U.S. Rep. Kendrick B. Meek (D-FL) Supports Bill to Provide Additional 50,000 Police Officers on the Street

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Rep. Kendrick B. Meek (D-FL) today voted in support of legislation that calls for putting 50,000 additional police officers on the street over the next five years and authorizes $1.25 billion a year for COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) hiring grants.

The COPS Improvements Act of 2009 (H.R. 1139) will also authorize $350 million a year for COPS technology grants and $200 million a year for hiring community prosecutors. The COPS funds will pay 100 percent of the cost for hiring new officers or bringing back laid-off officers.

"Because of our current economic woes, the recession has created an upswing in certain types of crime throughout South Florida, as well as a rise in cutbacks in state and local funding for law enforcement across our nation," said Congressman Meek. "This Administration will commit the federal government to community policing efforts and allow local governments to utilize community oriented policing funds for a wide range of uses."

In 1994, Congress established the COPS hiring grants program, otherwise known as the 100,000 Cops-on-the-Beat Initiative – a top Clinton Administration initiative. Between 1995 and 2005, COPS hiring grants provided $9 billion to help local law enforcement agencies hire more than 117,000 additional police officers, spread across every state. The federal government paid 75 percent of the cost for three years, with a salary and benefit cap of $75,000 per officer.

U.S. Rep. Kendrick B. Meek represents the 17^th Congressional District of Florida which includes parts of Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. He serves as the lone Florida Democrat sitting on the House Committee on Ways and Means.

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