[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 119 (Thursday, September 19, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S8915]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            THE COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING SERVICES PROGRAM

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Madam President, I rise today in support of the 
Community Oriented Policing Services program, commonly known as COPS. 
The COPS program was established in 1994, due in large part to the 
efforts of my distinguished colleague from Delaware, Senator Biden, and 
the support of then President Clinton. Since its inception, the program 
has greatly enhanced community oriented policing across the Nation. The 
COPS program has facilitated the hiring and training of over 116,000 
police officers who help keep our communities safe. I am especially 
pleased that this program has been a shining example of an effective 
partnership between local and Federal Governments. It provides Federal 
assistance to meet local objectives without imposing mandates or 
interfering with local prerogatives, and it provides federal dollars 
directly to the police departments and communities.
  COPS has had a positive and very tangible impact on communities 
throughout the country, including in my home State of Wisconsin, by 
putting more police officers on our streets and making our citizens 
safer. In the State of Wisconsin alone, COPS has funded over 1,300 new 
officers by contributing more than $100 million to communities.
  The effects of community-based policing cannot be understated. The 
COPS program has succeeded because it helps individual officers to be a 
friendly and familiar presence in their communities. They are building 
relationships with people from house to house, block to block, school 
to school. Community policing helps law enforcement to do their job 
better, makes our neighborhoods and schools safer, and, very 
importantly, gives residents peace of mind. Increasing the number of 
local law enforcement on the streets and in our neighborhoods fosters 
an environment of mutual respect between officers and their neighbors, 
and community pride from home to school to fire station to corner 
store. Reducing crime and keeping our communities safe has been and 
should continue to be a top priority for all of us. As the tragic 
events of September 11 have shown our Nation, local police officers 
play a vital role to protect and secure our communities. We should give 
them the support they need.
  As I travel through Wisconsin and talk to sheriffs, police chiefs and 
other law enforcement officers, I hear the same refrain, time after 
time: the COPS program is vital to their work and has enabled them to 
get more officers out from behind their desks and onto the streets. 
Wisconsin is not alone. Since 1994, the COPS program has provided 
funding for thousands of law enforcement agencies across the country, 
and has expanded to include the COPS in Schools Program and the COPS 
Tribal Resources Program, and now funds the Community Policing to 
Combat Domestic Violence grants.
  As the COPS program has grown, crime rates have decreased. But in 
order to maintain a low crime rate, we must continue to provide the 
necessary resources. The COPS program gives us an opportunity at the 
federal level to send a strong signal of support back to local police 
officers that we value community-oriented policing as integral to the 
protection and safety of all Americans.
  We have taken up funding for the COPS program in this body numerous 
times since its inception. I am pleased that the Judiciary Committee 
reported favorably a bill calling for its re-authorization this spring, 
the PROTECTION Act, S. 924, introduced by Senator Biden. I commend and 
thank Senator Biden for his leadership on this issue. I was very 
pleased to support his bill re-authorizing the COPS program in 
Committee, and I urge the full Senate to work to ensure that the COPS 
program is authorized again before we adjourn.

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