Bipartisan House group seeks to bolster nation’s police forces with COPS bill

As more and more local governments are laying off police officers to balance strung-out budgets, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced legislation Friday to reverse the trend.

Sponsored by Reps. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) and Dave Reichert (R-Wash.), the legislation would provide $600 million annually to local law-enforcement programs, adding an estimated 19,000 new officers nationwide over the next six years.

{mosads}Supporters say the benefits of preventing police layoffs are well worth the price tag, particularly as the U.S. takes steps to guard against potential terrorist attacks in the wake of this month’s killing of Osama bin Laden.

“I can think of nothing more stupid to cut on a local level than the brave officers that [protect] us day in and day out,” Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), another sponsor of the bill, told reporters outside the Capitol Friday. “Congress has an obligation … to make sure that we have enough cops, enough law-enforcement people, to protect us.”

Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) – who, along with Reichert, co-chairs the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus – also argued that funding the nation’s police forces shouldn’t be considered solely a state or local issue.

Pascrell said that his hometown of Patterson, N.J., has already laid off 125 law enforcement officers – roughly a third of the entire force – to address budget troubles stemming from the recent recession.

“When we don’t have a minimum force, we are putting other police officers in jeopardy,” Pascrell warned, “and we’re putting the public in jeopardy.”

At issue is the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, which provides federal funding to local law-enforcement programs to hire more officers. 

In February, Republicans proposed to cut $298 million from the program as part of their 2011 continuing resolution. An amendment to the CR to block that cut, sponsored by Weiner, passed the House with broad bipartisan support. Seventy Republicans joined 158 Democrats to restore the $298 million. Still, the COPS program is authorized only through fiscal year 2011, which ends Oct. 1.

The Democrats’ bill would reauthorize the initiative, while boosting the funding considerably. Not only can localities use the funds to hire or rehire officers, but the legislation provides new flexibility allowing governments to purchase equipment and upgrade technologies.

The bill also encourages governments to add war veterans to their law-enforcement teams.

In the upper chamber, Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) has introduced similar legislation, which has been endorsed by Democratic Sens. Barbara Boxer (Calif.), Robert Casey (Pa.), Richard Durbin (Ill.), Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Frank Lautenberg (N.J.), Patrick Leahy (Vt.), Harry Reid (Nev.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.).

Weiner on Friday declined to suggest how sponsors would pay the cost of the reauthorization, noting that offsets are the purview of the appropriations committees. But Rep. Shiela Jackson Lee (D-Texas) wasn’t as demure. She said the costs could be covered easily by ending the George W. Bush-era tax rates for the wealthiest Americans.

“I want to see this program continued,” Lee said.

Rep. John Conyers (Mich.), senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said cost shouldn’t be the focus considering the importance of keeping law enforcement officers on the streets. 

“This isn’t just another budget item,” he said. “This is about the safety and unity and cooperation of citizens with their law-enforcement leaders.”

Weiner echoed that message, suggesting that the nation’s police officers should stand apart from the deep politicization of Washington.

“If there’s one issue in this tough Congress that we can put aside partisanship on,” he said, “it should be this one.”