Washington, DC – The House of Representatives, today, passed the C.O.P.S. Improvement Act which would put 50,000 more police officers on our nation’s streets.  Congressman Al Green (TX-09) voted in favor of passage, a vote that would add an estimated hundreds of new cops to fight crime and terrorism in the 9th Congressional District and the City of Houston.

The C.O.P.S. hiring program was created in 1994 to put more police officers on America's streets, and has been one of the most successful law enforcement programs in our nation’s history.  Nationally, C.O.P.S has provided $9 billion to hire 117,000 police officers.  According to a GAO study, between 1998 and 2000, C.O.P.S. grants were responsible for reducing crimes by about 200,000 to 225,000 crimes – one third of which were violent.   In 1998, C.O.P.S. grants were responsible for an 8% decrease in crimes – and a 13% drop in violent crimes. Today's passage of the C.O.P.S. Improvement Act in the House of Representatives will breathe new life into the C.O.P.S. program nationwide.

Since 1994, 907 additional police officers and/or sheriff deputies have been hired in the 9th District of Texas, and $64,275,579 in C.O.P.S. grants have been awarded to law enforcement agencies in the 9th District of Texas. Passage of the C.O.P.S. Improvement Act of 2007 would likely add an additional $19,609,499 into Texas’ 9th District.  This bill will also help to make our schools and children safer by adding 8 more school resource officers to the beat. In the last 13 years $9,141,344 in C.O.P.S. grants have been awarded to law enforcement agencies to purchase technology that enables agencies to put more officers on the beat in the 9th District.  Passage into law of the C.O.P.S. Improvement Act of 2007 would provide an additional $2,788,885 in technology grants for this district.

"I have no doubt that the 5.7% drop in crime in the City of Houston is greatly due to the dedication of our city’s hard-working men and women in uniform.  Through their increased efforts Houstonians were safer from crime in 2006 than years before," stated Congressman Al Green.  "However with the rise in City’s homicide rate, we must ensure that Houston's public safety officers have the best possible resources and assistance made available to them.  Passage in the House of the C.O.P.S Improvement Act is a step towards increasing the number of police officers and continuing to make our city safer and a better place to live."

###