Tough on Crime

Putting More Cops on the Beat

Originally established in 1994, the C.O.P.S. program, or Community Oriented Policing Services, has funded over 118,000 police officers on the street and was instrumental in cutting violent crime rates in the 1990s. On May 15, 2007, the House of Representatives passed a Weiner bill to run the program through 2013. My bill gives C.O.P.S. $600 million for hiring, which could put an additional 50,000 cops on the beat, including those that focus on terrorism. Additionally, my bill sets aside $350 million for C.O.P.S. technology grant, so that police agencies can purchase things like laptop computers for patrol cars, interoperable communications equipment and crime mapping software. My bill would also give the program $200 million for community prosecutors to put prosecutors in neighborhoods experiencing high rates of violent crimes. Lastly, it explicitly enables C.O.P.S. to use funding for “Troops to Cops” program that help returning veterans find employment as law enforcement officers.

To read my bill’s details, click here . To read the press release announcing passage of the bill click here.

Background on the C.O.P.S. program

Since 1994, the C.O.P.S. program has put almost 120,000 more officers on the street nationwide, including 6,946 in the Big Apple. Funded at over $1 billion a year near the end of the Clinton administration, the hiring portion of C.O.P.S. has been zeroed out under President Bush. With the President’s signature of my C.O.P.S. Improvement Act, an additional 2,969 officers will likely be hired over the course of the next six years in New York City.

According to a GAO study, between 1998 and 2000, C.O.P.S. grants were responsible for reducing crimes by about 200,000 to 225,000 crimes – one third of which were violent. In 1998, C.O.P.S. grants were responsible for an 8% decrease in crimes – and a 13% drop in violent crimes.