Leahy Lauds President's Pledge To Fight For COPS Program Extension And Police Communications

Sens. Daschle and Leahy To Introduce AntiCrime Bill Next Week To Carry Through President's Proposal

January 14, 1999

WASHINGTON (Jan. 14) President Clinton announced today he will ask Congress for $1.3 billion in federal funds for several anticrime initiatives, a move Sen. Patrick Leahy lauded and pledged to support through legislation to be offered next week. Leahy predicted that Vermont law enforcement officers would benefit if Congress fulfilled the President's proposal.

At a Thursday morning event, Clinton said he would request nearly $1.3 billion in the year 2000 federal budget for several anticrime programs, including an extension of the successful COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) program and new funds for improved police communications systems and crimesolving technologies. Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over anticrime programs, has authored a comprehensive anticrime bill that will also include an extension of the COPS program, which is set to expire in the year 2000. Leahy will join Senate Minority Leader Sen. Thomas Daschle (DS.D.) and others in introducing that bill next week, as one of the Democrats' top ten bills for the upcoming session.

"The COPS program has played a constructive role in lowering crime rates," said Leahy. "This program is paying dividends in Vermont and every other state, and renewing this successful program should be a top priority for Congress."

Since the COPS Program first began in 1994, it has funded 173 fulltime police officers in 54 Vermont communities.

Leahy said that the President's budget request for increased funds for police communications and criminal identification systems would be a welcome development for Vermont law enforcement officers. Poor or nonexistent integration of federal, state, and local law enforcement communications systems is one of the most serious problems confronting law enforcement officials. In Vermont, this problem was highlighted by the pursuit of Carl Drega, in which efforts by Vermont and New Hampshire law enforcement officials were hampered by their inability to quickly communicate with each other.

Part of the President's budget request will fulfill the aims of legislation Sen. Mike DeWine (ROhio) and Leahy authored last year the "Crime Identification Technology Act of 1998." This legislation, signed into law on October 1998, authorized flexible federal grants to establish or upgrade criminal identification systems, communications technologies, DNA identification programs, ballistics cataloguing, automated fingerprint identification systems and other advanced law enforcement resources.

"We have seen how poor communications systems can handicap law enforcement's efforts to pursue criminals through multiple jurisdictions," Leahy continued. "Timely and dependable communication is a cornerstone of effective crimefighting. Congress should heed the President's request for these funds, so that law enforcement officials can utilize topnotch communications technology."

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Comment Of Sen. Patrick Leahy On President Clinton's Budget Proposal For Extension Of The COPS Program

October 14, 1998

[Sen. Patrick Leahy (DVt.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, will join with Senate Minority Leader Thomas Daschle (DS.D.) to introduce a comprehensive anticrime bill on Jan. 19 that will include an extension of the COPS program, which is set to expire in the year 2000. This legislation will be one of the first ten bills Senate Democrats introduce in the new session.]

"The COPS program has played a constructive role in lowering crime rates. It has a proven track record of success by putting more police on the beat and boosting morale in communities and police stations. The COPS program is paying dividends, and renewing this successful program should be a top priority for Congress."