COPS Improvements Act Of 2007

Floor Speech

COPS IMPROVEMENTS ACT OF 2007 -- (Extensions of Remarks - May 17, 2007)

* Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the bi-partisan passage of H.R. 1700, the COPS Improvement Act of 2007.

* The COPS program has been one of the most successful law enforcement programs in our Nation's history. Created in 1994 as part of the ``Clinton Crime Bill,'' it is often referred to as the 100,000 cops program. In fact, COPS has put almost 120,000 more officers on the street nationwide, 1,400 new officers in Minnesota, and 354 additional police officers and/or sheriff deputies in the 5th Congressional District which I serve.

* With the passage of the COPS Improvement Act, an additional 151 officers will likely be hired in the 5th Congressional District over the next 6 years.

* The COPS program was created as an incentive to law enforcement agencies to hire more officers. COPS provides that incentive by assuming 75 percent of an officer's salary for 3 years. Funded at over $1 billion a year near the end of the Clinton Administration, the hiring portion of COPS has been zeroed out under President Bush.

* According to a study by the non-partisan General Accounting Office (GAO), between 1998 and 2000, COPS grants were responsible for reducing crimes by about 200,000 to 225,000 crimes--one third of which were violent. In 1998, COPS grants were responsible for an 8 percent decrease in crimes--and a 13 percent drop in violent crimes.

* Yet, President Bush and Republicans in Congress eliminated the hiring program last year, at the same time, violent crime spiked across the Nation.

* Earlier this year, the Police Executive Research Forum, a prominent law enforcement association, released a report which found that violent crime rose by double digit percentages over the last two years. Among the cities surveyed, since 2005, 71 percent had an increase in homicides, 80 percent saw robberies rise and 67 percent reported an increase in aggravated assaults with guns.

* Thankfully, under the leadership of Mayor R.T. Rybak, Minneapolis was not among those cities. In fact, Minneapolis has seen an 11 percent decline in violent crimes since the beginning of the year.

* We want to keep those statistics headed downward and the way to do that is through the funding of successful hiring programs like COPS.

* If the COPS Improvement Act of 2007 passes into law, an additional $11,159,925 will likely flow into law enforcement agencies for hiring additional officers in the 5th Congressional District of Minnesota in the next 6 years. Furthermore, an additional $4,110,303 in technology grants will likely flow to the 5th District and 3 more school resource officers will likely be put on the beat.

* Little wonder this legislation 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.

* COPS has been one of the most cost-effective law enforcement programs in our nation's history resulting in dramatic declines in both crime and violent crime rates.

* It is good common sense that the new Democratic Congress has sought to restore funding to this successful program. It is good for the 5th Congressional District of Minnesota; good for the state of Minnesota; and good for America.

* I am proud to have voted to make our streets safer by supporting the COPS Improvement Act of 2007.

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