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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release May 29, 1998

            Putting 100,000 More Police on America's Streets
                              May 29, 1998

Announcement: Today, President Clinton will launch a new initiative to hire more community police in high-crime, high-need neighborhoods. Grants for the new initiative will provide 18 cities with $106 million to fund over 700 new community police officers. The President also announced federal funds to hire an additional 1,748 officers under the COPS Universal Hiring Program (UHP). With today's grants, the Clinton Administration's COPS Initiative will have helped to fund an increase of 75,000 more police on America's streets.

Targeting More Police for Crime "Hot Spots"

Putting resources in high-crime neighborhoods. While crime is coming down in cities of all sizes and in all regions of the country, some neighborhoods have not shared in the same level of progress enjoyed by the rest of the country. The pilot program launched today will provide full funding for new officers in these areas, by waiving the usual matching requirements. Each city receiving funds under this pilot program has a high per capita level of crime and poverty, either throughout the city or in certain neighborhoods. The cities will deploy their new officers to help meet the unique needs of their communities, such as combating gangs or targeting drug "hot spots."

Hitting the 75,000 mark. The pilot will provide $106 million in funding for 18 cities to hire 738 community policing officers. In addition, the regular COPS UHP grants announced today will provide $115.6 million to 553 police departments to hire 1,748 officers. These hires will bring the total number of officers funded under the Clinton COPS Initiative to 76,201 -- and put the COPS Initiative ahead of schedule to meet the President's pledge to provide 100,000 officers.

Pilot cities receiving funds: Chicago, IL; Hartford, CT; Camden, NJ; Bessemer, AL; Miami, FL; Flint, MI; Fresno, CA; San Bernardino, CA; Fort Pierce, FL; Monroe, LA; Baltimore, MD; Muskegon; MI; Greenville, MS; Buffalo; NY; McAllen, TX; Birmingham, AL; El Paso, TX; and Cleveland, OH.

Taking Community Policing Nationwide

President Clinton fought for and signed into law the 1994 Crime Act, which authorized nearly $9 billion to help communities hire and redeploy 100,000 more police by the year 2000. Since then, the number of police departments engaged in community policing has increased from hundreds to over 10,000. The additional officers in these police departments are working with neighborhood residents to reduce crime, school violence, gang activity, and other public safety problems.

Cutting Crime Rates to the Lowest Levels in a Generation

Earlier this month, the Justice Department released preliminary data showing that crime dropped in 1997 for an unprecedented sixth year in a row. Since 1993, violent crimes have dropped by more than 15%, and murders are down by more than 25%.

Speaking Program:
Vice President Gore
Mayor Michael White, Cleveland, OH
Attorney General Reno
Superintendent Terry Hillard, Chicago Police Department President Clinton