Issues: Law Enforcement
Since coming to the Senate in 2001, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson has worked to provide adequate federal funding for Nebraska’s law enforcement efforts. He has consistently supported the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant program, the Edward Byrne Memorial Grants program, the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant program, the COPS in Schools program, and other important federal law enforcement assistance efforts, because he knows that these programs provide needed resources to Nebraska’s law enforcement community to fight crime, hire additional officers, prevent drug trafficking and protect our neighborhoods.
COPS on the Street
In annual budget recommendations, the Bush Administration has repeatedly proposed the consolidation of the Byrne grant program, the COPS program, the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant program, and the COPS in Schools program into the Justice Assistance Grants Program, a move which would result in a sharp reduction in overall total funding for these programs. Senator Nelson has fought these consolidation efforts and supported adequate funding levels for each program because he recognizes the benefits which each provides to Nebraska’s law enforcement community. In 2007, Senator Nelson joined several of his colleagues in fighting for funding for the COPS hiring program, successfully securing $110 million in the fiscal year 2008 Senate appropriations bill. While that amount was ultimately reduced to $20 million in the final package, it was a significant step forward as no funding had been included for this program in the previous 2 years.
Nebraska uses the COPS program extensively. Since 2001, COPS has invested $8.2 million in Nebraska adding 92 officers in 30 jurisdictions including the cities of Bellevue, Elkhorn, Hay Springs, Hemingford, Kearney, La Vista, Lincoln, Omaha, Osmond, Papillion, Scribner, Waterloo, Wayne, UNL Police, Santee and Omaha Tribes and Sheriff’s Departments in the following counties, Boyd, Buffalo, Cass, Dawson, Douglas, Fillmore, Greeley, Hall, Knox, Nemaha, Otoe, Phelps, Sarpy, and Sherman.
Fighting Meth
Senator Nelson also recognizes the soaring increase in methamphetamine production and distribution in America’s rural areas, and he knows the impact that those criminal activities can have in our rural communities and on our families. He has consistently supported maintaining sufficient funding for Byrne Justice Assistance Grants, which support Nebraska’s ten multi-jurisdictional drug task forces. In 2005, the regional task forces combined made 5,861 drug-related arrests.
Nelson has also steered federal resources to the Nebraska State Patrol’s anti-meth efforts.
As of January 2008, Nelson has secured more than $2.8 million for the Nebraska State Patrol’s Methamphetamine Initiative, to fund methamphetamine enforcement and response, meth lab eradication and clean up, and to provide treatment for methamphetamine offenders to reduce the number of persons in the Nebraska who will buy, sell or manufacture meth.
Senator Nelson has cosponsored legislation, including the Rural Safety Act of 2003, the Combat Meth Act of 2005 and the Combat Meth Enhancement Act of 2007 to provide resources to rural law enforcement, create programs to curb meth abuse in rural areas, and regulate the sale of “precursor” chemicals used to manufacture meth.
Senator Nelson has co-sponsored S. 544, the Agriculture Business Security Tax Credit Act of 2007, to assist agricultural businesses by providing a tax credit of up to $50,000 for the cost of making security improvements to guard against the theft of agricultural chemicals which can be used to manufacture explosives or amphetamines.
In 2008, Senator Nelson will be fighting to reverse a 70% cut to the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program, which Nebraska uses to fund ten anti-drug task forces. Without Byrne grants, these task forces cannot exist, and Nebraska would be without a coordinated effort to fight the trafficking of methamphetamine and other drugs, leaving communities on their own to face these problems. With local budgets as tight as they are, Nebraska’s allocation of Byrne funding is absolutely crucial to our State’s anti-drug effort.
First Responders
The challenges faced by state and local law enforcement officials have increased substantially in the aftermath of 9/11, and Senator Nelson has been active in fighting for funds to assist Nebraska’s first responders. He has fought efforts to deprive less populous states of their fair share of homeland security funding, and he has supported increased funding for all first responders.
Updated: 1.31.08
