CRIMINAL AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

PARTNERSHIPS IN COMMUNITY POLICING

WHEREAS, the United States Congress passed, and President Clinton signed, the Public Safety Partnership and Community Policing Act, which became law on October 1, 1994, and created the Office of Community Policing Services (COPS); and

WHEREAS, COPS has four primary goals, including:

• Increase the number of community policing officers on the beat by 100,000;

• Promote the implementation of department-wide community policing in law enforcement agencies across the country;

• Help develop an infrastructure that will institutionalize and sustain community policing after federal funding has ended;

• Demonstrate and evaluate the ability of agencies practicing community policing to significantly improve the quality of life by reducing the levels of violence, crime and disorder in their communities; and

WHEREAS, community policing has developed into one of the best partnership programs between public schools and local governments and has significantly helped reduce criminal activity and youth violence in and around public schools; and

WHEREAS, three-and-a-half years after its inception, the COPS Office has provided funding for American police agencies to hire or re-deploy more than 75,000 additional officers,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that The U.S. Conference of Mayors supports the COPS Office and urges the Congress to continue its funding at a level high enough to complete deployment of the 100,000 community police officers within the next two years, to continue to promote the implementation of department-wide community policing in our cities, and to improve public safety levels in communities with continued investment by the federal government, policing agencies, communities, school districts and other state and local government agencies; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The U.S. Conference of Mayors urges President Clinton and the United States Congress to work together to support and encourage effective and meaningful programs which involve partnering with state and local governments to bring safety to streets during and after public school hours in communities across the nation.