WHEREAS, 11 years ago this year, with the strong support of America=s mayors and law enforcement leaders, the United States Congress passed 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, COPS has made 37,800 grants to more than 13,000 law enforcement agencies representing a $11.3 billion taxpayer investment in public safety; and

WHEREAS, COPS grants have been used to fund the hiring and redeployment of more than 118,700 additional officers including over 6,500 School Resource Officers, expand and enhance crimefighting technology, support crime prevention, and advance community policing; and

WHEREAS, COPS has trained over 414,000 law enforcement personnel, local government leaders, and community members in various community policing strategies, produced over 500 publications and resource materials for law enforcement; and

WHEREAS, state and local law enforcement agencies have used $330 million in COPS funding to combat the proliferation of methamphetamine by hiring personnel, purchasing equipment, cleaning-up labs, and obtaining critical training in methrelated interdiction tactics, investigation, and prosecution; and

WHEREAS, COPS continues to enjoy a unique relationship with state and local law enforcement and does a superb job of providing vital funding, quickly and efficiently, to local communities, and is cited by mayors and police chiefs as a model federal agency; and

WHEREAS, cities across America continue to use COPS funding to hire and train police officers including school resource officers, enhance vital public safety communication and coordination, develop and implement community policing best practices, and enhance their capacity to reduce crime and prevent future acts of terror, 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, new and evolving drug-related crime concerns, and in light of the return of over 860,000 exoffenders from prisons and jails back into local communities annually--many of whom will have not received needed drug treatment; and

WHEREAS, community policing and the COPS Office can and should play an important role in efforts to enhance homeland security; and

WHEREAS, the Administration=s Fiscal Year 2006 budget proposes to cut the COPS program from $379 million to $118 million, eliminating funding for hiring programs such as the Universal Hiring Program, COPS MORE, School Resource Officers, and overtime assistance, as well as for interoperability grants; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the COPS program must be fully maintained in FY 2006 and beyond through the appropriations process; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The United States Conference of Mayors calls on Congress to pass, and the President to sign, legislation to reauthorize the COPS program; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that any reauthorization of COPS should provide significant resources to address the critical needs of local law enforcement, allow for greater program flexibility, continue the COPS Office as an independent component within the Department of Justice, and preserve within COPS all of its current functions. The new program should allow for flexibility to use funding in areas including general hiring, school resource officers, officer re-deployments, officer retention, overtime, technology, and communications interoperability.