[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 8, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H591]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES: COPS FUNDING CRISIS

  (Mr. HOLT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HOLT. Madam Speaker, let's put this in the category of actions 
have consequences.
  Last year the City of Trenton was forced to lay off nearly one-third 
of its uniformed law officers. My State's capital now has the same 
number of police officers on the rolls as it did in 1932.
  The city had hoped to reduce the number of layoffs through a grant 
from the Community Oriented Policing Services program, the COPS 
program. That grant would have allowed Trenton to hire back 18 
officers. Unfortunately, because Congress failed to fund properly the 
COPS program, Trenton got no money to rehire laid-off officers.
  In the last year, almost 150 people have been shot within the city of 
Trenton compared with only 60 the year before. Street robberies, 
aggravated assaults, and burglaries are up alarmingly. Trentonians tell 
me these trends are continuing. Clearly, we need more money to rehire 
police. We need it now before more Americans lose their lives and 
suffer injury and property loss.

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