Leahy Chairs Hearing On Law Enforcement Assistance
Burlington Police Chief Schirling Testifies
WASHINGTON (Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009) – The Senate Judiciary Committee
Thursday held a hearing to examine proposals to provide resources for
underfunded law enforcement programs in the economic stimulus package.
Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who also serves as a senior member of
the Senate Appropriations Committee, has requested funding in the
stimulus package for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS),
the Byrne grant program and other initiatives that assist state and
local law enforcement agencies by providing resources to hire more
police officers and to buttress other anti-crime efforts and proven
crime prevention strategies. The hearing entitled “Helping State
and Local Law Enforcement in an Economic Downturn” was the panel’s
first
hearing of the 111th Congress.
On Tuesday, Jan. 6, the first day of the new Congress, Leahy introduced
the
Rural
Law Enforcement Assistance Act, which aims to help local law
enforcement agencies address crime problems that are expected to grow
worse with increased economic problems.
Leahy invited Burlington Police Chief Michael
E. Schirling to testify. To watch the hearing and to read witness
testimony, visit the Senate Judiciary Committee
website. Leahy’s full statement follows.
Statement Of
Senator Patrick Leahy,
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
Hearing On “Helping State And Local Law Enforcement
In An Economic
Downturn”
January 8, 2009
Later this morning, President-elect Obama will be
speaking about the economic crisis and the need for an immediate
stimulus package. And so it is fitting that in the Judiciary
Committee’s first hearing of this new Congress, we consider the urgent
need for more Federal assistance to state and local law enforcement,
especially during this economic crisis.
Families across America find their economic
security increasingly at risk, and the possibility of increased crime
during this recession means they may also find their day-to-day safety
and security at risk. With unemployment on the rise, cities and
towns are cutting budgets, including critical funding for police.
We must act quickly and decisively to shore up state and local law
enforcement, or face a reversal of the great strides we made to reduce
crime in the 1990s.
This new Congress is appropriately focused on how
best to turn our economy around and help those most in need. An
effective way to protect our citizens, create jobs, and begin rebuilding
our economy and our communities with confidence would be to restore
Federal support for state and local law enforcement, which was so
severely cut over the past eight years.
Congress and the Clinton administration supported
American’s law enforcement officers like never before, helping to put
more than 100,000 new officers on the street. This support for law
enforcement contributed to an historic decline in crime rates. But
that progress stalled when the Bush administration gutted Federal
funding for state and local law enforcement, cutting it by billions.
The Bush administration diverted more and more money into Iraq, spending
billions to fund training and equipment for police in Iraq instead of
here at home.
The time to act is now. The last eight years
have been difficult for state and local law enforcement. During
the Bush years, there has been nearly a 50 percent reduction in overall
funding for state and local law enforcement. If Congress had not
stepped in to protect some sources of funding for state and local law
enforcement, the cuts would have been far greater. This
administration has also gutted assistance to state and local crime
prevention programs, despite evidence that has shown time and again that
prevention and treatment, along with vigorous law enforcement, are
essential to keeping crime rates low.
Law enforcement depends on local tax revenues,
which have started to fall with the economic downturn. Police
forces will need to cut their already depleted ranks even further
without help. So as crime escalates there will be fewer officers and
resources to protect our families and communities. Unless we act
now.
Allowing state and local police forces to fill
vacancies and hire new officers and staff will also contribute to
helping jump start our economy. These are good, middle class jobs
for middle class people, and they can be filled immediately. These
are often jobs for people who live in the hardest hit communities and
will spend their money close to home. And what better way to serve
our poorest communities than to hire more police officers to help keep
them safe.
Supporting state and local law enforcement helps
economic development in another important way too. As many of our
neighborhoods became safer, property values rose, businesses opened and
thrived, and local economies prospered. If crime returns to these
newly prosperous neighborhoods, businesses, homeowners, and communities
will suffer.
It is essential that we restore the COPS program
and the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant program to the levels that worked
so effectively in the 1990s. I also would like to see us
reinvigorate our rural crime focus.
Crime is not just a big city issue. As this
Committee heard at hearings in St. Albans and Rutland, Vermont, the
drugs and violence so long seen largely in urban areas now plague even
our most rural and remote communities. Rural communities also face
the added burden of fighting these crime problems without the
sophisticated task forces and specialized squads so common in big cities
and metropolitan areas. In this environment, we must do more to
provide assistance to those rural communities most at risk and hardest
hit by the economic crisis. On the first day of this Congress, I
introduced the Rural Law Enforcement Assistance Act to ensure that rural
communities hit hard by crime and by the recession and without the
resources available to larger communities, can get the help they need.
I would like to see us make sure crime victims
aren’t doubly penalized, first by the crime and then by being denied
assistance and compensation. We can prevent that by doing
something that does not cost one dime in Federal taxes and that is to
raise the cap on the Crime Victims Fund so that we can send more money
to the states for crime victims.
Our witnesses this morning bring important
perspectives and experience to this vital issue. I have known
Chief Schirling of Burlington, Vermont, for many years. I commend
his philosophy of seeking innovative ways to meet the new challenges
faced by law enforcement today. He has been a leader in the fight
against crimes against children and leads the largest police force in
our state. I also want to welcome Commissioner Ramsey of
Philadelphia, former Associate Attorney General Schmidt, Ms. Leary, from
the National Center for Crime Victims and Mr. Mulhausen from the
Heritage Foundation.
# # # # #