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KEEPING OUR COMMUNITIES SAFE INTO THE 21ST CENTURY
July 24, 1999
In his radio address to the nation, President Clinton will announce over
$60 million in resources for communities across the country to help keep
crime coming down, including: (1) $50 million to help 64 communities
hire over 680 state and local law enforcement officers; and (2) $15
million for the District of Columbia to hire 200 new community police
officers, and 40 new federal prosecutors to take the city's community
prosecution program citywide. The President will also criticize the
Republican budget and tax cut plans, which would require funding cuts of
up to 50 percent for critical law enforcement efforts.
Clinton Administration: Reducing crime with more police and prosecutors
Providing $66 million to hire over 800 new police officers for our
streets. Today, President Clinton will announce that the Justice
Department COPS Office will release a total of $66 million for 65 state
and local law enforcement agencies to hire 882 law enforcement officers.
Included among today's grantees are: Washington, D.C., $15 million to
hire 200 officers; Phoenix, AZ, $7.5 million to hire 100 officers;
Charlotte-Mecklenberg, NC, $10.8 million to hire 144 officers; Detroit,
MI, $9 million to hire 120 officers; and Austin, TX, $3.75 million to
hire 50 officers.
Bringing new partners in the fight against crime: community
prosecutors. As police and community residents have joined forces to
fight crime before it happens, they have asked prosecutors to do the
same. Today, President Clinton will announce that the Justice
Department will hire 40 full-time federal prosecutors for the U.S.
Attorney's Office in D.C. to expand its successful community prosecution
program to all of the city's neighborhoods. Launched in 1996 by former
U.S. Attorney (and now Deputy Attorney General) Eric Holder, the
District's community prosecution program has helped D.C.'s 5th Precinct
lead the city in overall crime reduction -- reducing the number of
homicides by 38 percent.
President Clinton: Fighting for resources to keep our streets safe
Protecting law enforcement priorities from risky spending and tax
cuts. House and Senate Republicans have proposed slashing funds for
the COPS program by more than 50 percent for the coming year. The House
Commerce, Justice, State appropriations bill for FY 2000 would cut the
President's request for COPS from $1.3 billion to just $268 million, and
the Senate version would cut COPS funding to $495 million. The current
year funding for the program is $1.43 billion. In addition to these
cuts, the tax plan passed by House Republicans this week would force
drastic reductions of roughly 50 percent in ten years in domestic
programs including law enforcement spending - requiring cuts of 7,000
FBI agents, and over 6,000 Border Patrol agents.
Increasing assistance for state and local law enforcement by 500
percent since FY 1994. By contrast, over the past seven years, the
Clinton Administration has provided direct new resources for state and
local crime fighting and crime prevention efforts. As part of this
commitment, the Clinton Administration has increased state and local
assistance by over 500 percent -- from $849 million in FY 1994 to $5.1
billion in FY 1999. State and local law enforcement agencies have used
this funding to strengthen their forces; buy new equipment, patrol cars,
computers and crime-fighting technologies; build new prisons; and deploy
new strategies to reduce crime.
President Clinton: Keeping his commitment to state and local law
enforcement
Bringing crime down to record lows with community policing.
According to new statistics released this week by the Justice
Department, violent crime rates fell another 7 percent in 1998 -- to
their lowest levels in 25 years. Violent crime has now fallen 27
percent since 1993. The President's successful COPS program has been at
the center of the Administration's efforts to help communities reduce
crime. To date, the COPS program has helped fund over 100,000
additional officers, and spread community policing to over 13,000 police
departments nationwide.
Fighting to keep a strong policing program. The President's budget
keeps his commitment to state and local law enforcement by including
nearly $1.3 billion -- and nearly $6.4 billion over the next five years
-- for a new 21st Century Law Enforcement Initiative to help communities
build on their efforts under the successful COPS program. Under this
initiative, communities will be able to continue to hire, redeploy, and
retain police officers; give law enforcement officers access to the
latest crime-fighting technologies; and target funds to engage the
entire community -- including community leaders, prosecutors, probation
and parole officers, school officials, and faith-based organizations --
in preventing and fighting crime.
Working in partnership with the law enforcement community. The
COPS Program has worked hand-in-hand with its law enforcement partners
at the state and local level. COPS has the strong support of mayors and
police chiefs nationwide, as well as of every major national law
enforcement organizations, including: Fraternal Order of Police;
National Association of Police Organizations; International Association
of Chiefs of Police; International Brotherhood of Police Officers; Major
Cities Chiefs; the National Sheriffs' Association; the Police Executive
Research Forum; the International Union of Police Associations; and
National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.