By Alex Christodoulides
The $5 million will fund as many as 67 new police officers and, for the first time ever, under a new law authored by Weiner, the NYPD and police agencies across the country can now use C.O.P.S. funds on police officers who specialize in thwarting terrorists.Created in 1994 to put more police officers on the streets, the C.O.P.S. program has provided $9 billion to hire 117,000 police officers. Weiner authored the legislation that reauthorized the C.O.P.S. program, which President George W. Bush signed into law in January 2006, and also pushed to restore funding to the program after Congress cut it to zero last year.”The C.O.P.S. program is a proven winner, cutting crime and making neighborhoods safe in New York City, the Tri-State area, and across the nation,” said Weiner.According to a government study, between 1998 and 2000, C.O.P.S. grants helped eliminate an estimated 200,000 to 225,000 crimes, one third of which were violent. In 1998 C.O.P.S. grants were responsible for an 8 percent drop in crime overall and a 13 percent reduction in violent crime, Weiner said. Weiner, a member of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, said the new funding delivers on one of his top priorities for the 110th Congress.
