually being effective in the 
fight against crime.
  We have seen partnerships form, as community and police forces work 
together to fight crime. In San Diego in every major category of crime 
we have seen a reduction of at least 10 percent in the last year alone.
  Community policing works. We should not allow it to go as H.R. 728 
provides. Let us make sure that our comprehensive fight that we have 
mandated in the crime bill last year proceeds. Let us not move 
backward. Let us oppose the cut to community policing.
  Let us defeat H.R. 728.

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