[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 22901-22902]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      RECOGNIZING THE JOINT COMMUNITY POLICE PROJECT IN MINNESOTA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. KEITH ELLISON

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 29, 2009

  Mr. ELLISON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Joint 
Community Police Project (JCPP), an initiative of the Hopkins, 
Richfield, Brooklyn Park, and Brooklyn Center Police Forces in Hennepin 
County, Minnesota, for being selected by the International Association 
of Chief's of Police (IACP) as the winner of the 2009 Civil Rights 
Award.
  The IACP is made up of over 20,000 law enforcement members at command 
level in 89+ countries. This is the first time the JCPP has received 
programming recognition from the International Association of Chief's 
of Police.
  These four aforementioned cities live the value of civil rights 
through the actions of the Joint Community Policing Project--which 
strives to enhance communication and understanding between police and 
multicultural residents to improve public safety and livability in the 
community.
  I invite all the members of Congress to join me in recognizing the 
excellent work of these four fine Minnesota police forces of Hopkins, 
Richfield, Brooklyn Center, and Brooklyn Park for reaching out to new 
Americans within our cities and providing the services, hospitality, 
and valued information to make them welcome, active participants in our 
community.
  In 2009, I proposed and Congress approved a $100,000 appropriation to 
continue the work of the Joint Community Police Partnership. One 
example of their work can be seen in Hopkins, where some of the 
appropriated funds enabled JCPP to hire a Somali college student to 
work as Public Service Officer for the Hopkins Police Department. 
Already they are witnessing a powerful positive reaction by the young 
immigrant children when the youth see this young man in a Hopkins 
Police Department uniform at the schools and in their apartment 
complexes. In addition, funds from this appropriation are being used to 
bring in successful Somali women from the community to speak to the 
school club, to mentor them in making positive choices, help build 
their self esteem, and counsel them to avoid involvement in gangs.
  In closing, Madam Speaker, I would like to extend my personal 
congratulations to the Joint Community Police Partnership for being a 
model of excellence both in our country and abroad.

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