Bob Filner: “Mr. Chairman and colleagues, I rise today in strong support of the Schumer-Conyers-Chapman amendment to maintain the…”

“Mr. Chairman and colleagues, I rise today in strong support of the Schumer-Conyers-Chapman amendment to maintain the Cops on the Beat Program. I have spoken several times now in support of the Cops Program, but it cannot be emphasized enough: Community policing works. The COPS Program will put 100,000 police on our streets--police that are involved in their communities and committed to keeping our families safe. COPS responds to the demands by the American people that we in Congress must do something to fight crime and violence. COPS is supported by virtually every national law enforcement organization. We must protect one of the strongest weapons we have in fighting crime: community oriented policing. If we truly want to take back our streets and improve the quality of life in our cities, police officers cannot do it alone. Local residents cannot do it alone--they must work together. That is exactly what community policing does--it allows police officers to work together with local community residents to fight crime. Now, certain Members of Congress want to eliminate this critical approach to crime prevention. I strongly oppose any efforts to cut community policing programs, and I ask my colleagues to take a good hard look at exactly what community policing does for our towns and cities. Community policing works--and it works because it asks the experts to create crime-fighting strategies.”