<home> -- <press releases News from Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo House Passes COPS Improvements Act of 2009 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – May 2, 2009 – Washington, D.C. – Last week, on April 23, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1139, the COPS Improvements Act of 2009. The legislation was introduced by Congressman Anthony D. Weiner of New York with a companion bill introduced in the Senate, S. 167, by Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin. Congresswoman Bordallo is an original cosponsor of this bill. The House passed this bill by a vote of 341 ayes to 78 noes. The COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) Program was first established in 1994 under the Clinton Administration and has provided financial assistance for the hiring of local law enforcement officials. If signed into law, the COPS Improvements Act of 2009 would reauthorize grants for the hiring of local law enforcement officials and provide new grants for the development of new technologies to assist local law enforcement agencies in crime prevention and training. Since 1994, Guam has received $8.3 million in financial assistance through the COPS Program, allowing the Guam Police Department (GPD) to hire 100 police officers. The federal funding to be received as result of this bill becoming law would allow the Guam Police Department to hire an additional 43 police officers. The Senate version of the bill, S. 167, is before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and must pass the U.S. Senate before it can be reconciled with H.R. 1139 and be signed into law. “The COPS Program has supported the Guam Police Department with its law enforcement initiatives in our community,” Congresswoman Bordallo said today. “One hundred Guam police officers have been hired since 1994 with federal funds under the COPS Program, and the COPS Improvements Act will further assist GPD in combating crime by providing financial assistance for the hiring of an additional 43 police officers. It is important that Guam’s law enforcement needs are met, and the financial assistance provided by the COPS Program will better prepare Guam’s law enforcement officials in meeting those requirements.” # # # matthew.mateo@mail.house.gov or krystal.agustin@mail.house.gov |
