Rooney Votes to Help Local Law Enforcement

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) voted today to pass the COPS Improvements Act of 2009.  This legislation improves the COPS program and will put an additional 50,000 police officers on the street over the next five years.  Providing grant funding to local police to hire more officers is extremely important step to helping stop the recent gang violence.  

“As a former criminal prosecutor I believe our public safety should be a top priority,” said Rooney.  “Earlier this week I hosted a town hall meeting about gang violence and we discussed ways to help fight the problem.  One important step is to put more police officers on the street.  The COPS Improvements Act will allow local police departments to hire more officers to combat the current gang problems we face in South Florida.  It is crucial we provide local law enforcement with the resources necessary to keep us safe and reduce crime.” 

The COPS Improvements Act of 2009 increases the authorization of the program by 72 percent to $1.8 billion annually from 2009 through 2014.  The bill establishes a grant program to train police officers in anti-terrorism, intelligence, gang, and drug activities in and around schools.  It will also establish grants to implement innovative programs to combat drug use, distribution, and manufacturing, and to establish criminal gang enforcement task forces.