[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 119 (Wednesday, September 21, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S10289]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT NEEDS OUR HELP

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I have been a strong supporter of the 
Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, program since its 
creation in 1994. Nationwide, the COPS program has awarded more than 
$11 billion in grants, resulting in the hiring of 118,000 additional 
police officers. In Michigan, 514 local and State law enforcement 
agencies have received more than $220 million in grants through the 
COPS program. These grants have improved the safety of communities by 
putting more than 3,300 law enforcement officers on Michigan streets.
  In the past month alone, the COPS program has awarded nearly $2 
million in grants to Michigan communities. One COPS grant program, the 
Secure Our Schools Initiative, recently awarded more than $1 million in 
grants to nine Michigan communities to provide enhanced security for 
public schools. These grants help our schools pay for security 
assessments, security training for students and personnel and the 
installation of metal detectors, locks, lighting, and other important 
security measures. Another COPS grant program, the Tribal Resources 
Grant Program, awarded more than $800,000 in grants to eight Native-
American communities in Michigan. These funds will strengthen the 
police departments in these communities by helping tribes hire and 
train police officers and modernize their equipment. COPS grants like 
these are critical to Michigan communities that are working to prevent 
and respond to violent crimes, especially those involving guns.
  Unfortunately, authorization for the COPS program was permitted to 
expire at the end of fiscal year 2000. Although the program has 
survived through the annual appropriations process, it has received 
significant funding cuts under this administration. In fact, the fiscal 
year 2005 Omnibus Appropriations Act included only $606 million for the 
COPS program, $142 million below the amount appropriated in 2004. 
During consideration of the fiscal year 2006 Commerce-Justice-Science 
appropriations bill last week, I supported an amendment that would have 
provided $1 billion for the COPS program. Unfortunately, this amendment 
was defeated and the majority in the Senate voted to cut the COPS 
program further to $515 million for fiscal year 2006.
  I have cosponsored the COPS Reauthorization Act introduced by Senator 
Biden. This bill would continue the COPS program for another 6 years at 
a funding level of $1.15 billion per year. This funding would allow 
State and local governments to hire an additional 50,000 police 
officers over the next 6 years. In addition, the bill would modernize 
the COPS program by authorizing $350 million in Law Enforcement 
Technology Grants to assist police departments in acquiring new 
technologies for the analysis of crime data and the examination of DNA 
evidence, among other uses. The COPS Reauthorization Act would also 
build upon the accomplishments of the original COPS program by 
authorizing $200 million in Community Prosecutor Grants. These grants 
would be used to hire community prosecutors trained to work at the 
local and neighborhood level to prevent crime and improve relations 
with residents.
  The increased threat of terrorism as well as the continuing epidemic 
of gun violence underscores the need to devote more resources for our 
law enforcement agencies. The safety and security of our communities 
depends upon our local police departments, most often the first 
responders, being adequately staffed, trained, and equipped. I hope the 
Senate will do more to support the efforts of our local law enforcement 
officials by adequately funding programs such as COPS.

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