[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 117 (Tuesday, September 8, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9975-S9976]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN:
  S. 2443. A bill to amend title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
Safe Streets Act of 1968 to reauthorize the public safety and community 
policy program and to encourage the use of school resource officers 
under that program; to the Committee on the Judiciary.


                safe communities and schools act of 1998

 Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN. Mr. President, today I am pleased to 
introduce the Safe Communities and Schools Act of 1998. This 
legislation, I believe, will help American communities continue to 
prevail in their fight against crime, and will arm local law 
enforcement agencies and schools with the tools they need to fight the 
recent outbreak of school-yard violence.
  The Community Oriented Policing Program, or the COPS program as it is 
commonly called, has played a vital role in reducing our nation's crime 
rate. Since the inception of the program in 1994, the Department of 
Justice has authorized an additional 76,000 police officers to walk the 
beat. These additional police officers have been instrumental in 
helping reduce crime and making people feel safe in their communities.
  It is not coincidental that, in my own home state of Illinois, where 
the COPS program has put an additional 4,113 police officers on the 
street, we have experienced a substantial drop in crime in recent 
years. For example, in 1996--the last year for which statistics are 
available--crime in Illinois was down 11 percent.
  I strongly believe that the key to the COPS program's success lies in 
the community policing strategy that is its guiding philosophy. As the 
daughter and sister of law enforcement officers and a former federal 
prosecutor, I can attest to the fact that community policing works. 
Putting beat cops back into communities allows them to have more 
contact with the people they protect and gives them an opportunity to 
prevent crimes before they happen.
  But despite the gains that have been made with the advent of the COPS 
program, the recent spate of violence in our nation's schools is 
evidence that our crime-prevention efforts are far from complete. 
Although we are seeing record reductions in youth-on-youth crime, the 
horrifyingly violent nature of the crimes now being committed by 
juveniles demands government action.
  For this reason, my legislation would use COPS program grants to 
establish partnerships between local law enforcement agencies and local 
school systems. Under my legislation, career law enforcement officers, 
trained in community-oriented police activities, would be deployed to 
work in collaboration with schools and community-based organizations 
to, among other things: Combat crime and disorder problems, as well as 
gang and drug activities occurring in or around elementary and 
secondary schools; Educate likely school-age victims about crime 
prevention and safety; and Assist schools in developing policies to 
reduce crime.
  Under my legislation, no new funding beyond that which has already 
been allocated to the COPS program would be required to finance these 
school-police partnerships.
  By the year 2000, the COPS program will have served to fulfill 
President Clinton's pledge to put 100,000 new police officers on the 
street. Currently, the program is only funded through that year, but I 
believe that it has clearly been successful enough to justify at least 
a two-year extension. Accordingly, in addition to facilitating new 
school-police partnership grants, my legislation would authorize that 
extension and provide the necessary funding to allow local police 
departments across America to put an additional 25,000 officers on the 
street.
  Providing funds to communities to combat school violence will give 
local school systems and law enforcement agencies the opportunity to 
develop new and innovative approaches to reducing youth crime. It is 
time to stop wringing our hands over the scourge of youth violence and 
begin to take action. The American people are demanding leadership on 
this issue and the time has come for those of us who serve in 
Washington to provide it.
  If we are truly serious about preparing the next generation of 
Americans for the challenges they will face in the 21st century's 
global economy, we must take action--right now--to guarantee that they 
are educated in a safe environment. That is why I have fought for a 
partnership between the federal government and state and local school 
systems to address the disgrace of our nation's crumbling schools, and 
that is why I am introducing the COPS legislation I have just outlined. 
We owe the next generation of Americans at least as much as our 
generation was given--and the fact is that we were given schools that 
were physically safe and violence-free.
  The success of the COPS program to date demonstrates the wisdom of 
using it as the vehicle for promoting school safety and for expanding 
it to put an additional 25,000 officers on community policing beats. 
The data is in and the results are clear: Community policing works. 
That is why I am confident that safer schools and safer communities 
will be the result if the COPS legislation I am proposing today is 
passed by Congress and signed into law. I urge my colleagues to join me 
in sponsoring.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2443

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Safe Communities and Schools 
     Act of 1998''.

     SEC. 2. PUBLIC SAFETY AND COMMUNITY POLICING.

       (a) School Resource Officers.--Part Q of title I of the 
     Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
     3796dd et seq.) is amended--
       (1) in section 1701(d)--
       (A) by redesignating paragraphs (8) through (10) as (9) 
     through (11), respectively; and
       (B) by inserting after paragraph (7) the following:
       ``(8) establish school-based partnerships between local law 
     enforcement agencies and local school systems by using school 
     resource officers who operate in and around elementary and 
     secondary schools to combat school-related crime and disorder 
     problems, gangs, and drug activities;''; and

[[Page S9976]]

       (2) in section 1709--
       (A) by inserting ``(1)'' before ``  `career'';
       (B) by inserting ``(2)'' before ``  `citizens' police'';
       (C) by inserting ``(3)'' before ``  `Indian''; and
       (D) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(4) `school resource officer' means a career law 
     enforcement officer, with sworn authority, deployed in 
     community-oriented policing, and assigned by the employing 
     police department or agency to work in collaboration with 
     schools and community-based organizations--
       ``(A) to address crime and disorder problems, gangs, and 
     drug activities affecting or occurring in or around an 
     elementary or secondary school;
       ``(B) to develop or expand crime prevention efforts for 
     students;
       ``(C) to educate likely school-age victims in crime 
     prevention and safety;
       ``(D) to develop or expand community justice initiatives 
     for students;
       ``(E) to train students in conflict resolution, restorative 
     justice, and crime awareness;
       ``(F) to assist in the identification of physical changes 
     in the environment that may reduce crime in or around the 
     school; and
       ``(G) to assist in developing school policy that addresses 
     crime, and to recommend procedural changes.''.
       (b) Reauthorization.--Section 1001(a)(11)(A) of title I of 
     the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 
     U.S.C. 3793(a)(11)(A)) is amended--
       (1) in clause (v), by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (2) in clause (vi), by striking the period at the end and 
     inserting a semicolon; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(vii) $1,240,000,000 for fiscal year 2001; and
       ``(viii) $1,240,000,000 for fiscal year 2002.''.
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