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Crime has wide-ranging and very serious effects on our communities.
It's important that localities, states, and the federal government work
in unison to ensure the protection of our citizens and the safety of
our streets, neighborhoods, and schools.
In this section:
Additional resources:
Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
The COPS Office was created by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.
As a component of the Justice Department, COPS works to advance
community policing initiatives in jurisdictions of all sizes across the
country. Community policing is a shift away from more traditional law
enforcement toward the prevention of crime through effective
problem-solving tactics and police-community partnerships. Community
policing puts law enforcement professionals on the streets and assigns
them a defined local beat so they can build mutually beneficial
relationships with the people they serve.
The COPS program was recently reauthorized through fiscal year 2009 as part of H.R. 3402, the Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005.
While the reauthorization of this program is good news, it must be
followed up with adequate funding from Congress for it to be effective.
Rep. Eshoo has consistently supported funding the COPS program and sent
a letter to President Bush, urging him to fully fund the COPS program
at $1 billion in his Administration's budget. Unfortunately, the
President's Fiscal Year 2007 budget reduced funding for the COPS
program by 79 percent.
Additional resources:
Hate Crimes
Hate crimes are some of the most heinous acts that can be committed.
Rep. Eshoo believes strongly in preserving the constitutional rights of
all Americans to live free from fears of being targeted for violence
because of the color of their skin, their sexual orientation, or their
ethnicity. To help local law enforcement deal with the burden of
prosecuting these crimes she proudly became an original cosponsor of
H.R. 2662, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
H.R. 2662 authorizes the Attorney General to provide technical,
forensic, prosecutorial, or other assistance in the criminal
investigation or prosecution of hate crimes and award grants to
localities to help cover the costs associated with these cases.
Rep. Eshoo was pleased to support an amendment offered by Rep. Conyers to H.R. 3132, the Children's Safety Act, that incorporated H.R. 2662 into this legislation. Unfortunately, House leadership dropped the provisions of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act when the Child Safety Act was incorporated into a much broader crime bill, H.R. 4472, the Children's Safety and Violent Crime Reduction Act of 2006. H.R. 4472 passed the House on March 8th of 2006.
Gun Control
While Rep. Eshoo respects the rights of hunters and lawful gun
enthusiasts, she believes responsible gun control is vital to curbing
crime. She shares this view with the majority of law enforcement.
As an original cosponsor of the Brady Bill, which required background
checks for gun purchases, and as a supporter of the Assault Weapons
ban, Rep. Eshoo has consistently voted for measures which protect the
public from crime and safeguard the rights of responsible, law abiding
citizens to own firearms.
Rep. Eshoo believes there is no sound public policy reason for
repealing the assault weapons ban and was disappointed when President
Bush allowed the ban to expire in September of 2004, despite a campaign
promise that he would work toward its extension. She is currently a
cosponsor of H.R. 1312, the Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act, which would reinstate the assault weapons ban.
Additional resources:
School Violence
Schools are especially vulnerable to gun-related crimes. The tragedies
of Columbine and Jonesboro are stark reminders that our current gun
laws are not strong enough. The current patchwork of laws and
regulations are riddled with loopholes that criminals exploit, allowing
guns into the wrong hands and often into the possession of children.
Rep. Eshoo has supported legislation that closes these loopholes and
increases penalties for gun dealers who willfully sell guns to minors.
She has also supported requiring guns to be manufactured with improved
safety features, such as childproof trigger locks.
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