Hinges on Federal Funds
Weiner: Grant May Add 3,000 Cops

By REUVEN BLAU

U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner said Nov. 17 that he's optimistic that a grant program which could be used to hire more than 3,000 NYPD cops over the next several years may finally be funded by the new Democratic-led Congress.

ANTHONY WEINER: Expects funding to be there.

"I'm optimistic this year that we will follow up the action of passing the law by funding its cost for the first time," Mr. Weiner said during a phone interview. "It's authorized at a billion a year, and I'm going to do everything I can to see it fully funded."

Authorized by Bush

In January, President Bush signed legislation to reauthorize the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program. But Mr. Weiner said that since then "we just haven't been able to get the folks who hold the pursestrings in Washington to fund it."

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly last week noted that the program, which was established in 1994 after President Bill Clinton vowed to put 100,000 new officers on the streets nationwide, was very helpful to the NYPD.

"It enabled the department to rise to the level of 40,800 Police Officers in October of 2000," he said after a press conference at 1 Police Plaza. "We are below that number, and if that program is put back in place I think it will be very beneficial to the city." According to the department, the current headcount is 35,936 officers.

The grant was designed to supplement police agencies' headcounts and boost the number of patrol cops in an attempt to reduce violent crime. "It gives us the ability to put more boots on the ground," Mr. Weiner said.

Fund Anti-Terror Cops

He noted that under the new grant police agencies will be able to use the money to fund "t-cops" or "terrorism cops," who specialize in thwarting terrorists. Local law-enforcement departments can also use the funds to pay for additional personnel and for new equipment such as radios and computers. Under the prior structure of the grant, the added officers were paid $25,000 for each of their three years - covering more than half their base salaries in each year. By the fourth year, the officers' full salaries were paid by their departments.

Since 1994, the Police Department has used the COPS program to employ an additional 7,406 officers at a cost of $603 million, according to Gilbert Moore, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice's COPS Office.

Mr. Weiner pointed out that the new version of the grant has broad support. "There has been a national rise in crime, although not here in New York," he remarked. "There has been a national outcry for more dollars out of Washington to fund more security. Local police departments all over the country are supporting having it fully funded."

The reauthorization is also backed by a litany of labor groups including: the Fraternal Order of Police, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, the Law Enforcement Steering Committee, the National Association of Police Organizations, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executive, the National Sheriffs' Association, the National Troopers Coalition, as well as the U.S. Conference of Mayors.