Steven Holt: “Let's put this in the category of actions have consequences. Last year the City of Trenton was forced to lay off nearly…”

“Let's put this in the category of actions have consequences. Last year the City of Trenton was forced to lay off nearly one-third of its uniformed law officers. My State's capital now has the same number of police officers on the rolls as it did in 1932. The city had hoped to reduce the number of layoffs through a grant from the Community Oriented Policing Services program, the COPS program. That grant would have allowed Trenton to hire back 18 officers. Unfortunately, because Congress failed to fund properly the COPS program, Trenton got no money to rehire laid-off officers. In the last year, almost 150 people have been shot within the city of Trenton compared with only 60 the year before. Street robberies, aggravated assaults, and burglaries are up alarmingly. Trentonians tell me these trends are continuing. Clearly, we need more money to rehire police. We need it now before more Americans lose their lives and suffer injury and property loss. ____________________”