[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 7471-7472]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            SUPPORTING COPS

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, combating violent crime, especially gun 
crime, requires that our law enforcement agencies are adequately 
staffed and equipped. I have been a strong supporter of the Community 
Oriented Policing Services, COPS, program. The COPS Program has been 
critical to our Nation's law enforcement community since its creation 
in 1994, and I am pleased to join Senator Biden as a cosponsor of the 
COPS Reauthorization Act.
  The COPS Program was designed to assist State and local law 
enforcement agencies in hiring additional police officers to reduce 
crime through the use of community policing. In Michigan alone, 514 
local and State law enforcement agencies have received more than $220 
million in grants through the COPS Program since its creation. These 
grants have improved the safety of communities by putting more than 
3,300 law enforcement officers on Michigan streets and by supporting 
other important programs. Nationwide, the COPS Program has awarded more 
than $11 billion in grants, resulting in the hiring of 118,000 
additional police officers.
  In my home State, the Detroit Police Department, DPD, used a COPS 
grant to hire additional officers that were needed to implement a 5-
year community policing plan. Prior to the COPS grant award, the DPD 
lacked sufficient personnel to effectively cover high crime areas. The 
community policing plan placed teams of officers in neighborhoods to 
combat rising crime rates and work with residents to develop crime 
reduction strategies. The plan resulted in a drop in the number of 
reported violent crimes as well as improved police-community relations. 
The success of the Detroit Police Department illustrates the important 
role that COPS grants play in the safety of communities around the 
country.
  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. 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. In addition, 
President Bush's fiscal year 2006 budget would completely eliminate the 
COPS hiring grants. Despite the important positive impact of the COPS 
Program in Detroit and across the country, the President justified his 
cuts by calling the program ``nonperforming'' and not having ``a record 
of demonstrating results.'' Our State and local law enforcement 
agencies know better and we should listen to them.
  The COPS Reauthorization Act 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.

[[Page 7472]]

  At a time when we are asking more of our police departments than ever 
before, I believe we should be devoting more resources to the COPS 
Program, not less. The increased threat of terrorism as well as the 
continuing epidemic of gun violence underscores the need for more 
resources for our law enforcement agencies. Recognizing this, we must 
build upon the past success of the COPS Program and continue to work to 
provide police departments with the tools and resources they need to 
help keep our families and communities safe.

                          ____________________