Ehrlich on Washington column, July 21, 1996

NEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Second Congressional District of Maryland 1 407 York Road, Suite 304 Lutherville, Maryland 21093 EHRLICH ON WASHINGTON By Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. 3 1 5 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 205 1 5 Week of July 21, 1996 CLINTON “COPS” PROGRAM: NO SOLUTION TO CRIME In his 1994 State of the Union address, President Clinton pledged to “put 100,000 new police officers on America’s streets.” That’s how the President unveiled his so-called “Community Oriented Policing Services” (COPS) program, ultimately passed into law by the 103rd Congress. Under the $8.8 billion COPS program, the federal government allocates funds to local and state police departments so they may hire new police officers. Sounds like a good idea, right? Taken at face value, it certain seems like a plausible solution to our nation’s epidemic of violent crime. Look at the specifics of the COPS program, however, and you will see that it is bad policy disguised with clever rhetoric. The COPS program is a disappointment for three reasons. First, the goal of the COPS program— to put 100,000 officers on the street to fight violent crime— is far from being met. Recently President Clinton announced that 43,000 new cops had been hired under the program. However, Attorney General Janet Reno has since publicly cut that number to 17,000. Second, at least $7.2 million in COPS money has been used to hire 86 officers to patrol state parks, marinas, and waterways— areas that seem far removed from violent crime. For example, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) received a $3.5 million grant to hire officers to patrol a coral sanctuary off the Florida Keys. As the Florida DEP collected its lucrative grant, the Justice Department rejected a more modest request from the city of St. Augustine, Florida to fund a year-long (