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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 I 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 police officers 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. 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 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 has become law and is designed to support a number of essential services such as counseling, pre and post trial assistance and protective services.

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