[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
[March 13, 1999]
[Pages 369-370]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's Radio Address
March 13, 1999

    Good morning. I'm joined here at the White House today by Members of 
Congress, Deputy Attorney General Holder, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Bill 
Lann Lee, representatives from law enforcement 
and civil rights groups, all here to talk about what we must do to 
strengthen the bond of trust between police officers and the communities 
they serve, and make our streets safer than ever.
    Six years ago I took office committed to lowering the crime rate and 
to raise the levels of trust and cooperation between police and the 
communities they serve. Working with law enforcement and community 
leaders, we put in place a comprehensive crime-fighting strategy with 
more police and better prevention, more positive activities for young 
people, and fewer guns in the hands of criminals. The strategy is 
working even beyond our expectation. Nationwide, crime is down to its 
lowest level in decades. In communities all across America, families 
feel safe again.
    Community policing has been at the heart of our success, by giving 
police the chance to get to know the people on their beats and giving 
those people a chance to be part of law enforcement decisions that 
affect their lives. Community policing helps to prevent crime, to catch 
more criminals more quickly when crime does occur, and in the process, 
to build bonds of understanding and trust between police and citizens.
    Our Nation's police officers every day put their lives on the line 
for the rest of us. I have done my best to support and to honor them. 
But I have been deeply disturbed by recent allegations of serious police 
misconduct and continued reports of racial profiling that have shaken 
some communities' faith in the police who are there to protect them.
    While each specific allegation will have to be dealt with on its own 
merits, it is clear that we need a renewed determination as a nation to 
restore those bonds of trust that have been absolutely critical to our 
success at lowering the crime rate. So today I am proposing five steps 
both to reduce crime and to increase the public's trust in law 
enforcement.
    First, better training and better education lead to better policing. 
I'm asking the Justice Department to expand police integrity and ethics 
training to all 30 biregional community policing institutes and 
proposing a $40 million increase in funding to improve police training 
nationwide and to help police officers raise their level of education 
and their level of understanding.
    Second, communities and police must work as partners in the fight 
against crime. I am proposing to launch a new nationwide program to help 
more communities to establish citizen police academies that inform 
residents about police procedures and teach them new ways to make their 
own neighborhoods safer.
    Third, police departments ought to reflect the diversity of the 
communities they serve. To help meet this challenge, I am proposing to 
increase funds for minority recruiting to build up the bond of trust 
where it is most needed.
    Fourth, when police officers do break the law, they should be 
brought to justice. Our budget includes new funding to enforce our civil 
rights laws so that a few bad police officers do not undermine the 
progress and the support that hundreds of thousands of police officers 
have worked so hard to earn.
    Finally, we must continue the revolution in community policing we 
began 6 years ago. Again I call on Congress to build on our progress by 
passing the $1.3 billion 21st century policing initiative I have 
proposed, to put up to 50,000 more police on the street and give them 
the high-tech tools they need to do their job.
    We know these efforts will work. Just to take one example: In 
Boston, a city that historically had had deep tensions between police 
and communities, law enforcement and community leaders came together to 
do something about it, establishing clear guidelines to involve 
residents

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in police decision-making and to hold police accountable for their 
actions. Today the crime rate in Boston has fallen to record lows, and 
reports of police misconduct are down as well.
    Today I am asking Attorney General Reno to 
convene a series of meetings with law enforcement and community leaders 
to discuss how communities around the country can follow the example of 
Boston and other successful cities and ensure that our criminal justice 
system serves all Americans in a lawful, constitutional, sensitive way.
    Together we will build safer communities and be one step closer to 
building our ``One America in the 21st Century.''
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 9:20 a.m. on March 12 in the Oval 
Office at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on March 13. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
March 12 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast.