- Home |
- News Center |
- News Release
For Immediate Release: May 15, 2007
Sutton Supports Putting More Police Officers on the Streets
Congresswoman Betty Sutton votes to put 50,000 more police officers on our nation's streets
Washington, D.C. - Today, Congresswoman Betty Sutton voted in favor of
H.R. 1700, the C.O.P.S. Improvement Act of 2007, reauthorizing the
successful law enforcement program.
"Since 1994, $19,705,621 in C.O.P.S. grants have been awarded to law
enforcement agencies in Ohio's 13th Congressional District to hire an
additional 341 police officers and sheriff deputies. The C.O.P.S.
program has been a tremendous help for our communities in preventing
crime and keeping our families safe," Sutton said. "With the passage
of this important legislation, more than $6 million in additional
funding is expected to go to the 13th District alone, allowing our
communities to put an extra 146 officers on the streets."
The C.O.P.S. Program was originally authorized in 1994 and is often
referred to as the 100,000 Cops Program. It provides additional
funding through grants for local law enforcement agencies to apply to
the C.O.P.S. Office to hire additional officers or to purchase
technology equipment that increases efficiency and enables the law
enforcement agency to reassign officers onto the streets.
From 1995 to 2005, the C.O.P.S. Program was incredibly successful at
reducing crime across the country, allowing local law enforcement
agencies to hire 117,000 additional police officers nationwide. Over
the past several years, though, the President and the Republican-led
Congress decimated the C.O.P.S. Program, reducing funding from more
than $1 billion per year in the late 1990s to $10 million in 2005, and
finally completely eliminating it in 2006.
"I was proud to vote to reauthorize the C.O.P.S. program, restoring
funding for this successful program. It has been endorsed by the
International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Sheriffs
Association, the Fraternal Order of Police, the National Association of
Police Organizations, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National
League of Cities. It is our responsibility to give local police
departments the resources they need to keep us safe, especially now, as
crime is on the rise again in many of our communities," Sutton said.
Under the C.O.P.S. Improvement Act, the State of Ohio may be able to
hire as many 1,598 additional police officers. The legislation also
provides Ohio's 13th District with over $1 million in additional
technology grants to assist law enforcement agents.
"Our police departments need our full support. FBI Statistics show
that crime is growing in the United States for the first time since the
early 1990s. The C.O.P.S. Program helped make our country safer then,
and law enforcement officials believe it will help them reverse this
troubling trend once again," Sutton said. "Reauthorizing the C.O.P.S.
Program keeps our commitment to the American people."
Contact: Ian Mandel at 202-225-3401
Aug. 14 - Military people affected by stop-loss orders deserve proposed bonus -- editorial (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
Aug. 4 - House bill would give 'stop-lossed' troops extra pay (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
Jul. 31 - $500 monthly bonus for extended enlistees voted (Associated Press)
Jul. 30 - House bids to help automakers (Dayton Daily News)
Jul. 30 - House panel OKs monthly stop-loss allowance (Army Times)