[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 55 (Wednesday, April 1, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E841]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


 THE COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICY SERVICES (COPS) IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2009

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 1, 2009

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, thank you, Chairman Conyers 
for holding today's very important Markup on H.R. 1139, the Community 
Oriented Policy Services (COPS) Improvement Act of 2009. The COPS 
program was designed to help bring about fundamental changes in 
policing by drawing officers closer to the citizens they protect. And, 
in scores of communities across the nation, the COPS program did just 
that.
  The idea of community policing is to get away from the traditional 
``call and response'' model, in which officers run from one emergency 
call to the next. It involves sending officers into the streets and 
into the neighborhoods to build relationships with residents, identify 
the sources of crime problems, and solve them before they get worse. 
The success of the COPS approach to policing is dependent upon the 
relationships built between the police and the members of the 
communities they serve.
  Since 1995, COPS has awarded more than $10 billion to advance 
community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,300 state, 
local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and 
redeployment of nearly 117,700 officers. In addition to funding law 
enforcement positions, the Office of Community Policing Services has 
been the catalyst for innovations in community policing and broad 
implementation of effective law enforcement strategy. Presently, 
departments that employ community policing serve 87 percent of American 
communities.
  On March 16, 2009, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that 
the Department of Justice will be accepting applications for $1 billion 
in Recovery Act Funds for the COPS program. Approximately 5,500 law 
enforcement officer jobs will be created or saved in law enforcement 
agencies across the country through funding provided by the Department 
of Justice.
  Recently, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, H.R. 1, 
included $4 billion in Department of Justice grant funding to enhance 
state, local, and tribal law enforcement efforts, including the hiring 
of new police officers, to combat violence against women, and to fight 
against internet crimes against children.
  Similar to Edward Byrne Justice Act Grant (JAG) awards, Recovery Act 
funds that are authorized for COPS can also be used to hire new 
officers or rehire recently laid off officers, fill unfunded vacancies 
and help prevent scheduled layoffs within law enforcement agencies.
  COPS funds are allocated directly to the local level governments and 
law enforcement agencies and provide a three-year period of funding.
  Specifically, H.R. 1139, the ``COPS Improvements Act of 2009,'' 
reinvigorates the COPS program's ability to accomplish its critical 
mission by establishing three grant programs: (1) the Troops-to-Cops 
Program, (2) the Community Prosecutors Program, and (3) the Technology 
Grants Program. The Troops-to-Cops Program would fund the hiring of 
former members of the Armed Forces to serve as law enforcement officers 
in community-oriented policing, particularly in communities adversely 
affected by recent military base closings.
  The Community Prosecutors Program would authorize the Attorney 
General to make grants for additional community prosecuting programs 
that would, for example, assign prosecutors to pursue cases from 
specific geographic areas and to deal with localized violent crime, 
among other crimes.
  The Technology Grants Program would authorize the Attorney General to 
make grants to develop and use new technologies to assist State and 
local law enforcement agencies reorient some of their efforts from 
reacting to crime to preventing crime.
  The investment in COPS through the Recovery Act although crucial is a 
one-time investment limited to the purpose of hiring officers. The 
reauthorization of COPS is necessary for the program to continue past 
the investment of the Recovery Act. Reauthorization is also necessary 
so that the COPS program can include the innovative aspects of the 
program as explained above.
  The Houston area has made great strides in reducing crime. I am 
confident that with programs like COPS Houston can better combat crime.


                            CRIME STATISTICS

  According to Houston Police Department statistics:


                             Violent crimes

  Violent crimes in Houston increased less than 1 percent in 2008 
compared with 2007.
  Homicides dropped by 16 percent.
  The number of homicides dropped from 353 in 2007 to 295 last year.
  Sexual assaults increased more than 8 percent from 2007.
  Aggravated assaults increased at 9.1 percent.


                           Domestic violence

  Of the 1,092 additional aggravated assault cases in 2008, more than 
half were reports of domestic violence.


                           Nonviolent crimes

  Nonviolent crimes declined more than 10 percent in 2008.
  Property crimes dropped by more than 10 percent.
  Auto thefts decreased last year, dropping more than 21 percent to 
15,214, down from 19,465 in 2007.
  While Houston has made great strides in combating crime, more must be 
done to ensure the safety of Houstonians in their communities and their 
respective neighborhoods. I believe that the COPS program will be of 
benefit to the people of the 18th Congressional District as well as 
other communities in Texas and in communities around the United States.


                               AMENDMENT

  The COPS program was designed to help bring about fundamental changes 
in policing by drawing officers closer to the citizens they protect. 
And, in scores of communities across the nation, the COPS program did 
just that.
  The idea of community policing is to get away from the traditional 
``call and response'' model, in which officers run from one emergency 
call to the next. It involves sending officers into the streets and 
into the neighborhoods to build relationships with residents, identify 
the sources of crime problems, and solve them before they get worse. 
The success of the COPS approach to policing is dependent upon the 
relationships built between the police and the members of the 
communities they serve.
  Because the success of the COPS approach to policing is dependent 
upon the relationships built between the police and the members of the 
community it served, I am offering an amendment.
  H.R. 1139 requires that the Attorney General shall provide for a 
scientific study of the effectiveness of the programs, projects, and 
activities funded under this Act in reducing crime. The study is to be 
completed within four years of enactment of this bill.
  My amendment specifically requires that:
  ``Such study shall include identified best practices for community 
policing that have demonstrated results in building and strengthening 
the relationships between police departments and the communities such 
departments serve.''
  The requirement that the study identify ``best practices'' in 
community policing is important because the enumeration of these best 
practices will serve as an unequivocal benchmark by which the successes 
of the COPS program can be measured.
  These ``best practices'' would establish bright line rules to analyze 
community policing and the derogation of which will require re-tooling 
and adjustment of the community policing measures involved. Moreover, 
the Attorney General is in the best position to complete this study and 
certainly is in the best position to determine what constitutes 
``good'' community policing. My amendment would support and strengthen 
the development of good community policing methods. I urge my 
colleagues to support my amendment in its entirety.

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