By Ed Somers
March 19, 2007

In a speech to the National League of Cities (NLC) Washington legislative conference March 13, Senator Hillary Clinton (NY) called for putting more police officers on America’s streets by restoring funding to the nation’s community policing program.

Restoration of key law enforcement partnerships, such as the Community Oriented Policing Systems (COPS) program and the Byrne block grant, is a major priority for NLC and its President Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson. It is also a major priority in the Conference of Mayors 10-Point Plan: Strong Cities, Strong Families, For a Strong America.

“As funding for the COPS program has gone down, crime has gone up,” Clinton stated. “By boosting funding for community policing we can put more cops on the beat and make our communities safer.”

According to the latest statistics gathered by the Police Executive Research Forum, 56 policing agencies across the nation over a two year period starting on January 1, 2005 reported:

• total homicides were 10.21 percent higher;

• robberies increased 12.27 percent;

• aggravated assaults increased 3.12 percent; and

• aggravated assaults with a firearm increased by almost ten percent.

With crime rising in cities across America, Clinton said she would more than double funding for COPS to Clinton Administration levels of more than $1 billion. The Bush Administration’s proposed budget would slash COPS funding by 94 percent, from $541 million in 2007 to $34 million in 2008, and would provide no money to hire new police officers.

Since it was created, the COPS program has funded nearly 118,000 officers in more than 13,000 communities. Between 1994 and 2001, due in part to the COPS grants, violent crime declined by 26 percent and the murder rate fell by 34 percent. An October 2005 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report concluded that for every dollar spent on COPS hiring per resident, crime fell by almost 30 incidents per 100,000 residents.

Clinton also said she would restore funding for Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), which the Administration has proposed slashing by $1.1 billion. CDBG funding is a major priority for the NLC, Conference of Mayors and National Association of Counties, which are working together to secure $4.1 billion in formula funding in FY 2008.