"NO" on COPS Program Amendment
"NO" on COPS Program Amendment
Tonight, the House will vote on the COPS Program Amendment to the Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) Appropriations bill (H.R. 5326). The amendment would increase funding for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program, which was established in 1994 as part of President Clinton's crime agenda.
The underlying bill wisely reduced COPS funding from $166 million to $40 million because it suffers from several major flaws: 1) it encourages state and local governments to be fiscally irresponsible; 2) has been fraught with waste, fraud, and abuse; and, 3) has an extensive track record of poor performance; and, assigns functions to the federal government that fall within the expertise, jurisdiction, and constitutional responsibilities of state and local governments.
For those reasons, and more, The Heritage Foundation has long advocated the elimination of the program. In many respects, the program suffers from the same flaws as the now-infamous fire grant program, which has also been found to be wasteful and inefficient.
Heritage Action opposes the COPS Program Amendment and will include it as a key vote on our scorecard.
Related:
Heritage Action's Scorecard
Heritage: COPS Will Not Effectively Combat Crime
Heritage: The End of Federalism: COPS Edition
Heritage: Federal Law Enforcement Grants and Crime Rates: No Connection Except for Waste and Abuse
"NO" on COPS Program Amendment