Local Law Enforcement Needs Our Help

In a speech to the Economic Club of Detroit in May 1999, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., committed to speak on the issue of gun crimes each week that the Senate is in session. This is the 213th week he has continued to live up to his pledge; his remarks follow:

Mr. President, I have been a strong supporter of the Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, program since its creation in 1994. Nationwide, the COPS program has awarded more than $11 billion in grants, resulting in the hiring of 118,000 additional police officers. In Michigan, 514 local and state law enforcement agencies have received more than $220 million in grants through the COPS program. These grants have improved the safety of communities by putting more than 3,300 law enforcement officers on Michigan streets.

In the past month alone, the COPS program has awarded nearly $2 million in grants to Michigan communities. One COPS grant program, the Secure Our Schools Initiative, recently awarded more than $1 million in grants to nine Michigan communities to provide enhanced security for public schools. These grants help our schools pay for security assessments, security training for students and personnel and the installation of metal detectors, locks, lighting, and other important security measures. Another COPS grant program, the Tribal Resources Grant Program, awarded more than $800,000 in grants to eight Native American communities in Michigan. These funds will strengthen the police departments in these communities by helping tribes hire and train police officers and modernize their equipment. COPS grants like these are critical to Michigan communities that are working to prevent and respond to violent crimes, especially those involving guns.

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 under this Administration. 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. During consideration of the Fiscal Year 2006 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill last week, I supported an amendment that would have provided $1 billion for the COPS program. Unfortunately, this amendment was defeated and the majority in the Senate voted to cut the COPS program further to $515 million for fiscal year 2006.

I have cosponsored the COPS Reauthorization Act introduced by Senator Biden. This bill would continue the COPS program for another six 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 six 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.

The increased threat of terrorism as well as the continuing epidemic of gun violence underscores the need to devote more resources for our law enforcement agencies. The safety and security of our communities depends upon our local police departments, most often the first responders, being adequately staffed, trained, and equipped. I hope the Senate will do more to support the efforts of our local law enforcement officials by adequately funding programs like COPS.