House OKs billions for community policing

McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Legislation that the House of Representatives passed overwhelmingly Thursday would send billions of dollars to thousands of communities to help them hire and retain 50,000 police officers.

The 342-78 vote was the latest step in reviving a Clinton-era “cops on the streets” program that provided $6.9 billion to help hire nearly 117,000 police officers starting in 1994. The Community Oriented Policing Services program then withered under the Bush administration.

The first move to revive it came earlier this year, when the economic stimulus bill provided $1 billion for the program. The Justice Department was swamped with 7,200 requests totaling $8.3 billion and expects to begin making spending decisions soon. The department hopes to fund about 5,500 positions.

Grants will be awarded competitively, meaning that no state or locality is guaranteed money. During the 1990s, about half the community policing money went to jurisdictions that had fewer than 150,000 people.

The House bill would provide an additional $1.8 billion a year for five years, including $1.25 billion for hiring and the rest for prosecutors, technology and help for high-crime communities. These grants, too, would be awarded competitively.

The 2009 spending surge is a sharp reversal from the past eight years, when such funding all but evaporated. At its peak, the program spent $1 billion per year in fiscal 1997 and 1998.

The Justice Department estimates that funding dropped to $5 million by fiscal 2005, as the Bush White House and conservatives argued that there was no link between the federally funded hiring of more local police officers and the drop in crime during the ’90s.

They also objected to saddling local governments with the cost of the personnel once the federal dollars ran out. Grants varied, but often they lasted only three years.

This year, several forces are converging to fuel the program’s comeback: The recession is leaving local governments strapped for money, the program remains overwhelmingly popular with state and local officials, and Democrats are back in power in Washington.

There are still potential hurdles. Though the measure has strong Senate support, Congress and the president must approve specific spending again each year, and conservatives continue to express objections.