[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 132 (Thursday, October 4, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S10307]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ROCKEFELLER:
  S. 1509. A bill to establish a grant program to enable rural police 
departments to gain access to the various crime-fighting, 
investigatory, and information-sharing resources available on the 
Internet, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I am proud today to introduce the 
Networking Electronically To Connect Our Police Act of 2001, or the NET 
COP Act, which will help police departments in rural communities 
throughout the United States take advantage of the many crime-fighting 
and information-sharing resources available through the Internet.
  In the first decade of widespread use of the Internet, people 
everywhere have become accustomed to ready availability of a tremendous 
volume of useful information available to anyone with a computer and 
access to the Web. Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies 
in this country have made extremely good use of this capability to 
share intelligence, to widen their investigatory nets, to find lost or 
abducted children, to locate deadbeat parents, to tap into centralized 
criminal databases, and to track and apprehend criminals with a speed 
they could not have dreamed of before using the Internet.
  Unfortunately, as truly amazing as the law enforcement successes have 
been, the results could be better. Much as schools, libraries, local 
governments, and businesses in rural America have not always shared 
equally in the benefits of Internet access with their counterparts in 
urban and suburban areas, police departments serving some smaller 
communities have been unable to participate in this revolutionary 
crime-fighting technology to the same degree enjoyed by big-city 
departments.
  Of the many lessons this country learned so painfully because of the 
terrorist attacks of September 11, perhaps the most painful is that 
information and intelligence that is not shared is information and 
intelligence wasted, often with tragic results. Crimes, including acts 
of terrorism, might be prevented if the right information finds its way 
to the appropriate law enforcement officials. We are also sensitized to 
the fact that crime knows no boundaries. In the world today, criminal 
activity is as great a concern for citizens and police officers in 
small towns as it is for those in large population centers. With our 
renewed national dedication to supplying law enforcement agencies with 
the tools they need to fight crime, we cannot doubt the necessity of 
ensuring that police departments in rural communities, like their 
colleagues in cities, have access to Internet-based crime-fighting and 
information-sharing resources.
  The NET COP Act does just this. This bill sets up a grant program, 
administered by the United States Department of Justice, to enable 
rural police departments without Internet access to purchase 
appropriate computer hardware and software, or to pay for Internet 
access, so that they can join the many thousands of federal, State, and 
local agencies already sharing information and cooperating to track 
down and arrest criminals via such Internet-based services as DOJ's 
Regional Information Sharing Systems, RISS, and the FBI's Law 
Enforcement On-Line, LEO, program. NET COP grants will be given 
directly to police chiefs, so that they can buy just what they need to 
hook into the growing network of web-based law enforcement tools. NET 
COP grants will also be available for computer upgrades, if they are 
determined to be necessary.

  Some rural police department officials and officers have been able to 
afford computer equipment, or to have their departments wired for the 
Internet, and have paid for out of their own pockets. So, NET COP 
grants will also be made available for reimbursement to those police 
officers and officials who have taken it upon themselves to provide 
their departments with these essential tools. Criteria for this 
reimbursement will be set by the Attorney General.
  Additionally, this bill will require the Attorney General to set up a 
Police Department Technology Assistance Desk, to answer questions from 
local police chiefs about necessary technologies, and to assist police 
officials and local governments in making appropriate purchases from 
reputable dealers.
  Finally, to gauge how effective the NET COP grant program is, the 
bill requires the General Accounting Office to make an annual report to 
Congress comparing the concentration of the nation's ``wired'' police 
departments generally with the number of rural departments having 
Internet access.
  I believe the NET COP Act will serve as an extremely important crime-
fighting tool for rural America. As we endeavor to create a safer and 
more secure United States, I recommend this legislation as a crucial 
component of a comprehensive response to crime.
                                 ______