Mike Levin: “combating violent crime, especially gun crime, requires that our law enforcement agencies are adequately staffed and…”

“combating violent crime, especially gun crime, requires that our law enforcement agencies are adequately staffed and equipped. I have been a strong supporter of the Community Oriented Policing Services, COPS, program. The COPS Program has been critical to our Nation's law enforcement community since its creation in 1994, and I am pleased to join Senator Biden as a cosponsor of the COPS Reauthorization Act. The COPS Program was designed to assist State and local law enforcement agencies in hiring additional police officers to reduce crime through the use of community policing. In Michigan alone, 514 local and State law enforcement agencies have received more than $220 million in grants through the COPS Program since its creation. These grants have improved the safety of communities by putting more than 3,300 law enforcement officers on Michigan streets and by supporting other important programs. Nationwide, the COPS Program has awarded more than $11 billion in grants, resulting in the hiring of 118,000 additional police officers. In my home State, the Detroit Police Department, DPD, used a COPS grant to hire additional officers that were needed to implement a 5- year community policing plan. Prior to the COPS grant award, the DPD lacked sufficient personnel to effectively cover high crime areas. The community policing plan placed teams of officers in neighborhoods to combat rising crime rates and work with residents to develop crime reduction strategies.…”