Durbin Questions COPS Office Director During Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Oversight of the COPS Program

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“When I dial 911, if God forbid I’m in that position, I pray to God that the person who responds has been carefully recruited, carefully trained, and is ready to come to the aid of my family as quickly as possible. I’m counting on that. I think every American is counting on that no matter where they live. So the question obviously is, does the COPS Program make that likelihood better or not?... You have been a real cop, starting [with] patrolling the beat and working your way up the department. Did you see a measurable impact of federal COPS funds on your performance in your police department?

There's no question that the United States still struggles with the issue of race. It still struggles with the issue of immigrants, and how they are to be treated by our agencies and government, and certainly how they are treated on the streets and neighborhoods of this country on a regular basis. We have seen some outrageous examples. George Floyd comes to mind immediately. And we have heard rhetoric from some political figures who are branding immigrants as not even humans but calling them animals. That sort of rhetoric and that sort of conduct really puts special pressure on the police. Can you tell me if the COPS Program addresses this in any way?

On four or five different occasions, I have put up a notice at the police training academy in Chicago that I’m going to be sitting in a classroom for an hour and invite any member of the police force from that community who wants to come in for an off-the-record, no-holds-barred conversation to come on down. And they show up… They want to tell their side of the story. They want me to understand what it means to wear that shield and risk your life on the streets on a daily basis and how you have to make momentary – just a few seconds of judgment could be life or death - judgement for yourself, for innocent people around you, or the victim. And how tough that is and how they sometimes think it's unfair that there are clips taken from videos that don’t tell whole story."

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