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Resolutions Adopted at the
67th Annual Conference of Mayors
New Orleans, Louisiana
June 11-15, 1999 |
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CRIMINAL AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
REAUTHORIZATION OF THE COPS PROGRAM
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 Oriented Policing Services (COPS); and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Department of Justice and the COPS Office have done a superb
job of administering the COPS program so that funds are quickly and efficiently made
available to local communities; and
WHEREAS, the COPS program has helped to promote the implementation of community
policing in law enforcement agencies across the country, and 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 can help reduce criminal
activity and youth violence in and around public schools; and
WHEREAS, the partnership between the federal government and local governments
through the COPS program has helped achieve major reductions in crime in cities of all
sizes; and
WHEREAS, four-and-a-half years after its inception, the Administration has
determined that the COPS program has achieved the stated goal of providing funding for
American police agencies to hire or re-deploy more than 100,000 additional officers; and
WHEREAS, the authorization for the COPS program expires after fiscal year 2000;
and
WHEREAS, the nation must remain diligent on crime prevention and control efforts
to ensure that past gains are maintained and that crime rates are further reduced,
especially as they relate to youth violence and crime; and
WHEREAS, the Administration has proposed in the "21st Century
Law Enforcement and Public Safety Act," a five year reauthorization of the COPS
program through fiscal year 2005; and
WHEREAS, in many cities, facilities and equipment are now insufficient to meet
the needs for new officers, due to the hiring of additional officers under the COPS
program,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that The U.S. Conference of
Mayors supports the COPS program and urges Congress to reauthorize the program beyond
fiscal year 2000 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 new COPS program contain the following elements:
funding for the hiring or re-deployment of 30,000-50,000 additional officers, with a
continued emphasis on community oriented policing in and around schools;
significant retention funding beyond the initial three years of the program for officers
where local fiscal conditions require continued support;
much needed flexibility to pay overtime so long as it results in an increase in the
number of officers deployed in community oriented policing;
a significant increase in the per-officer funding limitation;
significant support for crime-fighting technology equipment purchases and programs
including improved public safety communications, crime mapping and related analysis
programs; expansion and replacement of facilities necessitated by the hiring of additional
officers under the COPS program; and crime solving technologies including crime lab
improvements and DNA backlog reductions; and
support for the criminal justice system including efforts to increase community
prosecutions.
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