Published January 1999 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
Byrd's-Eye View By U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd COPS: A Partnership for Safer Communities
Every day in West Virginia, more than 540 police officers are on the job protecting homes, schools, and businesses because of a very successful program called Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). Since 1994, the COPS program has invested millions of dollars in law enforcement efforts in West Virginia, helping nearly 160 communities to strengthen their police forces. The COPS program is one of several approaches developed to put more officers where they are needed most -- on patrol, not behind desks filling out paperwork. The Omnibus Crime Bill of 1994 included an amendment I added to establish the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund, ensuring that programs such as COPS would be funded. In that bill, the Congress partnered national resources with local strategies. By building the cooperation between all levels of law enforcement and expanding police and prevention efforts, more criminals can be taken off the streets. Police departments from across West Virginia credit the COPS program with giving them the flexibility they need to implement innovative crime fighting strategies and to build stronger partnerships within the community. These departments are not required to follow a mandated program, nor do they have to rely on a one-size-fits- all approach to reduce crime in their neighborhoods. COPS gives these police departments the ability to tailor their crime fighting efforts to the specific needs of the local community. In an effort to expand the COPS program to meet a greater range of needs, the Congress last fall approved funding for police departments in partnership with schools and other community-based organizations to develop programs to improve the safety of elementary and secondary school children and educators, including the hiring of school resource officers. A number of West Virginia schools already have these officers in place, and students, teachers, and officers agree that the effect has been positive. I have supported this initiative, believing that teachers cannot teach and students cannot learn in an undisciplined, unsafe environment. West Virginia has traditionally boasted one of the lowest crime rates in the nation, a fact of which everyone should be especially proud. By strengthening crime fighting efforts, the COPS program has become an effective tool in continuing that tradition. January 6, 1999