THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release September 13, 2000
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
Six years ago today, I signed the historic 1994 Crime Bill into law
with a vision of bringing communities and local law enforcement together to
take back our streets and win the war against crime. Since enactment of
this vital law, crime has dropped every year to its lowest level in over 25
years, and America is the safest it has been in a generation. One of the
most important factors in our success is the Community Oriented Policing
Service (COPS) program, which has funded over 105,000 police officers for
our streets. Today Attorney General Janet Reno will release a report to
Congress on the positive impact the COPS program has had on communities of
all sizes and regions across America. By building partnerships and trust
with residents, COPS officers are not only helping reduce crime, but the
fear of crime as well, restoring hope and promise for the future in
neighborhoods across America.
The Attorney General will also announce over $55 million in community
policing grants to more than 700 communities to hire or redeploy of over
1,600 police officers, to develop 311 non-emergency hotline programs, and
to install cameras in over 2,900 law enforcement vehicles to improve
officer safety and promote officer integrity. Although the COPS program
continues to make progress by giving communities the tools they need to
fight crime, we must do more. I urge Congress to make the 21st Century the
safest yet by reauthorizing the COPS program for another five years, and
fully funding my $1.3 billion budget request to help put up to an
additional 50,000 officers on the street and provide law enforcement and
communities with more resources than ever to keep American families safe.
Together, we can make America the safest big country in the world.
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