    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 11 (Monday, March 22, 1999)]
    [Pages 428-429]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    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

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    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 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.