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Mike on Crime

As a former mayor, I firmly believe that the federal government has an obligation to help communities in the fight against crime and have consistently championed allocating additional resources to help get the job done.

I strongly opposed President Bush's cutbacks to the COPS program. In the 1990s, this program provided key federal money to help local governments keep cops on the streets and in neighborhoods. I worked to reauthorize the COPS program and led an effort to urge President Bush to restore its funding. With a new President and an expanded majority in the House and Senate. I was very happy that we were able to include $1 billion in COPS funding in the stimulus bill, H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. I remain hopeful that under new leadership in the White House we can look forward to increased emphasis on this important program.

Moved by the story of a young constituent threatened for speaking out about a crime he witnessed, I introduced the Young Witness Assistance Act to establish a grant program to give local prosecutors and police funding to help protect young witnesses. The legislation became law in 2005. This program is designed to support a number of essential services such as counseling, pre and post trial assistance and protective services.

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