KLBJ News Radio - Cornyn Hears From Texas Police Chiefs

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KLBJ News Radio - Cornyn Hears From Texas Police Chiefs

Members of the Texas Police Chiefs Association are calling for more federal funding to help cities along the Texas-Mexico border deal with a surge in crime related to increasingly violent drug gangs. Police in some border towns say they need extra manpower to deal with the problem, but their city budgets won't support hiring additional officers. They met with U.S. Senator John Cornyn in Austin today to ask for increased funding from the COPS (Community Oriented Policing) program from the U.S. Department of Justice.

"We're trying to help, but we're trying to make up for lost time, frankly," said Sen. Cornyn. "While the federal government resources its resources, human resources and other equipment, I think we need to provide support in the interim to local law enforcement. As we see Mexico fighting drug cartels internally, the fact is some of that activity does make its way across the border in terms of drug trafficking, human trafficking, and other criminal activity."

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