J-2_Stat_Authority_and_COPS_Mission.docx

J-2 Statutory Authority and COPS Office Mission

1. Statutory Authorization

Title I of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 – the Public Safety Partnership and Community Policing Act of 1994 ( “the 1994 Act”) – amended the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to create a new Part Q -- Public Safety and Community Policing; “Cops on the Beat” (“the COPS statute”).

To implement the 1994 Act, the Attorney General established the COPS Office as a new program office within the Department of Justice. The purposes of the 1994 Act are to:

a. Substantially increase the number of law enforcement officers interacting with members of the community;

b. Provide additional and more effective training to law enforcement officers to enhance their problem solving, service and other skills needed in interacting with members of the community;

c. Encourage the development and implementation of innovative programs to permit members of the community to assist law enforcement agencies in the prevention of crime in and around the community; and

d. Encourage the development of new technologies to assist law enforcement agencies in reorienting the emphasis of their activities from reacting to crime to preventing crime.

CRI-TA was developed under the technical assistance authority of the COPS statute, which states that “[t]he Attorney General may provide technical assistance to States, units of local government, Indian tribal governments, and to other public and private entities, in furtherance of the purposes of the Public Safety Partnership and Community Policing Act of 1994.” 42 U.S.C. §3796dd(d).

2. COPS Office Mission

The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) is the component of the U.S. Department of Justice responsible for advancing the practice of community policing by the nation’s state, local, territory, and tribal law enforcement agencies through information and grant resources.

Community policing is a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies that support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime.

Rather than simply responding to crimes once they have been committed, community policing concentrates on preventing crime and eliminating the atmosphere of fear it creates. Earning the trust of the community and making those individuals stakeholders in their own safety enables law enforcement to better understand and address both the needs of the community and the factors that contribute to crime.

The COPS Office awards grants to state, local, territory, and tribal law enforcement agencies to hire and train community policing professionals, acquire and deploy cutting-edge crime fighting technologies, and develop and test innovative policing strategies. COPS Office funding also provides training and technical assistance to community members and local government leaders and all levels of law enforcement. The COPS Office has produced and compiled a broad range of information resources that can help law enforcement better address specific crime and operational issues, and help community leaders better understand how to work cooperatively with their law enforcement agency to reduce crime.

Since 1994, the COPS Office has invested more than $14 billion to add community policing officers to the nation’s streets, enhance crime fighting technology, support crime prevention initiatives, and provide training and technical assistance to help advance community policing.

To date, the COPS Office has funded approximately 125,000 additional officers to more than 13,000 of the nation’s 18,000 law enforcement agencies across the country in small and large jurisdictions alike.

Nearly 700,000 law enforcement personnel, community members, and government leaders have been trained through COPS Office-funded training organizations.

To date, the COPS Office has distributed more than 8.57 million topic-specific publications, training curricula, white papers, and resource CDs.